Somerset Productions News Release ********************* This past weekend, Huntsville played host to the first annual Film North International Film Festival and local filmmakers Michael Humble and Patrick Gilbert were on hand to represent their short
This past weekend, Huntsville played host to the first annual Film North International Film Festival and local filmmakers Michael Humble and Patrick Gilbert were on hand to represent their short film “The Lake”, directed by Kevin Hoffman. The film, an eight-and-a-half minute reflection on the nature of memory and love, wound up winning the award for Best Short Length Movie.
“It was quite an honour to be included in a festival with people like Terrence Malick, Guy Maddin, Tobe Hooper, and Isabella Rossellini and we were honestly surprised to win the award,” admitted Michael Humble, the film’s writer and co-star.
Humble and Gilbert (who shared a best cinematographer award with Ed Regan early this year at the Music and Film Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards) developed the film with local director and frequent collaborator Kevin Hoffman. Based on a 20-year-old short story by Humble, The Lake tells the story of two men who meet at a picnic table by a lake one day.
“The idea behind the film is partly that there are things you can spend an entire lifetime looking for, but sometimes it is hard to you know where to look, but it is also a reflection upon humanity’s ability to reshape their memories to suit a specific need,” Humble explained.
“There were a few challenges in the shoot, like trying to capture an authentic 1950s vibe along the shores of 2009 Lake Nipissing, but it is a great film and we are all very proud of the way it turned out,” Gilbert said of their production.
The Film North Festival presented a three-day showcase of films from around the world and was designed to create a user-friendly environment for emerging Canadian and International Filmmakers to exhibit, promote, entertain and inform the audience. The festival is designed around interactivity with the audience and Humble introduced their film on Saturday morning and also participated in a Q&A session with a pair of filmmakers who shot a collaborative narrative/documentary film in Peru about the impact of mining and oil drilling in the Amazon.
“It’s a very unique set up they have, a nice mix of emerging talent and established artists, and the organizers did an excellent job of making us feel welcome and appreciated,” Humble said of the event.
“We work very hard to produce these films, on our own time without any funding to speak of, so it is a great honour to be acknowledged like this on an international scale,” Hoffman said following the event.
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North Bay's production team of Gilbert, Regan and Hoffman won the award for Best Short Film at the Film North International Film Festival in Huntsville Saturday night for their movie 'The Lake' . The Lake previously won best cinematography at Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards.
The Lake was up against Canadian short 'Shadow Dance', American short 'What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?' and El Perro del Hortelano from Peru.
Patrick Gilbert Cinematographer – The Lake
Patrick Gilbert is a multi-talented artist currently specializing in multimedia and graphic art design and production. Pat has always maintained a keen interest in artistic pursuits, from comic books through to film production, including recent work in the art department of a feature film shooting in the North Bay area.
Ed Regan Cinematographer – The Lake
Born and raised in Northern Ontario, Ed works as a professional photographer and has made a name for himself as a consummate professional with a keen eye for the beauty that surrounds him. As well as a talented filmmaker and photographer, Ed is also a gifted musician and singer.
Kevin Hoffman Director and Film Editor – The Lake
With a background in marketing, Kevin’s strength in the visual arts, and his experience in storyboarding, art directing, and television commercial editing, has resulted in a handful of film making awards. An accomplished painter, designer, and musician, Kevin applies his sensibilities to his films to create a uniquely artistic vision.
