SASKATOON — Veteran filmmaker Shayne Metcalfe is hoping that the Saskatchewan International Film Festival will reinvigorate the province’s film community, with local filmmakers getting inspiration from the inaugural event to continue making their art.
Metcalfe, who was the chair of the five-member jurors that chose the winners from the 21 entries in the film fest, said Saskatchewan used to have a film industry but it slowly waned after the provincial government pulled the plug on the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit more than five years ago.
In 2012, under the leadership of then Premier Brad Wall and Ken Krawetz as Finance Minister, the provincial government announced that it would scrap the film tax credit — an incentive that was originally introduced to develop Saskatchewan’s film and television industries.
The film tax credit offered a 45 percent rate, 50 percent maximum, of refundable tax credit on the total labour production costs of films. Bonuses were also given for rural productions and if people from Saskatchewan are hired to fill key positions.
“We don't really have a film industry per se anymore in Saskatoon but what we do have is a lot of filmmakers and the reason for that is an old thing called the Saskatchewan film employment tax credit that was cancelled,” said Metcalfe, after Saturday’s awards night at TCU Place.
He said the film employment tax credit was an incentive given to filmmakers and it is something practiced in other provinces like Manitoba and British Columbia.
“BC is doing $3.94 billion a year in business. Saskatchewan, in total, does maybe about 10 million,” said Metcalfe.
“It's not really doing as much as it could. So, I'd love to see that change and who knows maybe people getting excited about making films here and watching films that we make, get some good local entries, maybe that can get turned around.”
According to David Zitzerman of mondaq.com, the film tax credit costed the Saskatchewan provincial government about $100 million since it started the incentive in 1998. The provincial government expected to save between $3 million to $8 million annually when it was cancelled in 2014.
Metcalfe, the head instructor for Motion Picture Arts in the Recording Arts Institute of Saskatoon, added that there are a lot of promising local filmmakers in the City.
“And they are doing some pretty incredible work, when you consider they’re doing [films] with almost no money. They really have small budget, but that’s pretty exciting.”
He was surprised about the quality of films that were submitted for the inaugural film fest, which took place in Saskatoon from Dec. 4-11.
“It was an amazing set of entries for a first-time film festival. To get that level of quality was kind of shocking. It was really hard to decide but I was glad that there were four other jurors that helped me do the tiebreakers,” said Metcalfe.
“The films were really good, and I’ve been a juror on a whole bunch of other film festivals for a lot of years. I think this festival has the potential to really be what they want to be. It’s just amazing that they organized this festival without really any prior experience, for the turnout as good as it did.”
Winners list
Multi-awarded and Toronto-based filmmaker Patrick Alcedo, Dante Nico Garcia — whose movie Ploning made it on the Top 9 short list in the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category — veteran Indy film director of photography Mukesh Gnanesh, and film festival guru Arnolfo Enriquez helped Metcalfe in picking the winners.
The 21 films selected as official entries were all from Canada, with three made by filmmakers in the province, as well as entries from Greenland, India, Iran, Nigeria, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United States.
Quebec entry Disturbed Heart (Lorsque le Coeur Dérange) was the biggest winner in the week-long festival earning five awards including the Best Feature Film (Fiction). Rebecca Gibian was named as Best Actress with co-star Fanny Rainville getting the Best Supporting Actress nod. Disturbed Heart also won Best Screenplay and Best Musical Score.
Biographical film Blind Ambition: The Wop May Story won four categories including Best Director for Frederick Kroetsch and Tom Robinson, and Best Picture (Overall Film). The biopic, which tells the story of World War I flying ace Wilfrid Reid “Wop” May, also won Best Cinematography and Best Short Film.
Pacha by Indian director Sree Vallabhan won the Best Feature Film (non-Fiction), and Best Actor honours for Master Midhun and Best Supporting Actor for Balan Sir.
Apnoia by Vanessa Payri won the Best Student/New Web Media category while The Unforgotten by Christopher Paetkau earned the People’s (Audience) Choice award.
Messages
Humboldt Mayor Michael Behiel said he was excited to learn that a film festival was being organized in the province.
“As a kid growing up, one of the things that I always dreamt of doing was attending one of the international film festivals—either in Toronto, Vancouver, or Manitoba. Recognizing that finally it’s coming to our home is something that is just beyond phenomenal,” said Behiel.
“Nelson Mandela is credited with saying ‘our rich and varied cultural heritage has a profound power to help build [a] new nation.’ And this rings extremely true with the conclusion of the first [SIFF], recognizing the diverse makeup of our amazing province and country helps to forge a unity that can only serve to better us as a community.”
Philippine Consul General of Alberta and Saskatchewan Zaldy Patron said his presence is a show of support to the working group and individuals who once dreamt of having an international film festival hosted in this part of the country.
“As usually the case in most first ever events, they are done with so much sacrifice and many challenging preparations.”
He said the film fest was held when things are slowly getting back to normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One unintended consequence of this pandemic it that, as people were forced to stay home, movie watching has become a source of comfort for a greater number as compared to before. There is an increased viewership, which has created more movie aficionados.”
SIFF president Joyce Malayba said what was once a dream has become a reality for their group.
“The road was not easy, as any first-time organizer would probably say. With the fire in each one of us, fuelled by the support of sectors that believed in us, we came through. It has been a great journey and we look forward to a brighter and grander Saskatchewan [film festival].”
Danny Baliad, of organizer PrimeCom Corp., praised the efforts made by the people behind the films featured in the inaugural class of the 2021 film fest.
“Your efforts are all admirable in telling your stories. Developing a film is no easy task. You must have the right timing, people, and uncompromising goals to achieve it. To all film directors, cast, production staff, supporters, and sponsors, thank you very much for your entries and positive contributions.”
