– Director: George Ungar

– Producers: George Ungar, Gordon Martin, Harold Crooks

– Writers: Steve Lucas, John Kramer, Harold Crooks

– Diary by: Alison McGillivray

1979: This 16-year production saga begins with animator George Ungar flipping through a stack of Maclean’s magazines he salvaged out of a back alley dumpster. One of the magazines contains an article about a bizarre aborted expedition through the b.c. wilderness in the 1930s led by French efficiency tycoon and amateur explorer, Charles Bedaux.

Motivated by hubris of Fitzcarraldo proportions, Bedaux and his entourage set off on a 1,500-mile trek through unmapped wilderness in mechanical cars, followed by 130 pack horses carrying cases of such essentials as champagne, truffles and film stock used by Hollywood cameraman Floyd Crosby to document elaborate home movies of Bedaux’s adventure.

Ungar storyboards the idea as a short animation satire. But, realizing that truth is stranger than fiction, he rethinks the project as a straight five-minute documentary vignette. Although untried in live-action film directing, he considers this modest proposal appropriate material to cut his teeth on. He sets to work researching.

1980: Ungar approaches the National Film Board with his expedition vignette proposal. They turn him down. Undaunted, he applies for grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the B.C. Heritage Foundation. All three say no.

Discouraged, Ungar shelves all thoughts of Bedaux and signs on to the toon team animating the feature film Heavy Metal.

1982: Ungar’s interest in the Bedaux project is rekindled by a chance encounter at the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library with Jim Christie, who is writing about the Bedaux’ expedition. Further research makes Ungar realize that he has walked in through the side door of a much larger story, the life story of Charles Bedaux.

July 1983: Spending his savings, Ungar flies down to l.a. and interviews Bedaux’s son about his father’s descent from self-made industrial magnate to disgraced Nazi collaborator.

1984: Christie arranges for Ungar to meet a certain Herbert Bigelow who lives outside Paris. Rumor has it that Bigelow has the missing original expedition footage.

Thinking fast, George convinces an nfb official at the Paris office to help him assess the footage. They are led into a basement to a pile of film cans. It is the real thing! Bigelow interrupts Ungar’s pitch about the footage’s historical importance to announce that he would be willing to part with it for an ‘undisclosable sum.’ Ungar swallows hard and says he’ll need time to raise such a figure.

Armed with a video transfer of the footage and a letter from the Paris nfb official attesting to the film’s authenticity, Ungar races back to Canada to announce his find.

May 1984: Producers at the nfb’s Studio C greet Ungar’s treasure with a collective yawn and dismiss him as an animator with documentary aspirations.

1984: Ungar tries the National Archives in Ottawa, but the head archivist turns him down flat. He can do nothing but bide his time.

His proposal for an animated film called The Wanderer is accepted by the nfb Animation Studio. Over the next four years, this will be his day job as he nurtures the Bedaux film at night.

1985: Ungar enlists the aid of associate producer Gordon Martin to help guide the Bedaux film along. This proves to turn the tide for the project.

1986 to 1989: Staff changes at the National Archives put a new head archivist in charge who is keen on bringing the Bedaux footage home. It takes three years of negotiating before the precious cans leave the Frenchman’s basement.

1988: Ungar finishes The Wanderer, winning several awards and freeing himself to work on the Bedaux film full time.

1988: Ungar rewrites his proposal as a feature documentary on the rise and fall of Charles Bedaux. He reapplies to the funding bodies. This time the cash rolls in: the Canada Council puts up $40,000; the Canadian Directorate, $16,4000; The Ontario Arts Council, $20,000; and cfcf-tv invests an initial $5,000.

1988: Finally, the nfb is interested in a coproduction. However, infighting about creative control amongst government agencies forces Ungar to choose between them and the Canada Council grant. Ungar opts to accept lesser nfb involvement in the form of a Program to Assist Filmmakers in the Private Sector grant for lab services.

Early 1989: Ungar shoots interviews with Jim Christie and Timothy Findley, both authors who have written about Bedaux.

July 1989: Ungar takes a final research trip to France before he returns to Montreal to gear up in earnest for principal photography.

September/October 1989: Four weeks shooting in Europe goes off without a hitch.

October 1989: Upon return, the footage goes into the soup for processing, synching, logging, transcription and translation. Six months later, the long-awaited Bedaux expedition footage arrives courtesy of the National Archives. Ungar is finally ready to edit but he is out of funds.

1990 to 1992: Anticipating this money problem, Ungar gets a job teaching animation at Concordia University.

1991: Four months are spent creating a rough assembly which runs at an unwieldy six hours.

July 1991: Ungar takes a sample reel to the Canadian Film Centre, which writes another $5,000 cheque and recommends ckco-tv match it with an additional $5,000.

September 1991: Ungar uses the funds to continue shooting in Alberta and b.c., interviewing old-timer cowboys who were on one of Bedaux’s expeditions.

October 1991: With money owing to the nfb for processing, work in Montreal grinds to a halt.

When the Canada Council rejects a finishing grant application, Ungar treks back down Highway 401 to Toronto to drum up support. He succeeds in getting John Walker to executive produce the film.

To qualify for Telefilm Canada money, they peddle broadcasting licences around the country: cfcf signs up for a further $11,000; ckco, $6,000; Vision TV, $15,000; scn, $5,000; tvontario, $6,000; B.C. Knowledge Network, $5,000.

1992: Ungar and Walker apply to Telefilm and the Ontario Film Development Corporation, which cough up $190,000 and $75,000 respectively.

July 1992: Editing begins in earnest.

June 1993: The rough cut is down to two-and-a-half hours. Ungar calls a hiatus to get feedback from colleagues. Consensus tells him he has an unquestionably fine film on his hands but that it is in need of an equally accomplished script.

June 1993: tvo’s Rudy Buttignol provides $54,000 to fuel the post-production funds for the home stretch of writing and fine cutting.

July 1993: The nfb gets on the bandwagon, striking a deal for $65,000 in lab and technical services in exchange for non-broadcast rights for Canadian distribution.

March 1994: Narration is recorded and laid in. Final clearance on archival footage rights commences.

November 1994: With the print locked, the picture is handed over for negative cutting, sound editing and music composition.

1995: Final mix completed. Test print approved. Final budget: approximately $500,000.

September 1995: Champagne Safari will finally pop its cork to premier at the Toronto International Film Festival.

September 1995: The film will screen at the Atlantic Film Festival.

November 1995: Champagne Safari will be broadcast on cfcf, B.C. Knowledge Network and tvo.

Ungar sums up his 16-year effort from inspiration to projection: ‘It was nothing really. A piece of cake.’