Made in Saskatoon: feature film 8th Street Menace debuting at Broadway Theatre

Saskatoon filmmaker Jacob Farrell says movie fans can expect lots of laughs at the premiere of the new feature film he co-created.

Screening at The Broadway Theatre on Saturday night, 8th Street Menace is a love letter to Saskatoon's dirtbags. Think Fubar or Trailer Park Boys, but with a local twist.

"We had to cut so many times because we were just cracking up," said Farrell, who shares co-director and co-writer credits with Gavin Baird, in an interview this week. "We shot it over a whole summer on weekends when we had free time. We had an incredible time hanging out with friends."

The film follows rapper Mitchell 'Menace' Dubois (played by Baird) — who Farrell describes as a "Métis slacker with a big mouth and a heart of gold" — as he schemes to make some fast cash to pay off a debt.

"There's a lot about friendship and family and doing what's right, even if it maybe feels wrong," Farrell said.

Farrell has directed music videos through his company Dorothy Studios. The Indigenous filmmaker has also directed two short films, a thriller called Lynch Pin and Grandmother, a documentary about his grandmother's experience in residential school.

Baird, also a director and producer, is a Métis filmmaker from Saskatoon and co-founder of Dynamic Video Imaging. He's won two Saskatchewan Independent Film Awards and his short film A Storm Blows Over can be seen on CBC Gem.

8th Street Menace premieres Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. at The Broadway Theatre. Admission is $10.

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

CBC: What is 8th Street Menace about?

Jacob Farrell: It's about the various misadventures that Mitchell Menace gets up to in an attempt to pay back his cousin Ollie some money that he owes. As the film progresses, he tries a couple of different schemes, but ultimately he decides the best path to to make some money is to become a big time rapper in the streets of Saskatoon.

How did you get into filmmaking?

I've been making videos and movies and films pretty much since I was a kid. I always kind of naturally gravitated toward telling stories and hanging out with friends and pressing record on the camcorder and just just having fun. So it naturally progressed into wanting to do that as a career. I've made a few short films kind of leading up to this, but this is my first feature film project.

What was the experience like making your first feature film?

You know, we did this for a real shoe-string budget. We didn't have a lot of money. So we did it on weekends when people had the time off work and it was incredible. It's like hanging out with friends making art. I just want to give a huge shout out to everybody who worked on the film. You know, filmmaking really does take a village. It was such a great feeling making this film. 

Who helped you make the film?

The cast and crew is primarily comprised of our friends in real life and people that we like spending time with. The main character is obviously Menace himself. There's his cousin Ollie, played by Oliver Darrius Merrick King, a filmmaker and actor originally from James Smith Cree Nation. He was so naturally charismatic and had such a good screen presence that we were so excited to have him in the project.

There's Menace's better half Trixie, played by Bernadette Mullen, and she's just so incredible and hilarious. And then Trixie's son Butch is played by Ryan Wray. In the movie, Menace meets Dez, played by Kayla Peters, and she's incredible too. A big shout out to Ryley Konechny. He's the cinematographer and colourist for the film and he helped out a ton. It's a real kind of Saskatchewan affair.

You mentioned some of the cast and crew are Indigenous. How did that influence the film?

It's a big part of the film. Yeah, I'm Indigenous on my mom's side of the family. And Gavin is Métis. So it's a part of who we are. It had to be reflected in the project itself, I think. Indigenous culture is so incredible and so beautiful. And we just wanted to have that be a part of the film for sure. There's so much humour in Indigenous culture.

How do you feel about the current state of filmmaking in Saskatchewan?

Making movies here is incredible. You know, the industry was gutted for a while, but I see a resurgence. I feel an energy toward filmmaking in the province and we have so many important stories to tell. We have incredible artists that are working here from here. I'd love to see people expressing themselves through film here in Saskatchewan. I think it's so important and we're excited to be a part of it.

What can people expect at the premiere on Saturday?

I'm so excited for everybody to come out this weekend to watch the project as a community on the big screen for the first time. I hope people come out and have a great time watching an independent film made here in the province.