News Updates
Locally-Shot film Aloft to Screen at Berlinale
Posted on January 2, 2014
The Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) has announced that Aloft, a Manitoba-lensed film starring Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy and Melanie Laurent, will screen as part of the festival’s ‘Competition’ series. The film (formerly titled Cry/Fly) is helmed by Spanish director Claudia Llosa (Academy Award nominated Milk of Sorrow) and co-produced by local company Buffalo Gal Pictures, in partnership with Arcadia Motion Pictures, Grand Via Productions, Wanda Vision and Noodles Productions. Aloft is a co-production between Canada, Spain and France.
The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival will take place from February 6 – 16, 2014. Over 400 films screen at the festival each year, very few of which are entered in the prestigious ‘Competition’ category. Aloft will be vying against George Clooney’s The Monuments Men; Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel; Yann Demange’s ’71; Alain Resnais’ Aimer, boire et chanter (Life of Riley); Dominik Graf’s Die geliebten Schwestern (Beloved Sisters) and Yannis Economides’ Stratos.
“We are so proud to have participated in this film, alongside Telefilm Canada, and to see it achieve such a high-profile screening,” said Carole Vivier, CEO & Film Commissioner at Manitoba Film & Music. “A huge congratulations goes out to Buffalo Gal Pictures, Claudia Llosa and everyone involved with the film.”
Manitoba “The Perfect Location”
The story of how Aloft came to Manitoba begins with Spanish production designer Eugenio Caballero. While working on the production design of Deserted Cities, a feature film that shot in Manitoba in the fall of 2012, Caballero thought the location was perfect for his next project Aloft (which was in development at the time) and brought it to the attention of director Claudia Llosa. While Buffalo Gal Pictures budgeted the project, Manitoba Film & Music hosted a scout with the director and producers in December 2012. Pre-production began in January 2013.
“Manitoba has worked hard to become a centre for film production and is proud to have had a part in helping this magnificent film come to fruition,” said Ron Lemieux, minister of Tourism, Culture, Heritage, Sport and Consumer Protection. “We have amazing locations, both rural and urban, to fit the needs of just about any script. We have highly trained and experienced crews and our Manitoba Film & Video Production Tax Credit offers an economic advantage that makes Manitoba an easy choice for producers working on tight budgets.”
Aloft was shot primarily in rural Manitoba and included locations in Stonewall, Marquette, Selkirk and throughout the Interlake. Many of the film’s stunning sequences were also shot on frozen Lake Winnipeg near Beaconia Beach and Patricia Beach.
Manitoba on the Silver Screen
In addition to Aloft, Manitoba has served as the location for several high-profile projects in the past two years. Heaven is for Real, starring Greg Kinnear and Kelly Reilly, shot in the province last summer and will hit theatres this coming Easter. The film was co-produced by local company Buffalo Gal Pictures. The trailer can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ewaCVARtM. Midnight Sun, helmed by Tomorrow Never Dies director Roger Spottiswoode and co-produced by local company Original Pictures, filmed in Churchill and throughout Northern Manitoba in the winter of 2013. Other recent high-profile projects include Reasonable Doubt (Samuel L. Jackson and Dominic Cooper, co-produced by Eagle Vision Inc.) Strings (Josh Duhamel and Laura Dern, co-produced by Buffalo Gal Pictures), Deserted Cities (Gael García Bernal, co-produced by Buffalo Gal Pictures), and Bunks (Disney Channel, co-produced by Inferno Pictures).
“What’s especially encouraging is that this increase in high-profile films in accompanied by an increase in co-production opportunities for Manitoba’s producers,” said Vivier. “A recent study conducted by On Screen Manitoba indicates a strong shift from service production to co-production, giving our producers significantly more control over intellectual property and more ownership in these projects.”
