Kugluktuk crime story gets the film treatment
SAO hopes 'Coppermine' filmmakers visit hamlet, but notes publicity will increase tourism regardless
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, May 15, 2017
KUGLUKTUK
A film based on Keith Ross Leckie's novel Coppermine is being made into a movie. It's good news for Kugluktuk senior administrative officer Don LeBlanc, who has not heard from the producers, but expects it will be good for tourism regardless.
This photo, believed to have been taken in front of the Edmonton courthouse in 1917, shows the principal players in the arrest of two Inuit hunters from the Kugluktuk area who were charged in the gruesome murders of two priests. Front row, from left, Liavinik (interpreter), Koeha (witness), Uluksak (prisoner), Sinnisiak (prisoner), Patsy Klengenberg (interpreter). Back row, from left, C.C. McCaul (prosecuting attorney), Inspector Charles La Nauze (arresting officer), James Wallbridge (defence attorney), Constable D.E.F. Wight. - photo courtesy of James Ireland |
"I haven't heard a sound but it would be logical for them to come here and I really hope they do," LeBlanc said, noting it's not known whether the community will be involved in the production.
"It's good for tourism. With the ships that come in here - it's easy to get here. If people see the movie - then it's an attraction."
Producers are describing the movie as an epic adventure, a double murder investigation and a passionate love story set in the early 1900s High Arctic. Coppermine follows mounted police officer Jack Creed and his young interpreter as they apprehend two Inuit hunters from the Coppermine area - Sinnisiak and Uloqsaq -for the gruesome murders of two priests.
According to reports, the priests were shot, stabbed and axed to death. But legend has it that the hunters killed the priests believing they were going to try to kill them.
The two were initially found not guilty in Edmonton but then convicted at a later trial in Calgary, and sentenced to hang. Both men had their death sentences commuted.
According to spokesperson James Ireland, filming will begin next year.
"Principal cinematography will be in Manitoba and production hopes to have additional shoots in Nunavut with local actors and production people," Ireland stated in an e-mail. He did not say exactly where in Nunavut he expects filming to be done.
The book's Canadian author is also excited that Coppermine is being made into a movie.
"My original fascination with this true and unique story has never diminished," Leckie stated in a news release.
"It is a naturally cinematic and character-driven narrative on the level of The Revenant."
Leckie, who lives in Toronto, is also well-known for his script writing of other Canadian stories including 'Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion' and 'An Officer and a Murderer: The Russell Williams Story'.
Production company Buffalo Gal Pictures is also well-known for turning Canadian novels into movies, including Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel featuring Canadian actress Ellen Page.
