Archive Information
April 5, 2000
Friends,
Sorry that it has been so long since I last updated all of you but it
has
been a busy year. Between working to pay the rent and outstanding bills
from The Vigil while overseeing the film's visits to film festivals, I
haven't had nearly enough time to update the website. Until now! I promise
that it won't be so long between updates again.
Since I last spoke with you, the film was invited to the
International Forum of New Cinema in Calcutta where it played to packed
houses that (I'm told by Calcutta General Secretary Alok Chandra Chandra)
thoroughly enjoyed it. When I was writing the film, I never expected that
the character's conversations about music, life and (gulp) vegetarianism,
would play before the world's largest film-going audience. I wish I could
have gone to see how an Indian audience would react to a story about some
North American young people who love music talking about student loans,
Lawrence Welk, the evils of hair spray rock, and their favorite band.
But
India is really, really far away and I couldn't afford to go. I've asked
for more details about the screenings which I'll pass on to you when I
get
them.
After Calcutta the film travelled across the subcontinent to the
Festival of Films in Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) where it again (I'm
told by organizer P.K. Nair) played to packed houses. Wow. Like I said,
when I wrote the film I was thinking about my friends and their friends,
about the different kinds of people drawn together at concerts, all brought
together by their love of music. People like Avery and Mike, Claire and
Brian; about the people you meet and get to know for the length of a
concert, like the ones I met at Maple Leaf Gardens when Nirvana played
Toronto in the fall of 1993. I never thought about people in Mumbai. I
hope
that people in Mumbai liked it.
Once it got back from India, the film went on the road (appropriate
for a road movie) with four other feature films and a program of shorts
called "Prairie Tales" by Alberta Media Artists under the banner:
"It came
from Canada." The Vigil played in Banff, Hinton, Grand Prairie and
Lethbridge (where the journey to Seattle in the film actually
begins).Unfortunately, the day job prevented me from attending the
screenings but I hear they went very well.
This was followed by a quiet Christmas (except for the flu and a
trip to the hospital for me...which is another story altogether) but the
film is getting ready for what should be an interesting year. The Vigil
is
playing at the Princess Theatre in Edmonton on Saturday, April 8th at
7pm
as part of the Local Heroes International Film Festival. Local Heroes
is
Canada's foremost venue for independent films and I'm delighted that it
was
invited to be a part of the festival.
After that, the film will be available on video...with who and how,
the Producer, Claire, and I will have to decide over the next couple of
weeks. I know many of you have expressed an interest (some more strongly
than others) in seeing the film. While making it available for you to
enjoy
has been a long and often difficult road to travel, I'm glad that we are
almost there.
Lately, I have begun to think more and more about the similarities
between the journey the characters take in the film and the journey of
making the film. Things happen on the road that are unexpected, bringing
equal parts joy and tears, delight and sorrow, comedy and drama. In the
end, however, the important thing is to just keep moving. After all, it
is
the journey, not the destination, that really matters.
Justin MacGregor
writer/director