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The long silence since our last blog entry may cause the reader to think Site Media has been in hibernation: not the case.

Festivals, conferences, shooting on location on Fogo Island and in France, plus numerous deadlines have all come and gone as the last six months 2011 have flown by.

In March David and Director Annette Mangaard attended Montreal’s Festival International du Films sur l’art where Kinngait: Riding Light Into The World was screened as part of the official selection. They also attended the inaugural market event sponsored by FIFA that brought together producers, potential buyers and financiers interested in supporting films on art.

In May, we attended the 2011 edition of Hot Docs where we received encouragement for Site Media’s new project about Canadian/Norwegian architect Todd Saunders.

June saw us in historic Lunenburg, Nova Scotia attending a series of lectures organized by architect Brian McKay Lyons’s Ghost Laboratory.  Keynote speakers included architectural scholar Kenneth Frampton and architect Juhani Pallasma.

From Lunenburg we went to Fogo Island, Newfoundland to witness the opening of three new Todd Saunders studios commissioned by the Fogo Island Arts Corporation and the Shorefast Foundation.  Architectural critic Trevor Boddy, who had also come to see Todd’s work, accompanied us on our tour and provided witty repartee and informed commentary. We also attended Re:mode, a conference organized by the Fogo Island Arts Corporation that presented an inquiry into the nature of art and art making in remote locations. Presenters included Marc Meyer, Director of the National Gallery of Canada and Robert Sirman, Executive Director of the Canada Council.  Even the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right Honorable David Johnston, made an appearance.

The most eloquent interlocutors were residents of Fogo Island such as Susan Osmond who summarized what was said over the course of the day. Referring to the locally made quilts lining the conference room Susan commented: “What some call Art, I call necessity” http://twitcasting.tv/fogoartscorp/movie/1894011

Seeing Todd’s buildings for the first time was breathtaking. The much documented, award winning ‘Long Studio” did not disappoint, it exceeded expectations. Dwarfed by its setting on the barren shore, the weight and scale of the building does not become apparent until you are quite close. Hefty yet airy the structure is elegant as a chapel.  In fact, all of the commissioned art studios have an atmosphere of ceremonial contemplation that belies their purported function as workspaces.

Unseasonable cold, rain and high wind made filming a challenge. After a busy week of events, meals and festivities, we left Fogo Island and began the long drive from Gander to the ferry.  At 10 p.m., just 20 kilometers from Port Aux Basques, a yearling moose leaped out of the dark and fog, onto the road and into our car.  Miraculously, no one was hurt. The moose was not so fortunate and neither was the vehicle.

Moose impact

Undaunted, Katherine headed back to Fogo Island to be joined by filmmaker Jared Raab where they spent another two weeks filming.

What we were now calling the ‘Fogo film’ was turning out to be as hard and flinty as the island itself. Everything about the place is extraordinary. Not just pretty pictures; the Saunders buildings are tangible objects in a real place with real people. Life on Fogo Island may appear laid back but survival there remains a high stakes gambit. The more we researched and experienced the more complicated and thorny the storylines became.

The project and, well, everything increasingly appeared a high stakes gambit.  Shaken by the moose and by the challenge we were facing we were again shaken when we received news that we received funding from the Canada Council. We were overjoyed to have this vital support and now we know there will be a film.

Katherine and Marcia Connolly traveled to France in August to document artists Arnaud Maggs and Spring Hurlbut at their stone cottage near Toulouse. This will be an important chapter in the film portrait of these two artists and partners in life. Katherine was spurred to commence filming on the conviction that an important moment was forming in the creative lives of these distinctive characters.  This instinct was validated and supported with the news that the Ontario Arts Council had awarded the project a production grant.

It is impossible to emphasize enough what this support from two arts councils means to Site Media, especially given the current environment of so many talented filmmakers competing for dwindling sources of production funding.  Such support literally keeps us, as filmmakers, alive.

Written by David