The Olds College abattoir has a feature role in a short film to be screened this week at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Calgarians who made the 17-minute short Not Far From the Abattoir shot part of it at Olds College’s slaughter facility.
Starring Calgary’s poet laureate and actor Kris Demeanor, the flick is about a man named Warren who loses his “soul-deadening” job at an abattoir in a small Alberta town. Warren starts to explore his artistic side as a songwriter after meeting a free-spirited painter named Ada.
Not Far From the Abattoir won a best screenwriter prize for a drama under 30 minutes at the recent Alberta Film and Television Industry Awards. It also previously picked up awards at the Calgary and Edmonton film festivals and was shown at the South By Southwest Festival in Texas.
The film by Calgary’s North Country Cinema Collective, is slated to be shown at the renowned Cannes Film Festival in France this week as part of a 25-film promotional package assembled by Telefilm Canada.