Up North on the road

I’ve spent the past week and a bit on the road with my buddy Rob, screening Up North to audiences in Vancouver, Victoria and Golden BC, as well as Lethbridge, AB. We met some great people, and had a really good time. I feel like we’ve gained the momentum we were lacking with this film.

We’re screening in Edmonton, and Calgary in the next few weeks, so please come check out the film. There are links under the events section on the page. Hopefully the early fall will bring screenings in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Cheers, see you soon.

Drew

Up North Article in Lethbridge Herald 07/14/2010 →

Our screening in Lethbridge was one of the best yet. We arrived in the afternoon, met with Sheila from the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group who facilitated the screening, and did an interview for the Herald. Here is the interview, I can’t wait to get back to Lethbridge in the fall, as we’re hoping to screen the film at the University. Should be good times. Check out the article.

Up North Vancouver Premiere Tonight

I left Edmonton late on Tuesday afternoon, hitting the city limits at about 5:00. I had set a goal to make it the Blue River by midnight. By midnight, I made it 50 KMs past my goal and pulled in for 5 hours of truck filled sleep. Wednesday morning, I got up and headed out, and made it to beautiful Vancouver by noon. The sun is shining, the beach is packed and it’s a really nice time to be here.

Rob has set up a screening tonight at SFU Harbour Centre sponsored by the Political Science Student’s association at SFU, and I am really pleased to be here for it. We’ve got screenings in six cities lined up over the next few weeks, and we’re working on other cities in the very near future.

If you’re in Vancouver, you should come out and see the film. It’s playing tonight at the Fletcher Challenge Theater (Room 1900) at Harbour Centre. Show starts at 7:00.

Up North article in the SFU Peak →

Robert Lutener lives in Vancouver and is a student at Simon Frasier University. He was on the Up North team, one of three individuals living in a van in the middle of the wilderness. He set up our Vancouver and Victoria screenings, and did an interview with the SFU Peak about the film. You should check it out.

Up North Screening Tour

I’m really pleased to announce a Western Canada screening tour for Up North - A film documenting conversations on the impacts of change in Northern Canada. We made this film as a crew of 3, it was self funded, self directed. We lived in a van for a month, consumed a fair bit of Jamesons, met some amazing people and somehow made it home without too much hassle.

I’m really looking forward to getting back in the van and taking this film on the road. So, if you live in any of the following places, please come out to check out our film.

Join us for the Western Canada Screening Tour:

Up North - Conversations on the Impacts of Change

Winner - Best Art Documentary - Mountain Film Festival - 2010

Admission by donation

July 8- Vancouver, BC - Fletcher Challenge Theater Room 1900 SFU Harbour Centre Campus - Presented by SFU Political Science Student’s Association
July 9 - Victoria BC - Camas Books 2590 Quadra Street
July 11 - Golden BC - Bizarre Entertainment - 824 10th Ave S
July 13 - Lethbridge, AB - Lethbridge Public Library - Theatre Gallery
July 16 - Edmonton, AB - Latitude 53 - 10248 106 ST
July 24 - Calgary, AB - Plaza Theater - 1133 Kensington Road NW

Trailer: http://www.upnorthmovie.com/

Synopsis:

Our environment and culture have been linked to our evolution since the dawn of civilization. Currently that linkage appears to be having an increasingly evident impact on our ecology and environment with little change in global culture. This dissonance is exaggerated intensely in our most delicate environments. Northern Canada is one of these environs.

In the summer of 2007, Drew McIntosh, Robert Lutener and Aaron Bocanegra set out on a journey across the north into the Arctic Circle, in exploration of the impact change has on the landscape and people’s lives.

Their 8500 KM (5282 mile) adventure began in Edmonton, Alberta, four hours south of the largest proposed industrial project in history, the Athabasca Oilsands. Traveling through Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, The Yukon, and the Northwest Territories they arrived in Inuvik, at the end of the 750 KM (466 Mile) gravel Dempster Highway, 200 KM (124 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

Through conversations with First Nations Chiefs, Elders, comedians, artists, dancers and mountaineers, Up North takes you on a journey of discovery and inquiry delving into a mulitilayered look at forms of change including economic, environmental, cultural, social, political, dromological and linguistic. Set against the stunning beauty of North America’s last wilderness, it accesses an alternate history of Canada’s north, told through the wisdom of experience and the reflection of our culture in the landscape.

The project was and has continued to be entirely self-funded without any grant support or government support. We are not affiliated with any outside interest. The goal was to allow the landscape and the people to been seen and heard in their own voices. In addition to putting our money and time into the project we were helped a great deal by the donation of both the van and the trailer as well as camping supplies by friends and family. Without the support of those who believed in the project we would not have been able to accomplish as much as we did.

Here’s the Trailer for Up North, screening across Western Canada this summer.

BUZZCOCKS - ORGASM ADDICT - LIVE @ NEW CITY

Video by Drew McIntosh

Audio recording by Christopher Zuk

Buzzcocks - What do I get? LIVE @ NEW CITY

Video by Drew McIntosh

Audio recording by Christopher Zuk

BUZZCOCKS - PROMISES LIVE @ NEW CITY

Video by Drew McIntosh

Audio Recording by Christopher Zuk

I was asked to come out and shoot some video for one of my favorite new Edmonton bands, Scrapbooker. Quite simply, these dudes slay. I got kinda drunk and stopped shooting, until i realized something awesome was happening, so I started again. I’ve seen bands try to pull it off and fail, but if you ask me, this rips.