A FAMILY AFFAIR. Kevin Pontuti directed the film while his wife Mimi French produced, and their daughter Talula plays the lead character “Frea.”

North Passage combines the talents of four friends from the west coast: Kevin Pontuti (director) and his wife Mimi French (producer), Jay Collins (composer) and his wife Charis Collins (writer). Kevin and Mimi hail from Los Angeles. They and their daughter moved to Menomonie when Kevin accepted a teaching position with UW Stout’s Art Department. Charis and Jay moved from Portland to a farm north of Colfax. The four are using their new surroundings as fuel for their creative fire.

The film features a young girl named Frea (played by Kevin and Mimi’s daughter), whose family escapes a worldwide economic meltdown, and takes shelter on Frea’s eccentric, survivalist grandfather’s farm. It is there that she mysteriously crosses paths with her regional ancestors in a subtle blending of time periods for a northwoods fairytale of sorts. The film explores environmental, economic, and social issues that relate to contemporary life. As we ourselves pioneer the coming decades, Frea and her family must learn to be pioneers in a new and difficult life. 

“We’re hoping to deliver a provocative and entertaining film that explores some basic and universal themes,” Kevin explained. 

The team is working very hard to make this dream a reality. Their main goals are to create an entertaining film that demonstrates the talents of their team and to promote independent filmmaking in Northwestern Wisconsin. When the project is finished, they plan to submit North Passage to both local and international film festivals. At the top of their submission list are the Stockholm Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Topanga Film Festival (California), Tampere Film Festival (Finland), and Sundance Film Festival (Utah). 

North Passage started as just an idea about two summers ago. They spent the summer of 2010 working on a script that combined their various interests and talents and ended up with a film that explores “what-if” scenarios of a post-economic crash. During the fall and winter of 2010, they produced a series of photo portraits and character studies to help visualize their ideas. Searching for funding, the team decided that it would be helpful to have a proof of concept. So this summer the team put together a trailer. Working with absolutely no budget, the creative team themselves can be labeled pioneers. With what little equipment they could pull together and one volunteer actress, the trailer was born. 

Now the team is ready to forge forward to the next portion of the project. They just finished filming another trailer as a part of a series of short character introductions. However, funding is a setback. They have launched an international crowd-funding campaign through IndieGoGo.com in an effort to raise money for props, sets, equipment, and insurance, but they’re still hoping for more.

They’re also looking for volunteers to help crew the film, so if you’re ready to let your inner actor burst forth, this could be your chance. They are also searching for people interested in helping with set building, wardrobe, and camera work. 

As of now, the estimated release date for North Passage is the fall/winter of 2012. “I think it will be a pretty powerful film that uses current events as a way to explore timeless narrative questions,” said Kevin. If you are interested in volunteering or supporting this creative endeavor, join their mailing list and/or follow them on Facebook for updates.