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Wednesday October 28 2015 11 ARTS CULTURE FILM By CRAIG GILBERT The worlds happiest man is from Fort Smith. Richard Van Camp is knee-deep in cre- ative work muscling as many as three more of his graphic novels into live action lms. Blanket of Butteries The Blue Raven and Three Feathers are all set in Fort Smith and Van Camp wants to lm them in the NWT border town as early as this coming spring with local lmmaker Carla Ulrich directing. Three Feathers is inspired by the true story of three young men caught break- ing into houses Van Camps family home among them. In reality they were sen- tenced to two years each in prison in the south but the story imagines that they were instead sent to spend nine months on the land. Were so good at sending people down south for two years every single time Van Camp said from his home in Edmon- ton. What if we put them on the land with qualified instructors and elders and what if we trusted them with responsibil- ity helped them learn their language and their culture what it means to be a man a provider and a young warrior today a protector The rest of the story seemed very easy. The timeline for the Three Feathers shoot has already had to move back it was first intended to shoot in October but Van Camp sounded optimistic that cameras will roll in March and again next September. The twin shoots are needed to capture the progression of seasons during the time the boys are on the land in a film of just 40 minutes. The twins are actually sextuplets since the crew will be shooting each scene in Bush Cree English and South Slavey. Three Feathers the graphic novel has al- ready been translated into Bush Cree and will soon be available in Dene and South Slavey according to the author. We raised quite a bit of money for the shoot Van Camp said. We have an angel investor Anne Lepine who will be an asso- ciate producer. Were going to need the whole community to come out for different scenes. For example when the three young men come into the boat launch in the rst scene. We need people at the courthouse and around differ- ent shots when the ambulance goes to pick up Gabe we need the whole community to show upandbeoutragedVanCampsaid.Itsgoing to be huge. Youre talking to the worlds hap- piest man. Im just over the moon. A love letter to the world Van Camp has also written a third graphic novel set in Smith Spirit which is about re- spect for all life. Fort Simpsons Cathy Shea is illustrating it. HickeyGoneWrongmeanwhilewhichwas lmed in Fort Smith in August and premiered thereinSeptemberwasrecentlyacceptedinto the Stuttgart Film Festival in January where it will be screened with German subtitles. Last but not least Blanket of Butteries the second graphic novel set in Smith crafts a leg- endary backstory for the fabled suit of samu- rai armour at the Northern Life Museum and Cultural Centre. Van Camp has not secured a lm deal for that title yet but is condent the story which revolves around the samu- rais sword being lost in a card game and a mysterious man named Shinobu appearing to claim it has the legs to get there. Itsgreatitsbeautifulhesaid.Icanshow this story to anyone in the world and theyre going to fall in love with Northern culture. I know this is truly my rst international story. Funding in place for Fort Smiths next Van Camp lm After delays Richard Van Camp plans spring shoot for Three Feathers A page taken from Richard Van Camps recent graphic novel A Blanket of Butteries one of three graphic novels now set in his hometown Fort Smith. Richard Van Camp signs copies of Three Feathers at the Northern Life Museum in Fort Smith last year during a screening of Mohawk Midnight Runners. As your new Member of Parliament I will not let you down and will work every day to make the NWT a better place to live work and invest. I havent taken any of our communities for granted and I will continue to ensure the concerns of all of our people are represented by the new Liberal government. I want to thank my family my volunteers and all of you who voted for me and made this historic election result possible. Thank you all so much. Michael McLeod MP Northwest Territories Filephoto