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Synopsis [top]
River is a lyrical evocation of those life-changing friendships of youth - passionate, all consuming and sometimes, as brief as summer.
Stan and Roz live in a small city a long way away from anywhere. Roz toils away at a dead-end job, working the late shift cleaning offices and returning each night to her tiny basement apartment to draw and write and wonder how to change her life. By day, she roams the city with her camera, looking for things that don't fit - a plant growing out of concrete, a poem fluttering on a bankrupted pawn shop.
Stan shares a house with some noisy frat-boys and is working on a novel. While his father wants him to come home to take over the ranch, Stan is dreaming of New York City.
Roz and Stan are regulars at a late night coffee shop, sitting at their favourite booths and scribbling in their notebooks. When Stan finally musters the courage to speak to Roz, they discover that they have a lot in common - a love of music and writing and urban exploration. The next day they decide to show each other their favourite parts of the city - the music filled halls of a conservatory, a graffiti covered cul-de-sac, a roof level parkade. And they talk and talk and talk.
Stan and Roz become inseparble and soon they are roomates in a large, noisy studio. They dream of being artists and they share their dreams as together they explore the city, on foot and on bike, attending art openings, checking out bands, going wherever their curiosity leads them. They are flanneurs on two wheels, absorbed by the world around them.
Roz and Stan are each other's best critic and best friend. But the one aspect of their lives that they do not discuss threatens the friendship, and Stan and Roz discover what is possible in friendship and in themselves.
Making 'River'
The story of River was not written by an individual author but was developed during a two-month workshop prior to production with actors Maya Batten-Young & Adam Budd, and director Mark Wihak.
All the dialogue in the film was improvised by the actors.
These are acting debuts for both main characters (Mary Batten-Young & Adam Budd).
This is director Mark Wihak's first feature film.
River was shot with a very small crew of five (5), with a budget of only $70,000, on 24 fps HD video over the course of 20 days in and around Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Production Credits [top]
Director
Mark Wihak
Producer
Mark Wihak
Cinematographer
Patrick McLaughlin
Editor
Vanda Schmockel
Music
Eric Chenaux
Michelle McAdorey
Director's Notes [top]
By: Mark Wihak
"The River Manifesto"
I think River is one of those films that raise questions about the how and the why of filmmaking. I mean the film industry in Canada is kind of crazy; we use the production model of Hollywood but Canadian filmmakers work with a fraction of Hollywood's resrouces (I suspect this is the case for most filmmakers outside of Hollywood). I think that approach is a waste of time and talent.
Filmmakers outside of Hollywood should embrace budget realities and see them as an oppourtunity to explore new ways to make films and new ways of telling stories. Let Hollywood do what it does, and let us do someting else. There is an audience out there for films that speak a different language than that of Hollywood, just as there is a music audience for people who want more than the formulated releases of the major labels.
River's very low budget "freed" use from commercial expectations or external pressures to make a certain kind of film. What we set out to do was explore the vital relationship between our characters and to push our use of film language. Going into production I came across this quote from the American composer Morton Feldman (1926 - 1987) that became our guide while making River, "Art is a crucial, dangerous operation we perform on ourselves. Unless we take a chance, we die in art". I think we did a really good job following Mr. Feldman's advice.
The experience of making River has changed the way I think of making films. Instead of the strictures of Dogme (I always assumed Von Trier was joking anyways), I propose the River Manifesto. It offeres encouragement to make the most interesting film on is capable of, in whatever style one wants.
Media [top]
Images
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Links
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132457/
Sales Info [top]
For sales of River, please contact André Bennett at sales@cinemalumiere.com.