The team of Can I Get a Witness? didn’t have to create a futuristic world where industry has slowed down, nature had returned and people live more intentional lives. That’s the world we found in Powell River, and that’s why we shot the film there.
The whole community in the Powell River, or as the local Indigenous community calls it the Qathet, was very open to film production and welcomed us warmly. We worked with producer Raymond Massey, who had deep ties to the area, and associate producer Tony Papa, who runs a digital film school and is an endless booster and our fixer for all things Powell River.
The challenge of shooting remotely was compounded when we wanted to honour our central theme of the climate crisis and the environment. Wanting to leave a smaller footprint was the focus of how we did everything. We used as many crew and materials as we could from the area, but on such a tight schedule, we had to bring up a lot of equipment from Vancouver. Typically, this would take a full day and two ferries, but we were able to barge up our trucks with the weekly delivery of supplies for the community. All garbage and recycling get shipped out of the community for processing. We used real dishes and reusable water bottles which helped us keep over 108,000 items out of the landfill on our short shoot with a relatively small crew. We literally dumpster-dived for some of the clothing. (picture from ang)
The script was written with Powell River in mind, but the story is not post-apocalyptic but post-industrial. The mill, once the biggest one in the world and the reason the town of Powell River came into existence, shut down early in the year, right before we got our funding.
Director Ann Marie Fleming travelled around Powell River seeing her script come alive. Producer Raymond Massey followed up on her location’s wish list and everybody said “yes, how can I help?” Shooting in the middle of a large industry shut-down had its challenges, but also opportunities to work with a crew that would not normally be available for a low-budget Canadian indie.
The crew found the experience of being up in Powell River so magical that some have looked into moving up there. Shooting the film was an emotional experience for everyone involved.