On Nov. 1, Cold Road, directed by Dene filmmaker Kelvin Redvers, will be previewed at the Yellowknife International Film Festival.
Cold Road was filmed on the highway stretch between Hay River and Fort Resolution, and is crafted around the dangers and horror faced by femme drivers, alone, out on the open road.
“I want to make movies that are genuinely entertaining, that’s goal number one. And I think, being from the North, allowed me to have a perspective of the world that I think a lot of audiences don’t get exposure to, but also, has so many possibilities for drama,” said Redvers. “I have driven the territory’s highways my entire life and there was once I flipped a truck driving from Fort Simpson, and I was OK, but nobody came by for another 25 minutes. It was like -20 C. If something had been wrong, well — there are some genuine concerns for these highways, right?
“I think what the best movies do is give you a situation that is both familiar but also distinctl — like we all know the certain beats that a thriller goes through. And I wanted to hit those, and in a way that any movie-goer would be intrigued, but adding a new element (Dene stories, and the North),” he added.
“There are a lot of ‘killer on the road’ type movies, and I took a lot of inspiration from thrillers from the ‘70s and ‘80s, like those sort of old fashioned things you’d see in a reel, taking a lot of inspiration from creators like Steven Spielberg, but also as Northerners you don’t to often get those heart pounders, edge-of-your-seat type of movies that could fit in with the sort of Hollywood system, Hollywood movies. And given that there are a lot of real world situations that we are all aware of, that Indigenous peoples face, that Indigenous women face, that definitely informs the tension in the movie, while allowing it to still be a movie first.
“I want people to shout things in the theatre like, ‘No, don’t do it!” I had this one auntie, and growing up I remember her entire bookshelves were just lined with VHS of all those pulpy thrillers from the ‘80s and she would just sort of sit there getting spooked and I was like, ‘I want to make a movie for her.’
“As a note, we are a step or two from the movie being finished. This is the last time we can show this to the audience where we can still make last-minute changes, so we will give the audience a chance to speak to us after the preview. It’s still a ‘film in progress high’ is why I’m so excited to screen it here, as it is, in YK.”