Indie film wraps shooting in Brandon

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This article was published 25/03/2024 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s Building Re-Fit Store typically offers all sorts of useful materials for projects, but it broke new ground on Sunday by serving as a filming location for a made-in-Manitoba independent film.

After spending eight days filming in Ninette, the producers of “The Princess and the Dragon” needed to look elsewhere for the right location to film the climactic fight between the titular characters played by Nadine McLachlan and Mark Kiazyk respectively.

With the help of some subtle set decorations, eerie blue lighting and a film crew, Brandon director Miles Crossman was able to turn the store’s basement into the battleground for an epic sword fight.

With the basement set to be renovated at some point, the team made sure to film their sequences while the aesthetic they were looking for was still in place.

McLachlan, dressed in battle garments made from household items like cheese graters, used a sword and a shield made from a garbage can lid to protect herself as Kiazyk, dressed as a black knight with a horned helmet, advanced towards her with a hammer and an axe.

“We’re going for a kind of psychological horror-thriller,” said producer Erik Fjeldsted, who also co-wrote the final draft of the screenplay with Crossman.

“We’re playing along the tropes of fantasy. It’s actually much more than just a princess facing off against a dragon. It’s almost like, is she making it up?”

The princess’s journey through the film, Fjeldsted said, sees her evolve from fulfilling a more traditional role and sporting a gown and tiara to evolving into a knight after she awoke the dragon, who is chasing her through an abandoned facility.

He said it’s a commentary on mental health and how people struggle with themselves, possessing their own dragons that need to be confronted.

The production is very Manitoba. Fjeldsted and Crossman are both from Brandon. They’re partnering with a crew from the Winnipeg area that includes GMB Chomichuk and Jonathan Ball, who co-wrote the original story the movie is based on as well as the first draft of the screenplay.

The cast is from Brandon and the surrounding areas. Both Fjeldsted and McLachlan performed in Mecca Productions’ rendition of comedy musical “Something Rotten” at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium.

“We’ve got a really wonderful, dedicated crew of friends and crew members alike who have joined us to work on this thing because we love making movies,” Fjeldsted said.

While details still need to be ironed out, he said the production is hoping for an Oct. 1 release date to take advantage of the Halloween season.

Chomichuk and Ball are going to promote the film on the comic convention circuit and are even planning on making a graphic novel based on the film.

The filmmakers hope the film will eventually get a theatrical release and can be sold to a streaming service.

Once editing is done, the hope is to host a premiere in Brandon with further screenings in Ninette and Winnipeg.

“I love making movies and this one in particular has got a special place in my heart,” Fjeldsted said. “Fantastic crew, fantastic cast, fantastic story and I can’t wait for people to get the opportunity to see it.”

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