Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 9, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba SUNDAY SPECIAL A6 SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2020 SUNDAY SPECIAL EDITOR: KELLY TAYLOR ● KELLY.TAYLOR@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ‘THEIR movie, their way.”That simple, four-word phrase perhaps best sums up what the Winnipeg Film Group wants to give local filmmakers — the ability to execute their creative vision in the method and mode they most desire, without compromising one iota. It’s also the phrase Greg Klymkiw — WFG’s executive director — kept return- ing to in a lengthy conversation about the myriad ways the non-profit, artist-run organization helps independent filmmak- ers turn their minds’ machinations into motion pictures. Klymkiw says the WFG and its space on the third floor of Artspace in the heart of the Exchange District is “the heart and soul of independent filmmaking” and has been since it was established nearly 50 years ago. “At the Winnipeg Film Group, filmmakers are first. I keep hammering it home. Their movies, their way. Your movie, your way. Independent visions and independence here is so important to this place,” Klymkiw avers. “That’s the hallmark of independent film- making.” Klymkiw says what makes the WFG unique, “not just in Canada, but worldwide,” is its focus on four main areas: production, training, distribution and exhibition. “If you want to make your own movies, there’s only one game in town, pretty much. That’s to make movies with the Film Group.” “When this was founded in 1974 there was nothing in Winnipeg. There was nothing!” Klymkiw explains. “You couldn’t get equip- ment, unless you maybe went to the National Film Board but then you had to listen to them tell you how to make your movie.” The WFG does everything from facilitate workshops and educational programs that teach high-schoolers the basics to suss out spots around the globe where films produced by their members can be shown. It’s no secret making a movie can be an expensive endeavour. It requires gear such as cameras, lenses, lights, tripods and rigs, not to mention spaces such as studios and editing suites and computers equipped with editing software such as Final Cut and Adobe Premiere Pro. While buying all that is a non-starter for most — especially for fledgling filmmakers on shoestring budgets — members can rent everything they need through the WFG for modest prices. “We have all the means here to be able to shoot (a film), cut it, and deliver it. Anything they need to make their film is here,” Klym- kiw says. That even includes cameras that still use — gasp! — actual film and editing flatbeds to cut film on. The equipment must be used for the renter’s own project. It’s part of WFG’s man- date to not rent out to commercial projects, technical and equipment manager Dylan Baillie says. “No one will ever say ‘Can I come in and get a camera?’ and I have to say ‘Oh, sorry. The Hallmark movie is using that camera,’” Baillie says. Klymkiw and Baillie recently received a booking inquiry they rejected — even though the applicant was a WFG member — after they found out the person was doing a “gun- for-hire” job. “Anyone who is renting here, they need to have complete artistic control,” Klymkiw says. “It’s their film.” The WFG has between 200 and 250 mem- bers, Klymkiw estimates, including celebrat- ed Winnipeg cinematographer Guy Maddin. Klymkiw and Maddin are longtime friends and collaborators, in fact. Klymkiw — who has been the WFG’s executive director for a little more than three years but got his start in filmmaking through the group decades ago — produced Maddin’s first three films: Tales from the Gimli Hospital, Archangel, and Careful. Posters of those films adorn his office’s wall. “The early films were all done through the Film Group,” Klymkiw says. “We actually rented equipment from here and shot scenes in that little studio over there that we call the ‘Black Lodge,’” (neither Klymkiw nor Baillie knew if the name is a reference to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks or if it was called as such before the cult-classic mystery-horror series graced ABC’s airwaves in 1990.) Speaking of Lynch, Klymkiw’s a lover of his 1977 experimental horror film Eraser- head, and played it every Friday and Saturday at midnight for two years when he programmed cult films at a theatre called The Festival, which stood at the corner of Arlington Street and Sargent Avenue. “I’d never seen anything like it,” he says of the movie in which a factory worker in a post- apocalyptic society has to care for a hideous mutant baby. “It was completely insane.” Klymkiw says there’s nothing under the movie sun he hasn’t done. He spent time in the 1980s on the corporate side as a film buyer, where he secured big Hollywood flicks — such as Eddie Murphy action-comedy Bev- erly Hills Cop — for small-town theatres in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario so they could show them first-run. He also spent 14 years in Toronto at the Canadian Film Centre as a mentor and teacher. “I just always loved movies and I couldn’t imagine a life doing anything else,” he says. The WFG has training initiatives for all levels of filmmakers, but Klymkiw says he’s “taken a particular interest in the new generation of filmmakers,” pointing to a basic filmmaking workshop for high-school students as an example. “What’s important to me is for people who are interested in making films at that early age, I want them to have the tools they need to make those films. Their films, their way… “Working with a lot of these young film- makers is to give them what those rules are so they can work through them, but then also break them and bring their own crazy, nutty visions to the work.” Baillie is one such young filmmaker who got his start at the WFG. He was into movies but his high school, St. John’s, didn’t offer any programs. He found an ad for Quantum — a basic course — on the floor one day and managed to get in despite the class being at capacity. At Quantum, the then-14-year-old learned the basics of script writing, camera opera- tion, lighting, sound mixing and editing — and shot his first film. “At the end of