Indie film captivates festival-goers in Charlton

Charlton’s 28th Film Festival began with a celebrated opening last Friday night with the captivating indie movie “A Boy Named Sailboat”.

At just 92 minutes in length this short, but engaging story of family and a young boy’s ability to create magical outcomes from a small discarded guitar was greatly enhanced by the postscreening discussion with director / writer Cameron Nugent.

A familiar face from the television screen, (“Sea Change”, “Blue Heelers”, “Around The Twist”), Cameron’s effusive and heart-felt manner was on show, even before the lights dimmed, as he chatted about what was to come in his first time role as a director.

There were no stand-offish mannerisms – just passion for a story which we came to hear held many deeper meanings.

Child Actors Featuring a largely unknown cast – with three young non-professional child actors carrying the weight of the movie – it was immediately engaging through the quality of the story, the naturalness of the children, the gentle humor and arresting visuals of the Hispanic locale of Silver City, New Mexico, where it was filmed.

The icing on the cake was the beautiful guitar backing by Australia’s Grigoryan Brothers – Slava and Leonard.

For an indie movie, the coming on board of Academy Award winning actor J.K. Simmons (best known for his electrifying portrayal of the brutal drumming teacher in the movie “Whiplash”) was a dream- come-true for the director, who wanted the star, but was told to “be realistic”.

When the actor phoned back saying he’d love to be in the film, Cameron said his first response was that it was a hoax call from a friend.

Budget “With a budget of only around $1 million for the whole movie, when J.K. said yes, we suddenly wondered if we would be able to pay him,” said Cameron.

“However, he is the most generous and gentle person, and he agreed to about a tenth of his daily rate, and then donated half of that back to Breast Cancer Australia.” Cameron’s wife, Skye was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer just a year after they were married, and despite warnings the couple decided to travel, and it was at a stop-over in Silver City that Skye decided the movie should be filmed there.

While she didn’t live to see it made, Cameron said she would have been very proud of the outcome.

While the film champions individuals’ unique gifts – focusing on things which might inhibit and turning them into strengths – Cameron said he was very specific about needing to find young actors who were similar to the characters.

“We were under a lot of pressure from LA to use trained kids – we saw around 1,200 taped auditions from professional kids, but we ended up going to the local school where we found exactly what we wanted,” he said.

With the Film Festival crowd asking questions ranging from how to draw emotional responses from the children, to how the story was developed, the significance of the repetitive diet of meatballs in the on-screen family home, and how the talented Grigoryan brothers were coaxed into supporting the movie, the evening continued apace over supper in the Rex foyer.

With four more films in this series to come, the next one, “The Forever Gang”, is due to start filming in Vancouver in August, with former Charlton local (and international blues/ roots musician) C.W.Stoneking writing the music.

Praise Filled with praise for the Rex Theatre, Cameron said it was almost a replica of the Silco Theatre in Silver City, where “A Boy Named Sailboat” first launched. “I just cannot believe it,” he said as he gazed around the filling auditorium.

With an eye to bringing the movie back with the Grigoryans playing the soundtrack live, those who missed the film this time may have another opportunity to catch one of the stand-outs from the 2020 Charlton Arts Film Festival.