Jasper has a story to tell in celebrating 100 years as a national park and a community, and Doug Latimer wants to be the one to tell it.

Latimer, a mountain guide who was born in Jasper and currently resides in Canmore, has organized a talented team of filmmaking professionals to create a documentary about Jasper’s centennial. Now, he’s looking for financial support to help get the project off the ground.

“In less than 12 months Jasper celebrates its 100th anniversary and what I’m trying to do is put together a documentary to basically celebrate the people and the landscape and how they’ve changed in the last century,” he told the Fitzhugh last week, during a lull in his fundraising schedule. Latimer had made the trip to secure funding from various sources in Jasper and was pleased to be heading south with a commitment from the Friends of Jasper National Park and the Sawridge Inn, amongst others. There is more to do, however.

“Basically, we’re looking for support within the entire business community of Jasper,” Latimer said. “I’ll be going after grants as well, but we do need local support, otherwise if we receive regional or national funding the project may never be seen in Jasper.”

Local screenings, which are a priority for Latimer and his team, would not be for larger funding groups, he said.

“They will own the rights and they won’t want to cut into their viewership by letting the film be screened separately.”

While Latimer would not specify the actual dollar figure of the project budget, he acknowledged that making the documentary film would be costly.

“Our budget is very substantial,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for these projects to be in the six figure range but we’ve already received support that will bring the cost of the documentary to less than half of what it could be. A cost from $100 to $300,000 is not unusual for a one-hour documentary.”

In the immediate future, Latimer requires up to $10,000 from donations and grants in order to begin shooting on schedule.

“Essentially ... [what] we’re looking for is that we need to come up with development money so we can begin shooting. We literally have to begin working in February or there won’t be time,” he said, admitting that the proposed schedule for the project was ambitious. 

“By the middle of January, 2007, this film has to be finished and on the screen, and that’s a very fast turn-around.”

The group involved in the film project is described by Latimer as “exceptional” and “talented” and he will be counting on their professional experience to make the documentary a success. 

Rachel Gauk, who is married to Latimer, will be directing the documentary.

“Rachel is actually a very acclaimed musician who is now becoming involved in documentary films. Her most recent project, “The Vanishing Ice” will air on CBC in the next few weeks and premiered at Hot Docs, which is a very prestigious documentary festival,” Latimer said. Scoring the piece and responsible for sound is Dr. Omar Daniel, a professor in electronic media at the University of Western Ontario who Latimer describes as “one of Canada’s finest composers” and who has produced extensive commercial recordings.

Joining the team as an associate producer is Gemini-award winning cinematographer Roger Vernon, who has worked for the BBC and on large Hollywood productions such as Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood and Paycheck with John Woo.

Latimer, meanwhile, will be working as a camera operator and a guide during the filming of mountain sequences.

A short trailer has been cut by Latimer and he is using the demo reel in his fundraising efforts. Interspersing archival photography with mountain footage as Aaron Copland’s bombastic “Appalachian Spring” provides a dramatic soundtrack, the trailer gives potential supporters an idea of Latimer’s essential vision for the film.

“The plan is basically to have Jasper tell its story,” he said. “There will be no narration, the footage will be linked entirely by interviews with people who live or have lived in Jasper. And it will involve a very diverse range, from Parks to railroaders, to people who work in the tourist industry, historians and so on ... and to use their words to basically weave the story of Jasper and how it has changed.”

None of the footage on the demo reel was shot by Latimer and his team.

“We have not shot for this project yet and we will be shooting in HD so the resolution will be four to five times that of the demo reel and also we’ll be shooting under the guidance of Roger so the quality will be that much higher,” he said.

The finished product will clock in at 44 minutes, a television broadcast hour, and according to Latimer, that’s one of the ways he hopes to distribute the film.

“We’re going after broadcast, we’re going after festivals as well as screenings within Jasper and the surrounding region, so the piece has the potential to reach a very broad audience,” he said. “This is not intended for people who know that Jasper is here, it’s for people who don’t know. It’s intended to show the world what makes us unique ... not just as a landscape but also as a people.”

As for the local screenings, Latimer wants to make sure that the film produced will be relevant for years to come.

“We want this to be showing in Jasper throughout the centennial year and beyond ... even though it’s a centennial piece, it can’t be so specific that it’s only good for one year.”

Beyond financial support there are other ways for interested Jasperites to lend a helping hand, such as agreeing to provide interviews, or giving gifts in kind in the form of accommodation for the film crew. Those inclined to pitch in physically will be welcome too, Latimer added.

“We may need some porters for some of our trips,” he said with a smile.

Above all, Latimer wants to make sure that Jasper takes advantage of the opportunity to mark the occasion, one way or another.

“Of all the events that have come along in the past ten years, this is the one that is ours. It really is the people of Jasper’s and we’re not going to have another opportunity to celebrate like this for one hundred years,” he said.

“When we look at the history of this park and the culture of this region, it’s a reflection of every person who has ever lived here. So this is almost like a wedding anniversary for the people of Jasper, only it’s a relationship to this land. And that’s what makes it different from anything else and if we don’t do it, it’s just going to disappear and then we’ll have lost this opportunity.” 

— For a look at the trailer and full details on the project, visit the site at www.shadowlightproductions.ca