Filming September Runs Red

Adam Beach stars in low-budget film shot in village of Osgoode

By Tony LofaroA made for TV-movie shooting in Osgoode this week is giving new meaning to the words low budget.

In a two-storey home on a rambling street in the village of Osgoode, director Dan Forgues leads five technicians through the paces on the set of September Runs Red, a psychological thriller. There are no movie star trappings—no large trailers are parked outside, the streets have not been blocked off for filming and meals for cast and crew come from the local restaurant.And:“We’re not doing Star Wars here, you have to be realistic about it,” said Forgues, who moved from Toronto to Ottawa about 10 years ago and has directed dozens of TV dramas, commercials and documentaries.

“We’re creating a film that has a very strong storyline with a small crew with a name talent to show the evolution of new independent filmmaking. This is the future of filmmaking, although it is in its infancy stage. You don’t need the big studios, big cameras and equipment. We’re not incurring vast costs normally associated with huge film crews.”And:“The film follows the downfall of a woman who is emotionally torn from the death of her sister. I play a guy who is in a relationship with her but he just doesn’t have enough energy and compassion to fill his duty as a boyfriend and so he exits. The film makes us look at our inner fears that we don’t tell people.

“The film kind of relates to my own fear of water,” he said. “My dad drowned when I was eight years old. The film pays attention to my own childhood, and it’s just something that I only realized this year that I had a fear of water.”Comment:  For more on Adam Beach, see Adam Beach in The Boom Boom Room and Adam Beach Moves to Vancouver Island.

Below:  Proof that Natives can grow beards, sort of. "Actors Caroline Redekopp, left, and Adam Beach are on the set of the film, September Runs Red, in Osgoode."