WINNIPEG, MB
Winnipeg, Manitoba has been the setting of dozens of much-beloved indie films over the decades from Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg and The Saddest Music in the World to Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language and Terrance Odette’s 1999 classic Heater. However, movie-goers were lined up around the block this weekend to witness a historic event in cinema history – Winnipeg in summer.
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened,” said Charles Wiens, director of the aptly titled Smiles of a Winnipeg Summer Night. “Somehow we got our schedules mixed up and ended up shooting in July. It’s really too bad we’re shattering everyone’s expectations like this.”
Not wanting to up-end centuries of cinematic tradition, however, Wiens insisted that the actors wear parkas and garbage mitts, despite filming in plus 30 degree weather.
“I was thinking we’d just CGI in the snow,” said Wiens, “but I didn’t get a big enough grant for that, so green grass it is.”
Movie-goers say this new Winnipeg summer thing took some getting used it.
“There wasn’t a single scene where anyone had to bite their mitts off,” said film lover Susan. “And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Winnipeg movie without at least 2 or 3 Weakerthans songs on the soundtrack. This film was really pushing the boundaries of decency.”
Viewers are also utterly mortified at the lack of snow clearing equipment in the background of every scene.
(photo credit: David Stanley/CC)