Interview with the directors of the ACA* award-winning "Shipwrecked" and their international success since!
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Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF): What did it feel like to win the ACA award in 2006?
Kirsten Bolton (KB): Calgary was the third festival we had screened at to date (preceded by our debut at The Rhode Island Film Festival and then The Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax). It was a little nerve racking because it was in front of a home audience, and the first time we had been in attendance to see it on a big screen. I remember we were worrying what the quality would look like blown up from video. Devon had just arrived from out of town and was really sick, and was going through quite a painful and stressful divorce at the time. So we were a little run down.
Hearing the applause of the audience was a rush, and just having it be well received in that way was rewarding. Because the making of the short had been so prolonged and difficult and almost didn’t get finished, going on to then win the ACA Award at the end of the night was a wonderful validation that our efforts had been worth it. It was that little punctuation and pick-me-up we needed, and the momentum kept us and the film moving forward.
We were also very happy that even though we shot the film in BC, it was still recognized as “Best Alberta Short.” We’re Alberta filmmakers, and it shouldn’t matter where a project is shot. It’s about empowering and supporting Alberta filmmakers to tell original stories, regardless of where they are set or shot.
CIFF: Describe your international success since winning the ACA award for Best Short Film at the Calgary International Film Festival in 2006.
KB: Since the 2006 Calgary Festival, Shipwrecked has gone on to be an Official Selection at over 23 international Festivals in Canada, US, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Among those are five Academy-Award qualifying festivals, meaning if you win “Best Short” at one of them, you qualify to go on to be nominated for an Oscar. Hard to even fathom. We’ve come really close. Grrr! We won “2nd Place” at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, which is a biggie. But “2nd Place” doesn’t quite cut it! Devon was nominated for “Best Cinematography” at the Rhode Island Film Festival, which was awesome considering we shot on Mini-DV and were up against feature films. We recently won “Best Short Film” at the SPROCKETS Toronto International Film Festival. As a children’s festival, we were really proud that we were voted for this award by a jury of 8-12 year olds.
Some of the cities we’ve screened at include New York, Seattle, Chicago, Sydney Australia, Toronto, Atlanta, Nashville, Auckland New Zealand, Santa Barbara, Victoria, and Brooklyn. We’ve attended several of the festivals, but our highlight was a multi-stop trip that we took to present our film at The Sedona International Film Festival in Arizona, and then onto the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Children’s Film Festival. Sedona was so beautiful and picturesque, and we attended to do Q&As with the audience. We were surprised to be presented with “Best Short Film” at the awards luncheon, and then were awarded a $5000 cash prize for excellence in filmmaking. Us and Sarah Polley’s “Away From Her” were the only Canadians to win one of these cash prizes. It was great. Paid for the trip! In Brooklyn, we did Q&As over two days with New York kids and Shipwrecked had a great reception there. We were mobbed after the screening by parents with questions and encouraging words, and kids wanting autographs. Very surreal, but it shows how universal film and stories can be.
That festival was important for us because it was just for kids, and it was fascinating for us to hear directly from them what they thought of the film and its message. The festival committee had had arguments about Shipwrecked and whether or not to accept it because the feeling was it might be too subtle for kids to get. Luckily, we had a champion on the board – the executive director from Chicago – and she convinced the board to screen Shipwrecked. Not only did the kids get it, they asked the best questions. Really smart. Really perceptive. It just proved to us there is a market out there for intelligent kids’ films that are more sophisticated and grown up.
Our other highlight, we’d have to say, is being contacted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. They acquired Shipwrecked and will be screening it at the Museum in November. It’s a huge honour.
Even though we’re not actively still entering many festivals (they all cost money to enter and ship in DVD screeners, an exhibition copy, and publicity materials, so it gets expensive!) – we’re continually amazed to receive several emails almost every week from Festivals who have heard about Shipwrecked, or saw it at another festival and now want to invite it to theirs. We’ve been contacted by festivals as far away as Russia, Israel, Australia, and Tai Pei.
We’d still like to make an effort to enter some European festivals. Shipwrecked should do well. But that’s the thing about festivals, you never know. We win “Best Short” at some high profile festival, then don’t even get accepted to other festivals.
