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October 28, 2007
Gaelic short film set to make European premiere
LAURA JEAN GRANT, The Cape
Breton Post
SYDNEY —
Canada’s first Gaelic-language short film is set to make its
European premiere next month.
Faire
Chaluim Mhic Leoid (The Wake of Calum MacLeod) — an
eight-minute, short film shot in Cape Breton in the spring
of 2006 as part of the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative’s
Film 5 program — will be screened at a prestigious Scottish
film festival taking place Nov. 15-18.
"We
actually have been invited to Scotland to screen at the
Inverness Film Festival," said film producer Nona MacDermid,
a native of Cape Breton’s North Shore who teamed up with
writer/director Marc Almon on the project.
"We’re
really excited about the festival because it will give us a
chance to meet a lot of the people who are currently working
in the Gaelic media industry so that will be a great
opportunity for both Marc and I." MacDermid said they’re
looking forward to seeing reaction to the film from a
Scottish audience and having the chance to sit down with
officials from Gaelic Media Services. She and Almon have
also been asked to participate in a panel discussion about
Gaelic film during the festival.
The Wake
of Calum MacLeod, a ground-breaking short film featuring an
all-Cape Breton cast, tells the story of Calum MacLeod, a
great storyteller whose kids eventually move away from Cape
Breton but then return for his funeral.
MacDermid said they made the film unsure of what reaction
would follow, but are extremely pleased with how it’s been
received at numerous screenings and festivals.
"I guess I
was hopeful that it would do this well but certainly some of
the recognition and support that it’s getting has been way
more than I ever could have expected. We’re really, really
pleased with how it’s done," she said.
MacDermid
said she and Almon put a lot of work into getting the film
out there at both the local community level and on the film
festival circuit and those efforts have been paying off. In
fact, in just the last month, The Wake of Calum MacLeod has
been screened at the International Women’s Festival in St.
John’s, N.L., the Austin Film Festival in Austin, Tex., the
Taos Mountain Film Festival in Taos, N.M., and it will be
featured at the Asheville Film Festival in Asheville, N.C.,
coming up in November.
MacDermid
said she’s hopeful the interest generated by the film will
be the catalyst needed to build some form of industry for
Gaelic productions in Cape Breton.
"The interesting thing for us is certainly that right now
it’s looking like there is opportunity to do more Gaelic
film because this one was so well-received and because the
learning community is growing," she said.
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Above photo:
Margaree (by Victor Maurice Faubert)
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