As a kid growing up, Tyson Storozinski lived at the Prince George Auto Racing Association's speedway in the summer.
His dad raced cars on the oval track for 12 years and competed in the always popular hit-to-pass races.
Those memories and the feelings they evoked inspired Storozinski, now a Vancouver-based independent film maker, to make a movie about it.
Titled Hit to Pass, the 72-minute film will be unveiled tonight at PGARA. Gates open at 8 p.m. with the film to follow at sunset.
"To me, hit-to-pass was like Christmas," said Storozinski, who returned to his hometown for the premier screening. "It was about the family getting together and building a car."
Storozinski, who served as producer, and his crew, shot the film during PGARA's hit-to-pass eight-cylinder race in September, 2013. Besides the race, his team spent two months of gathering footage in and around Prince George last summer.
"I'll warn people - the film's not going to be two hours of people crashing into each other," said Storozinski. "It's more about the friendships and the associations that are made. It's an abstract, experimental approach to a crash derby. There is a story behind it."
Storozinski first approached PGARA with the idea of putting cameras everywhere around the track - in the pits, in the cars, on the hills - and even from the air above using an unmanned aerial vehicle.
In the end, nine cameras in different formats were rolling during the race, which resulted in 26.5 hours of footage combined with the two months of film gathered.
It was the job of Kurt Walker, the film's director, co-producer and editor, to simmer the footage down into 72 minutes, a task that took about five months to complete after working his own 9 to 5 job.
Storozinski's dad, Dale, served as the executive producer and his parents and friends also helped in the shooting.
"We revisited the whole methodology of building a car from scratch and being a kid," said Storozinski. "The first half of filming takes everyone on the trip from Vancouver to Prince George. The race is in the middle. I don't want to spoil the end.
"It's basically a snapshot of Prince George 2013."
Storozinski loves the finished product and he's excited to see what the audience's reaction is to it.
"I want the film to be an experience for them [the audience], to feel something," said Storozinski, who returns home every year. "I want to evoke a variety of feelings and challenge people and engage the audience."
Admission to tonight's screening is by donation. The film will be shown with a projector onto a semi trailer on the front straight-away. All proceeds will be given to PGARA for track improvements. Fans are asked to bring their own snacks as the concession won't be open.
"It's our way of paying them [PGARA] back for giving us access," said Storozinski.
