Old feelings of loneliness were twigged by a photograph Bryce Evans took of a solitary surfer silhouetted against a grey sky.
As Evans gazed at the photo he took in Hawaii of a man walking on a beach carrying a surf board, it brought back a memory of how isolated he felt as a teenager after moving from Edmonton to Red Deer at the start of Grade 10.
“These feelings came out of the blue, I wasn’t really prepared for them,” said Evans.
It wasn’t that Red Deer teens were unfriendly to the new kid at school. Evans recalls teammates in various sports asked him to come out after games.
His concerned parents also tried connecting with him by starting conversations.
But Evans said he wasn’t receptive to efforts others made to reach out. “The thing is, once you get into a certain mind set you tend to block everyone out.”
The 20-year-old, who became less of a loner in college, now believes he should have done more in high school to help himself surface from his sinking feelings of isolation.
And he wants to share this new-found perspective with other teenagers, through his inspirational short film, one.
Evans drew on his own alienated adolescence for the 15-minute documentary that’s premiering on Thursday, June 21, at Red Deer’s Memorial Centre.
The Red Deer College business diploma graduate made the film in partnership with cinematographer Tim Ursuliak, who took the RDC Motion Picture Arts program. The concept, however, was Evans’.
He hopes the film will help lift other young people out of a protracted loneliness that can sometimes lead to mental health issues and thoughts of suicide.
Besides showing one, with music by Dylan Khotin-Foote of Edmonton, Evans is also putting on a photo slide show and silent auction to benefit the Kids Help Phone.
He said he wishes he had used this non-profit phone counselling service while he was a teen. But Evans believes he may have become too depressed to seek help.
“Everyone needs time to reflect on themselves. That’s universal . . . But I was definitely having a rough time during high school, and I see now that I could have done better.”
Advance tickets to the 7 p.m. film showing and silent auction can be purchased for $3 at Alta Boutique, 4930-50th St. and the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery. Students can also purchase advance tickets at Red Deer’s three high schools.
Tickets are $5 at the door.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com