Hussar picked for setting of short film

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Hussar’s rural roots and rustic details will embolden production company Leftside Pictures’ creative vision, as they construct their film set and equipment to capture their second short film, Metanoia, this week.
Self-taught filmmaker from Calgary, Levi Holwell, jotted down the story line seven months ago and since then has accumulated a 10-member cast and even bigger crew. The village was chosen to provide the ideal backdrop for the 12-minute short film, that even incorporates Hussar Mayor Tim Frank’s nearly 100-year-old house.
“Oddly enough when I first started the writing the project earlier this year, I just always had a deep love for smaller and rural Alberta and we just wanted to use a community like Hussar to do our best to showcase the history and the unique landscape that the Badlands area of Alberta has,” the 20-year-old Holwell said. “As far as filmmaking goes, it’s just been trial and error. I just firmly believe in making projects, messing up badly, and then learning from those mistakes and being better the next time. It’s all of these wonderful art forms … and you have all these different avenues to express yourself and bring out different emotions and responses, hopefully in an audience, if you do a good job.”
The aspiring filmmaker founded Leftside Pictures in collaboration with 21-year-old Gabe Romero, a musician and producer who is working on the Metanoia soundtrack.
Thus far the company has created numerous music videos and one other short film.
However, with the cast including University of Calgary students and graduated acting students, the project is already forcing Holwell and Romero to step out of their comfort zones.
“We’re dealing with a big crew, we have a lot of actors from the university, we have a great location a great house, it’s really exciting just to be a part of it,” Romero said.
“On set, we’ve never had so many actual people that want to be there. It’s just using them correctly, not wasting anyone’s time, and keeping them on schedule.”
The script revolves around change, and a young woman’s struggle with identity and regaining control of her life in an action thriller genre. The intention behind the execution of the production is to film the scenes in genres they would normally not be expected to appear as.
Once completed, Leftside Pictures intends to have a live showing in Calgary, before submitting the project to Canadian film festivals first locally, and building up to bigger events such as Vancouver, Ontario, and Montreal.
The cast and crew will be visiting the Village of Hussar for filming on Aug. 20 to Aug. 22. Filming then continues for the final days on Aug. 29 to Aug. 30. Residents are asked not to park their vehicles on 1st Avenue West on Aug. 30, and the road will be blocked off starting at Centre Street to 2nd Street from 3 p.m. to sunset.
Any concerns are to be directed to the village office. To take a look at Leftside Pictures’ projects, visit vimeo.com/leftsidepictures.