Screenshots from Humans of the Harbour City, Our Trees Story and Lifers: Working Song Title. (Storyhive)

By Spencer Sterritt

lights! camera! action!

Nanaimo-area documentaries hoping to tell human stories

May 30, 2019 | 9:30 AM

NANAIMO — Four documentaries currently seeking online votes in a funding competition hope to tell stories of our personal connections to each other and the area.

Each documentary is applying for $50,000 through the Storyhive initiative, where people vote on which projects they’d like to see come to fruition. Each film maker can shoot up to 25 per cent of their project before submitting and each makes a pitch video to entice voters.

The project Humans of the Harbour City, made by Nanaimo media group Levo Media, aims to tell the positive story of how the Nanaimo community is becoming more engaged and working towards a brighter future.

“What I’m hoping for is a story of redemption and new beginnings,” project lead Andrew Powell told NanaimoNewsNOW. “I’ve noticed people step up to the plate and help make our community a better place. I think this a great time to focus on that.”

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Powell said their documentary, which would be roughly 40 minutes long, wouldn’t shy away from serious issues in Nanaimo, such as Discontent City and a dramatic political scene.

However, he vowed not to focus on the negative.

“We’re more than that. We’re a pretty cool city,” he said.

Another documentary titled Lifers: Working Song Title also focused on positivity.

Envisioned by life coach Merideth Bisiker, it looks at the lives of several Oceanside and Nanaimo-area musicians and how they make their passions work for them.

“I sometimes wonder why these artists keep at it for 20 years when it’s such a slog and barely complain about it,” she said.

“These musicians can model for us how to go after the things we’re passionate about and actually make a living out of it, redefine success and enjoy life.”

The project was initially envisioned after a January 2018 trip to Nashville.

Director Zachary Tanner is also pitching his own documentary, called Our Trees Story.

It features three stories: an Indigenous tale about the carving of a totem pole to celebrate the International Year of Indigenous Language, a 70-year-old retired forestry worker returning to the woods after a terminal illness diagnosis, and the environmental efforts out of a place known as Wildwood and their lessons on eco-forestry.

“It encompasses the much larger story, the overall human story of all our connections with trees,” Tanner said.

These stories swirled in Tanner’s head for some time, especially the tale of a terminally ill man returning to the forest and the industry he knows.

The story of Rick Meyers and Miles Kehoe, an uncle and nephew both in Nanaimo’s trans-community, was in the planning stages for their whole lives.

Meyers said their project Smudge, named after his drag queen persona Vicki Smudge, will be a window into their lives and an opportunity for many to see a different story than what they might’ve assumed or expected.

“I came out in the 80’s and there was a whole bunch of people who didn’t know their brother, uncle or grandfather was gay,” Meyers said.

“I think what we’ll be able to show is that the trans community, which is under represented, is finally getting some light shed on it.”

Voting began on Monday, May 27. Each filmmaker said they’ve seen a wonderful community response to all the hard work they’ve put in.

They’ll know in July if they receive the Storyhive grants.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit