Southern Albertan filmmaker premiers Cold Wind Blowing
By Ry Clarke For the LETHBRIDGE HERALD on March 15, 2022.
Up-and-coming southern Alberta filmmaker Dionne Copland’s feature film ‘Cold Wind Blowing’ premiered Monday at Calgary’s Globe Cinema, with a global release on DVD set for March 15.Copland is an aspiring young filmmaker who just recently graduated from the University of British Columbia’s film productions program in 2017. This is her first feature film and it has been getting quite the buzz from film festivals across Canada like the ‘Alliance of Women Film Journalists’.
The film follows a group of friends who take a trip to a remote mountain to get away from their families around Christmas. Their stress-free getaway takes a nightmarish turn for survival when a supernatural creature sets its sights on the group. Tearing away at the group’s fracturing relationships and testing their courage, the increasing danger makes it clear all of them will not be surviving the holidays.
Filmed back in 2017, ‘Cold Wind Blowing’ was shot on location in the Cypress Hills, Sask., where the cast and crew stayed on set using the spooky atmosphere to help set the mood.
“Griffin Cork, one of our actors, was holding the light for this one scene — and after we said cut he goes ‘Why were you laughing?’ and we all thought he was trying to be funny,” said Copland’s partner Louise Weard, working as the film’s producer and editor. “Afterwards I’m listening back on this file and I just hear this chilling inhuman laughter.”
But Copland says the fear genre won’t be the only feature she’ll be looking to tackle, saying their work is more character driven and focusing on the people in the story.
“We make unique stuff,” the couple says when asked about what is next for the pair. Copland is already working on a couple of new scripts and she says they are not looking to be defined by the genre and instead work to give audiences a character-driven story that breaks away from the clichés and set-ups, hoping to leave their mark with originality while not relying on what has already been done.
The project found itself a collective of everyone’s help and passion, overcoming obstacles and adapting to the wilderness while filming on location.
“Everyone threw themselves into the project,” said Copland regarding everyone’s role on the project, with actors and crew cycling through multiple roles during the 10 days of filming. “All hands were on deck and it created this intimate group of trust.”
With four years in the making, “Cold Wind Blowing” premiered in Calgary last night followed by a theatrical run in select cities across the U.S., like Seattle, Wash. and Las Vegas, Nev.
The film is the first full-length feature film from director Dionne Copland and fans of her work can expect more to come. 2
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