The 32nd Atlantic Film Festival came to a close last Thursday and if one thing stood out, it was definitely the spotlight given to rookie directors, producers and writers.
One of those newcomers was Jason Buxton, who got a lot of buzz for his premier film ‘Blackbird.’
His film won three awards at the closing gala including Best Atlantic Feature.
“It’s extraordinary, we got the call to show up for the awards, but you never know what that means,” Buxton said after the awards. “But to win in all of the categories it is a great honour.”
Buxton donated the prize money for two of his awards to the Telefilm/Film Nova Scotia First Feature Project. He said the up and coming filmmakers have it harder now than ever.
“The film financing model is shifting across the country and it’s that much harder to get a feature film off the ground,” Buxton said. “What we did to make this film, you can’t do anymore and I think a lot of people are concerned about what the result of those changes will be.”
The donated funds totalted $18,000.
“For us, it’s about recognizing that there’s a low-budget film fund that needs more resources, so they need it more than we do.”
Blackbird tells the fictional but familiar story of Sean, a teenager who gets in trouble when his ramblings of a columbine-esque shooting plan are found. Sean wasn’t actually planning to commit the act, but he gets thrown in jail and his life is turned upside down because of it.
Buxton said he wanted to tell the story of these kids who have no voice.
“I saw a lot of these kinds of stories popping up in the media at the time and I did some research and talked to a number of teens who had been either arrested or expelled from school for expressing themselves,” he said. “As a culture we’ve lost our ability to discern case-by-case, and I thought these youth don’t have a voice paradoxically because of the measures that are in place to protect them, not being able to publish their name or likenesses, therefore made them nameless even though everyone in their communities knows who they are.”
‘Blackbird’ was filmed in Windsor and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Buxton said filming near his home has many advantages.
“It was great to film here, I could go home and see my family on the weekends,” Buxton said. “We have great tax credits here in Nova Scotia and the film crews here are amazing, world class.”
Buxton said he will continue to work on film projects including original works of his own and adapting novels.
Atlantic Film Festival award winners:
Best Atlantic Feature
$8,000 in services, sponsored by The Postman
Winner: Blackbird - Jason Buxton
Honourable Mention: The Disappeared - Shandi Mitchell
Buxton donated his award to the recipient of the Telefilm/Film Nova Scotia First Feature Project
Best Atlantic Short
$500 cash, $1,000 services, sponsored by 902 Post
Winner: Better People - Mark O'Brien
Best Atlantic Director
$10,000 in services, sponsored by Panavision Canada
Winner: Jason Buxton - Blackbird
Buxton donated his award to the recipient of the Telefilm/Film Nova Scotia First Feature Project
Best Atlantic Emerging Director
$500 cash, sponsored by OUTeast Film Festival
Winner: Ashley McKenzie - When You Sleep
Best Atlantic Cinematographer
$5,000 in services, sponsored by SIM Digital
Winner: Jeff Wheaton - Gravity and Grace
Wheaton donated his award to the NSCAD Film Program as a scholarship
Best Atlantic Original Score or Song
$5,000 services, sponsored by Hideout Studios
Winner: Claude Fournier - Last Chance
Best Atlantic Sound Design
$500 cash, sponsored by HHB Canada
Winner: Andrew MacCormack - Here and Away
Best Atlantic Screenwriter
$1,500 cash, sponsored by Michael Weir Foundation for the Arts
Winner: Jason Buxton - Blackbird
The First Feature Project
Production Financing of $105,000 towards a first feature length film, sponsored by Telefilm Canada & Film NS
Winner: Bunker 6 - Writer/Director: Greg Jackson, Producer: Rebecca Sharratt, Mentor: Bill Niven
Script Development Award
$10,000 in development financing from Astral, sponsored by Telefilm Canada & Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund
Winner: The Magic of Boxer Connor - Wanda Nolan
RBC 10 x 10 Emerging Artist Award
$10,000 to be split between filmmaker & artist, sponsored by RBC Foundation
Winner: Crows- Director: Scott Simpson, Band: The Divorcees
Audience Award for Best Feature
$10,000 in post production colour correction services, sponsored by Creative Post & Theatre D Digital
Winner: Low Life
Audience Award for Best Documentary
$10,000 in post production audio services, sponsored by Creative Post & Theatre D Digital
Winner: Revolution
Audience Award for Best Short
$10,000 in post production audio/video services, sponsored by Creative Post & Theatre D Digital
Winner: Lucky