Kirsten Bolton (KB): Calgary was the third festival we had screened at to date (preceded by our debut at The Rhode Island Film Festival and then The Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax). It was a little nerve racking because it was in front of a home audience, and the first time we had been in attendance to see it on a big screen. I remember we were worrying what the quality would look like blown up from video. Devon had just arrived from out of town and was really sick, and was going through quite a painful and stressful divorce at the time. So we were a little run down.
Hearing the applause of the audience was a rush, and just having it be well received in that way was rewarding. Because the making of the short had been so prolonged and difficult and almost didn’t get finished, going on to then win the ACA Award at the end of the night was a wonderful validation that our efforts had been worth it. It was that little punctuation and pick-me-up we needed, and the momentum kept us and the film moving forward.
We were also very happy that even though we shot the film in BC, it was still recognized as “Best Alberta Short.” We’re Alberta filmmakers, and it shouldn’t matter where a project is shot. It’s about empowering and supporting Alberta filmmakers to tell original stories, regardless of where they are set or shot.
CIFF: Describe your international success since winning the ACA award for Best Short Film at the Calgary International Film Festival in 2006.
KB: Since the 2006 Calgary Festival, Shipwrecked has gone on to be an Official Selection at over 23 international Festivals in Canada, US, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Among those are five Academy-Award qualifying festivals, meaning if you win “Best Short” at one of them, you qualify to go on to be nominated for an Oscar. Hard to even fathom. We’ve come really close. Grrr! We won “2nd Place” at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, which is a biggie. But “2nd Place” doesn’t quite cut it! Devon was nominated for “Best Cinematography” at the Rhode Island Film Festival, which was awesome considering we shot on Mini-DV and were up against feature films. We recently won “Best Short Film” at the SPROCKETS Toronto International Film Festival. As a children’s festival, we were really proud that we were voted for this award by a jury of 8-12 year olds.
Some of the cities we’ve screened at include New York, Seattle, Chicago, Sydney Australia, Toronto, Atlanta, Nashville, Auckland New Zealand, Santa Barbara, Victoria, and Brooklyn. We’ve attended several of the festivals, but our highlight was a multi-stop trip that we took to present our film at The Sedona International Film Festival in Arizona, and then onto the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Children’s Film Festival. Sedona was so beautiful and picturesque, and we attended to do Q&As with the audience. We were surprised to be presented with “Best Short Film” at the awards luncheon, and then were awarded a $5000 cash prize for excellence in filmmaking. Us and Sarah Polley’s “Away From Her” were the only Canadians to win one of these cash prizes. It was great. Paid for the trip! In Brooklyn, we did Q&As over two days with New York kids and Shipwrecked had a great reception there. We were mobbed after the screening by parents with questions and encouraging words, and kids wanting autographs. Very surreal, but it shows how universal film and stories can be.
That festival was important for us because it was just for kids, and it was fascinating for us to hear directly from them what they thought of the film and its message. The festival committee had had arguments about Shipwrecked and whether or not to accept it because the feeling was it might be too subtle for kids to get. Luckily, we had a champion on the board – the executive director from Chicago – and she convinced the board to screen Shipwrecked. Not only did the kids get it, they asked the best questions. Really smart. Really perceptive. It just proved to us there is a market out there for intelligent kids’ films that are more sophisticated and grown up.
Our other highlight, we’d have to say, is being contacted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. They acquired Shipwrecked and will be screening it at the Museum in November. It’s a huge honour.
Even though we’re not actively still entering many festivals (they all cost money to enter and ship in DVD screeners, an exhibition copy, and publicity materials, so it gets expensive!) – we’re continually amazed to receive several emails almost every week from Festivals who have heard about Shipwrecked, or saw it at another festival and now want to invite it to theirs. We’ve been contacted by festivals as far away as Russia, Israel, Australia, and Tai Pei.
We’d still like to make an effort to enter some European festivals. Shipwrecked should do well. But that’s the thing about festivals, you never know. We win “Best Short” at some high profile festival, then don’t even get accepted to other festivals.
Read the rest of the article at the Calgary International Film Festival Facebook!
www.facebook.com
Search Calgary International Film Festival in "Groups"
*The Alberta Centennial Award was inaugurated in 2005 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Alberta as a province, this award is for Best New Alberta Short Film. Recognizing Alberta’s filmmakers, locations, and stories, no matter what the content, the films reflect the diversity of style and approach that is expected from our complex and fascinating province.
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