Drifting Snow premiere

Cherry Valley filmmakers’ movie premieres in Kingston

After a COVID-induced delay, the film Drifting Snow, directed by Ryan Noth and filmed by Tess Girard, had its premiere at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival (kingcanfilmfest.com) on Tuesday evening. Following the screening, Noth was available for a live question and answer session. The film can be streamed until March 7, the close of the festival. This is Noth’s debut feature as director, and the film was initially supposed to be released a year ago with a screening scheduled at the Regent just a few days after lockdown measures were introduced. The film tells the story of Chris (Jonas Bonnetta) and Joanne (Sonja Smits) who are strangers to each other, but end up driving together from the County to the Ottawa area on a winter’s day. They are each dealing with a loss in their lives, and they come to a greater understanding of themselves and each other on the journey. Noth had been thinking about this story since around 2014, when he and Girard were on a skiing trip. “I had been in the Gatineaus skiing with Tess, and I looked back and she wasn’t there. I got a little worried and then she came around the corner. A few minutes later, we saw an emergency skidoo go up past us, and I just thought, ‘Oh, my god, what if something happened to a partner when you were skiing together?’, that always stuck with me as a kind of terrifying experience, and I used that as the basis,” said Noth. He started collaborating with Bonnetta after the two met at the Sandbanks New Waves music festival, which Noth co-organized and Bonnetta played with his band Evening Hymns.

Noth had in mind Sonja Smits as the actor to play Joanne, and reached out to her long before the script was finalized, presenting her with just a 15-page “treatment”, or outline of the role. “There was something very beautiful and lyrical, and I thought let’s give this a try and see what happens,” said Smits. “Ryan said he wanted me to play me. One of the things that was so nice about this project was because he approached me early on, he wanted my feedback and input on the character, which was really nice. The character is at a point of change in her life, because of the loss of her husband. I still have my husband, and interestingly when we started shooting he had some serious medical situation, which is now resolved, but it was interesting having that going on in parallel doing the film itself.”

Sonja Smits during filming of a scene at the Athol Town Hall in Cherry Valley.

During development of the script, Noth soon realized the Bonnetta would be ideal to play the part of Chris, despite him having no prior acting experience. “I just find Jonas a lot of fun to hang out with and he’s easy-going, and I thought he would have that same characteristic in the film,” said Noth. Playing his first role opposite veteran actor Smits was at first daunting to Bonnetta. “I was terrified. I knew who she was. I’d grown up watching her on TV, but I’d never met her until our first day shooting,” said Bonnetta. “I had no idea what I was doing. The actual logistics of being on set was totally foreign to me at the time. And then I met her and she was so relaxed that it put me at ease and we just kind of hit it off and I’m so grateful.” Smits also had an instant liking for Bonnetta. “Jonas is a Renaissance man. He’s a musician, and he was an absolute natural. He does everything. He can act beautifully, he writes music, he produces music, plus he can cross-country ski way better than me.”

The film is set in the winter, and during filming winter made its presence felt. On a day of shooting in Cherry Valley, the cast and crew ended up being snowed in, but they took it in stride. “We just went over to Miller Road, and we filmed a scene with the car getting stuck in a blizzard, because that was the scene and that was actually happening,” said Noth. On the night of filming with Colin Mochrie in Ottawa, that city had the distinction of being the coldest capital in the world. “It was hell for Tess and the camera crew to be out in the cold and dealing with equipment, but no one lost a finger or a toe or anything,” said Noth. Smits also appreciated the work of Girard, who as a female director of photography is in a very tiny minority in the Canadian film landscape.

“There was just a tiny crew and she had to cart this heavy camera around and she’s in snow boots and snow pants and it’s -30. She’s a tough cookie. She is just a lovely person, and she has a beautiful eye also, and that was wonderful. It was also nice to have a woman on the set who is looking through a camera at you, because there is a relationship between the actor and the person looking through the camera.”

Everyone involved in the film is excited that it will finally be shown to the public. There was it initial disappointment that the release will be virtual, and the buzz that comes with a live audience seeing the premiere will be absent. But there are some upsides. Smits has family in western Canada and in Holland and they will be able to watch the premiere, which could not have happened with an in-person screening. Bonnetta had multiple parts to play in the production. In addition to acting, he also wrote the music score and was the on-location recordist, with some of the ambient sounds—such as sounds from the Waupoos marina—being incorporated into the score. He said that the year’s delay has allowed him to put some distance between himself and the film, and he will be able to watch it at arm’s length and to take it more for what it is. Noth has been busy with other projects recently, and has had little free time leading up to the premiere, but he too is excited about the final release. “I don’t know what the emotions will be, but if anybody emails me and says ‘hey, I saw that road’, or ‘I laughed at that scene’, I’ll be in heaven for the next year. I need some kind of feedback of people saying nice things.” The film will have a more general release in mid-April, with the possibility of a limited- attendance screening at the Regent, and at the drive-in. Noth gives credit to Girard for some spectacular work behind the camera. “Tess did an amazing job shooting it, and I think her visuals take the film to another level.”