The red carpet will be unrolled soon at a Burns Lake theatre for a feature film shot in that location by a hometown actor/director.
The movie Neutral Territory was co-written and directed by Josias Tschanz, who also played one of the main roles in the film. The Swiss-born and Vancouver-based filmmaker centred the story around an aging European immigrant to Canada who was reluctant to give his rustic wilderness ranch over to a son who did not share his cultural or generational ideals.
The son was not above playing some hardball - and maybe even some dirty pool - with his estranged father to get his hands on the ranch's value.
Tschanz could think of no better place to film the story than back at the headwaters of the Nechako River where he grew up.
A film crew assembled in the Ootsa Lake-Cheslatta River south of Burns Lake in 2008 to put the story to camera. Plenty of local scenery and supporters were involved in the project.
The post-production work was finished in late 2010 and Tschanz went to work circulating it to the film festivals of the world.
"We are very excited by the response," he said. "We have been accepted into about 12 film festivals, and from those film festivals we have gotten I think 13 nominations for awards, so the response is positive."
It has already been seen in film festivals in Chicago (Beloit Film Fest), upstate New York (Buffalo-Niagara Film Fest), Florida (Treasure Coast Film Fest for which it won the Best Cinematography trophy) with other screenings scheduled for New York City; Beijing; Lucerne; Washington, D.C. and others.
On Saturday, the show comes home. Burns Lake is hosting the official general debut, and first Canadian public screening of Neutral Territory and Tschanz will be in attendance.
"I've got about seven people from the project coming along for the trip, and they are excited to go back and see everyone in Burns Lake again, too," Tschanz said. "The whole community up there has been fantastic. They made the project very special, and they are making this screening really exciting for all of us."
The festivities get underway on Saturday at 5 p.m., the film rolls at 6:30, and there is an after-party that Tschanz said will include a surprise performance from a musician heard in the film's soundtrack.
Tickets are available in Burns Lake at Process 4 Gallery and the Lakes Economic Development Association office.