the course, we showed the movie at Cinematheque (Artspace’s first- floor theatre.) I never would have gotten to do that without the film group.” Baillie later attended a WFG summer camp, got his first camcorder — his parents bought it for him using Air Miles — and started filming his friends’ bands. As his passion grew and he wanted more than an “Air Miles camera,” he bought a membership with the WFG. “It was insane,” he says of suddenly having access to professional equipment, adding the access gave him the freedom to experiment, make mistakes and improve. Now 25, Baillee has held the technical and equipment manager position for four years and he’s the one teaching high schoolers. “To be able to come here to an artist-run centre where we are so focused on creativi- ty… and breaking the mould and doing things differently, I feel like I get to give back to the community,” he says. There’s tremendous value in the connec- tions made between WFG members, regard- less of skill level, as filmmaking is extremely and inherently collaborative. “People don’t only learn from myself or other senior filmmakers here… I actually find that filmmakers who discover each other in a lot of our workshops, they actually end up collaborating on films,” Klymkiw says. “What’s really important is for people to discover each other and learn from each other and work with each other.” For Sara Bulloch, the WFG’s been just that: a place to meet fellow filmmakers. Five years ago, she was studying business but wanted to get more involved in the film industry. She turned to the WFG, volunteer- ing and taking workshops. “Volunteering was a great way to get to know the local film community and opportu- nities out there,” she says. Bulloch’s made leaps in the industry since then. She’s participated in their 48 Hours Film Contests — where participants must write, shoot, edit and score an original short in just two days — and won best cinematog- raphy last year for a short she wrote and directed entitled Hot Dog Guy. She also helps co-ordinate events for the WFG-initiated Womxn’s Film & Video Network. Also a WFG board member, Bulloch has truly benefitted from the connections it can provide. She is currently an editor with Farpoint Films and first met co-owner John Barnard at a group event. “I’ve learned a lot from awesome people,” she says. Of course, it’s one thing to make a film, but another thing entirely to get people to see it. That’s why the WFG takes care of distribu- tion and exhibition, too. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Klymkiw was in charge of marketing and distribution at the WFG. “My thought at the time was ‘Look at all these people making cool films… is there a way to treat these films like real movies?’” he explains. He recalls a time where they took a bunch of “crazy” Winnipeg short films and com- piled them into a feature-length flick. They called it Tales from the Winnipeg Film Group, in homage to Maddin’s Tales from the Gimli Hospital. It played theatrically all over the U.S. “A lot of our films over the years have been acclaimed and screened all over the world,” Klymkiw says. WFG’s distribution staff is responsible for marketing a sizeable cata- logue of members’ films to film festivals, art galleries and museums. Helping Winnipeggers turn their cinematic dreams into reality and getting their passion projects showcased worldwide makes Klym- kiw feel the WFG is on the right track. “It is really all about people finding a home to express their independent visions,” Klymkiw sums up. “I think that’s one of the great things about a place like the Winnipeg Film Group. I honestly believe there’s nothing like this place in the world, and here it is in Winnipeg. I think that’s a really special thing.” The heart and soul of independent film Moviemakers’ vision comes first at the Winnipeg Film Group DECLAN SCHROEDER Cinematheque, Winnipeg’s home of cool movies THE fourth pillar of the Winnipeg Film Group is exhib- ition, and that’s where Cinematheque comes in. The near-100 seat auditorium on the first floor of Artspace is “a huge asset for the Film Group on a number of levels,” Klymkiw says, primarily because having such a space allows them to premiere and show members’ films. Cinematheque also attracts those looking to catch films — local, Canadian, independent, foreign and classic — mainstream theatres have opted not to show. Dave Barber, Cinematheque’s senior programmer, recently brought in the Safdie Brothers’ ferocious crime-thriller Uncut Gems (starring Adam Sandler), and Bong Joon-ho’s feted Korean offering Parasite. Klymkiw says Cinematheque’s programming heark- ens back to a bygone era in which Winnipeg “was a huge, huge, market for really cool movies and had so many independent theatres…” recalling long-shut- tered, but not forgotten, venues such as the Starland, Deluxe, original Metropolitan and others. Independent theatres, by and large, don’t exist in the city anymore. “It’s really corporate (now,)” Klymkiw rues. “Cinematheque is the only game in town for people who want to see cool movies,” Klymkiw says. “We’ve got great projection equipment, a great sound sys- tem… we’re always selling out, too, that’s the thing. We’re selling out! It’s ridiculous. Some of the stuff we’re playing here is going through the roof.” Cinematheque offers all sorts of other events, such as Restoration Tuesdays — where they show old films in their perfectly-restored glory — and the ever-popular Saturday morning All-You-Can-Eat- Cereal Cartoon parties — where attendees can binge on sugary cereals and watch retro cartoons just like they did when they were kids (they can even show up in their pyjamas if they wish.) Cinematheque is doing so well Klymkiw’s biggest wish is to have two or three more screens. He calls getting those “a long-term goal.” ‘To be able to come here to an art- ist-run centre where we are so fo- cused on creativity… and breaking the mould and doing things differ- ently, I feel like I get to give back to the community’ — WFG’s technical and equipment manager Dylan Baillie Photography by Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press Winnipeg Film Gorup executive director Greg Klymkiw (left) and technical manager Dylan Baillie. ;