A motion picture adaptation of the 1970s autobiography The Eden Express, which originally took place in the qathet region, has wrapped up shooting here.
Shot in this region over a six-week period, the motion picture details the early life of Mark Vonnegut, son of famed US writer Kurt Vonnegut, who travelled to this region after graduation from college, lived in a commune on Powell Lake, and became afflicted with schizophrenia.
Producer Dan Bekerman said this is the second feature film he has been involved in that was filmed in this region, with the first one called Kayak to Klemtu.
“I was familiar with Powell River from that experience,” said Bekerman.
He said he became familiar with The Eden Express years ago, when he was much younger, and the book left a lasting impression.
“It was very meaningful to me,” said Bekerman. “So, it’s been a more than a decade process of talking to Mark, working on the project, developing the script and finding all the people to get involved, including the director and actors.
“I thought it would be really neat if we could film it in Powell River, but we were keeping an open mind. We were looking all around British Columbia for locations. It’s more like fate directed us to where the story actually took place, because this is where we found the right locations and the right sort of feeling as a place to make the movie and tell the story. Powell River was just the best place to film.”
Bekerman said the community has been incredible in support of the production.
“So many people have been super generous in helping us find locations and letting us accommodate our crew,” said Bekerman. “There’s quite a few people in the movie as background actors in different capacities.”
He added that one of the lead actors, Paloma Kwiatkowski, is from this community.
Wherever possible, the production has also used local crew. Bekerman said it’s always a goal when filming in a location to find as many people to work on the movie as possible.
“Frankly, it’s just the most efficient thing, because you don’t want to have to travel with more people than necessary,” said Bekerman. “So, yeah, we’ve definitely been working with local folks and integrating them into the crew as much as possible.”
Bekerman said he found Powell River to be an incredibly special place.
“There was truly no other place that had the right feeling to tell this story,” said Beckerman. “It’s not just because this is where the story took place. I think it’s because there is a uniqueness to Powell River that you just wouldn’t find anywhere else.”
Similar to Mark Vonnegut, Bekerman said he came from out east and made his way west when he was in his 20s. He said The Eden Express really captured the feeling of discovering the west coast, and the strong feelings and dreams that are associated with that.
“As I became a producer and started to make movies, it dawned on me that I can try to tell any story in the world,” said Bekerman. “So, I thought about different stories I wanted to help bring to life. The Eden Express had so much impact on me that it was one of the first things I thought of trying to do. However, I was an independent Canadian producer, and it takes a lot to get a feature film off the ground, so it took a long time.
“I’m extremely pleased with how we’ve mounted it and there were many other producers who were instrumental in getting the project off the ground.”
Christina Wood, another producer on the film, said executive producers Sam Pressman and Bianca Rusureally championed the project since bringing it to a financing forum at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023. Other producers, including Kaja Sokola, Jorey Worb, Sarah D’Ambrosio, Stephen Fry and lori lozinski were also instrumental in making the movie.
Wood said it was worth focusing on the fact that the film has themes of mental health that are core to the story. She said the producers were not only helping to assemble the pieces of the production, but they were also passionate advocates for mental health.
“We have great ambitions to redefine the way mental health is depicted on-screen with this movie, and to destigmatize and reframe audiences’ minds around what it means to be someone who lives with mental illness, and that it not being their entire identity or a sweeping label,” added Wood. “In conjunction with the release of the film, we have plans to run a mental illness social campaign. One of our executive producers is Steven Fry, the brilliant British actor, novelist and playwright, who is afflicted with bipolar disorder, and has endured a life of ups and downs as a result of it, has been so outspoken about what it looks like to live with it and not let it define him.”
One of the great features of the production was that Mark Vonnegut and his family were able to travel here and witness the production of the film.
“I believe it was a very meaningful experience for him, and for the whole cast and crew as well, to have him here with us,” said Bekerman. “He’s a very generous and lovely person.”
Bekerman said everybody on the crew has discovered what a special place Powell River is, which has played out on the overall look of the shoot.
“Every independent film is incredibly challenging and you’re just trying to squeeze it out, because financing is always really challenging, especially when you want to tell a story like this, which, at its core, is a very human story, including some of the more challenging aspects of life,” he added. “It’s an uphill climb for a movie like this and you can only get there if you’re working across the board with some very dedicated artists who believe in the story. We were extremely fortunate to have a cast and crew of people like that.”
Bekerman said The Eden Express has a distribution partner in Canada, so it should be in Canadian theatres. Beyond that, the producers are hoping to take the film to one of the big festivals and look for broader distribution. And of course, the producers are hoping, when they are finished with the film, to have a screening at the Patricia Theatre for anyone who would like to come and see it.
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