Hank Williams First Nation, an Alberta-made film by Aaron James Sorenson will be released on DVD this coming Tuesday. In the low-budget, award-winning film, 75-year-old Uncle Martin muses about whether Hank Williams is really dead or alive. A young writer agrees to accompany Uncle Martin to Nashville in order to see the singer's grave.
From an Edmonton Sun article:
Sorensen wrote the screenplay three years ago, inspired by friends and folks of the Big Stone Cree Nation, while teaching school in Wabasca, a small community north of Slave Lake.
What started off as a school project with a budget of $7,000 (saved by Sorensen through driving truck during the summer) became more ambitious after he hooked the interest of well-regarded Canadian actor Gordon Tootoosis.
Now that it was going to be a real movie he needed real financing.
Denied by every major film funding agency, he tried the corporate world and was finally offered $50,000 by Peace River grocery store merchant Frank Lovsin.
"He said he'd give me $50,000 if I could raise the rest in four weeks. The Woodlands Cree Nation came in as one of the big partners, as well as other people from Peace Country."
Despite the modest budget ($250,000,) Hank Williams First Nation boasts a good script, realistic acting and wonderfully scenic shots.
Indeed, the film won a best director for Sorensen from the 2005 American Indian Film Festival, and the superb country-flavoured soundtrack (by local artists) won the best music award last year at the Nashville International Film Festival.
Shot over three weeks mostly in Peace River, (Edmonton's Whyte Avenue stands in for a U.S. street), it's the first Canadian film EVER to premiere in competition at the American Film Institute's Los Angeles film festival.
Check out the full article at the link above and pick up the DVD on Tuesday.
The official website can be found at this link.
Still photo courtesy of the official Hank Williams First Nation website.
