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Frozen Seed
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by
Unknown Author
October 30 - November 5, 2008 |
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We probably all remember how No Country for Old Men won the
Oscar for Best Picture at last year’s Academy Awards. But if asked
which movie won the award for Best Short Film, most of us would
draw a blank (It was Le Mozart des Pickpockets, just for future
reference). Unfortunately, the short film is a medium that — for
whatever reason — doesn’t seem to have leapt into mainstream
media yet.
What a bloody shame. There are countless short films worth
our attention, and one of them is Craig Watkins and Tim Bissell’s
nine–minute short feature, Frozen Seed.
The duo, inspired to take up filmmaking after taking a class
together at Mohawk last November, originally planned to start a
production company to do advertising, corporate videos, wedding
films and similar things. “But, in the end, we decided [it was a]
path we didn’t want to go down for ourselves,” says Watkins.
“Movies are just as hard so we thought we might as well go with
what we love.”
The pair who — ironically — draw inspiration from the Coen
brothers, set to work on Frozen Seed on a weekend in February.
“Tim wrote the story one day and sent it to me by e–mail. It’s
based on an article he read in National Geographic called
“Norway’s Ark” a while back. I read it and thought it was great so
we just set off to work on it.”
The story is simple. In the year 2045 A.D. two scientists
arrive at their destination after weeks of traveling. They have been
sent to find a food cache that is hidden underground in a forest.
Just as they uncover the box containing various seeds, a troupe of
government–sent agents opens fire on them, causing the mission
to go awry. In a matter of minutes, the film’s co–directors have
managed to set up a story worthy of a full–length feature film.
Bissell and Watkins admit the film was meant as a way to
gain more experience, and didn’t anticipate the success it would
gain. Winning Best Picture at the Hamilton Cinematic Festival, it
has been chosen to play at the upcoming Hamilton Film Festival at
the Staircase Theatre.
While Frozen Seed is playing, the two already have a new
film in the works, this time a feature length film called Another
Man’s Son. “It’s basically about this spin doctor named Ari Hazelle
who works for a small town’s mayor. He is called to the mayor’s
house late one night and discovers, to his horror, that the
mayor’s wife is lying dead at the bottom of the stairs. Not quite
believing his employer’s story that she fell down in a drunken
stupor, Ari decides to start a little investigation in the matter of
his own. What he finds are secrets far darker and more disgusting
than he could have ever imagined.”
To support their upcoming movie, Watkins and Bissell are
having a musical fundraiser at the Door’s Pub on Halloween —
Friday, October 31. There to lend their support are bands Maple
Creek Junction, The Please Kill Me’s, Red Light City Ransom and
Nexus. Also, don’t miss Frozen Seed at the Hamilton Film Festival
on Thursday November 5 at the Staircase Theatre. V
[LAURA HOLTEBRINCK]
Frozen Seed @ the Hamilton Film Festival
Directed by Craig Watkins + Tim Bissell
Thursday, November 5th
@ Staircase Theatre
27 Dundurn N., Hamilton
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