P.E.I.'s Harmony Wagner chosen for $1K film-making challenge

1KWave Atlantic is "a call for brave and bold features from Atlantic Canadian women," presented by Women in Film and Television Atlantic and pUNK Films. It challenges five female filmmakers to make a feature film in five months under the guidance of industry mentors, said a written release.

"The stats are terrible when it comes to women being in positions of power in media," said Wagner.

"It's a big problem. In Canada, we're looking at 17 per cent of what we make here has women in those positions of writer or director. But it's even worse when you look at the numbers behind that if the budget of the project is higher than a million dollars, it'sonly four per cent."

"So what that means is 50 per cent of the world is not watching media that was made for them, by them. It's time for change, and it's just figuring out how."

Wagner credits Ingrid Veninger of pUNK films for getting the ball rolling she executive-produced a similar program in Toronto.

'Strong submissions'

"We received strong submissions from women all across Atlantic Canada, making the choice a difficult one," said KimberleeMcTaggart, a member of thejury.

The five filmmakers they chose "represent a great cross-section of film experience, themes, and genres," McTaggart added.

The filmmakers are on a tight deadline: April was for writing and planning, May is for shooting, editing will be done in June, July is for sound and colour and in August they'll prepare promotional materials. The films are scheduled to be shown in September.

Wagner has dealt with small budgets before, but just $1,000? "I said oh that's crazy, I can't do that!" she exclaimed.

"Our company is trying to move things forward for P.E.I., we're actively trying to bring bigger budgets here to the Island and make work for people here, but it takes time," Wagner said, so she grabbed the opportunity.

'Keep our chops moving forward'

"We have to keep our chops moving forward if we actually want to play the game," she said, noting she and others in the industry "need to practice."

Wagner's film is about a young deaf woman who is attempting not to feel jaded with her lot in life.

Wagner has also directed the Island-made feature Kooperman, which can be seen here: vimeo.com/ondemand/kooperman, as well as the 11-minute short called Queen of the Crows, which was showcased at the 2014 Cannes International Film Festival.

Other winners of a grant from 1KWAVE Atlantic are Amanda Bulman of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Catherine Bussier, Koumbie, and Nicole Steeves of Nova Scotia.

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