Leah wins 35k Bravofact Pitch Contest
Johnston was just awarded a $35,000 BravoFACT prize to go toward the filming of ‘Ingrid and the Black Hole.’
“It’s just amazing,” said the filmmaker. “In short order, this will be the fourth short film, but I wrote it first. Initially, it was way too long and crazy, but I always liked the idea behind it.”
The film, said Johnston, is about Alzheimer’s and how it parallels with time travel, and features two children who discover a black hole and imagine what it would be like to travel through time.
“It’s an interesting concept that has stuck with me, and when I helped out looking after my grandmother with Alzheimer’s, I had firsthand experience of what she was going through, and I was really struck by how it was similar to time travel. I ended up rewriting the script and it’s thrilling to see it realized and funded.
“It’s always been a pet project in the back of my mind.”
The prize was given out over a three-day conference in Halifax last weekend. Women Making Waves also featured three WAVE Awards being given out, with one going to Millbrook’s Catherine Martin.
During the conference, five finalists for the BravoFACT award had to present their concepts to an industry jury before Johnston was named the winner.
It will be filmed in the Halifax area, she said, when she’s almost finished directing another short she wrote – My Younger Older Sister.
“I moved up the shooting for this week with My Younger Older Sister, just in case I won the BravoFACT award,” she said. “We’ll go right into post-production in March and pre-production in April.”
Johnston said there’s a four-month turnaround with the prize from BravoFACT, so work has to begin on Ingrid and the Black Hole very shortly.
When it comes to My Younger Older Sister, this is the first time Johnston has had to act with her younger sister, Katherine Johnston, in her own short.
“My younger sister is actually playing my older sister in the short,” the writer/director said about the eight-year age difference. “A lot of people can’t tell us apart or tell who is older or younger. We look so much alike and that is a huge plot point.”
My Younger Older Sister, said Johnston, is a story about an 18-year-old girl who goes through a crisis when approaching her 19th birthday.
“She realizes she’s about to out-age her older sister, who died at the age of 18,” said Johnston. “It’s a story about loss and coming to terms with your own identity.”
She said working with her sister is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
Funding for the filming of My Younger Older Sister came in part by a Linda Joy Award.
Johnston’s completed films will be shown in October, during the inaugural Showcase Truro Film Festival.
(Written by Raissa Tetanish for Truro Daily News. Published on March 02, 2015)