It’s a long way from the Whitney Forum to the silver screen in California, but a documentary film shot last year has made the jump.
“Flin Flon: A Hockey Town,” shot in Flin Flon in the winter of 2017, has hit the international film festival circuit.
The film dives into several aspects of the daily existence of the Flin Flon Bombers and community itself. Showcases of the players’ day-to-day lives, game footage and interviews with multiple fans, players, alumni, billet families and community leaders are featured.
For director Dustin Cohen, the film centres on the connection between the town and the team.
“I really think it’s a story about how tight-knit Flin Flon is and how much the community invests itself in the players. I mean that in a lot of different ways, but they offer them the best that they can give in order to help them become better people,” he said.
“I think the team and the town thrive off one another and I think it was a wonderful thing to learn about and share with people.”
Since holding a number of small screenings in Flin Flon, the film has made appearances at two film festivals and there are plans for more.
The film made its festival premiere in March at Cinequest in San Jose and had a well-attended event at Northwestfest in Edmonton in early May. Stops at other festivals in London, Pennsylvania and elsewhere are scheduled in the coming months.
Flin Flonners and Bomber fans have been in the audience at every stop so far, and Cohen said Flin Flon’s diaspora has taken a liking to the film.
“At every screening so far, there’s been at least one person from Flin Flon here. Even in San Jose, there was a fellow who drove up from Monterrey. He’s never brought his son to Flin Flon but wanted him – he’s a big hockey fan – to see where he grew up. That was pretty amazing, I thought.”
“In Edmonton, we had all the people wearing Bomber gear stand up and there must have been almost 40 of them.”
The film’s Edmonton showing took on a special twist. During the planning stages for the screening, the Humboldt Broncos’ team bus collided with a semi, leaving 16 people dead. Suddenly, the documentary’s larger theme – the connection between small towns and their hockey teams – became national news.
“We’d been accepted into this film festival on Wednesday, and the accident with Humboldt happened the Friday before,” said Cohen.
“We jumped on to a phone call with the organizers and I was saying I was excited to bring the film to Edmonton and that was great, but was also very aware that there were things going on that were hitting very close to home for a lot of families.”
It didn’t take long for an idea to be unanimously approved – the proceeds from the film screening in Edmonton would be donated to the Humboldt community fund. All told, the film raised just over $2,000, which was presented to the community by festival organizers earlier this month.
“It’s a small thing, but I think it was an important gesture and I’m glad we were able to do something to help,” said Cohen.
Things didn’t always go smoothly during the production of the film. Before a single frame of film was shot, Cohen and his crew ran out of gas on their way north.
“We were sitting in a freezing car on what I think was the coldest day we were there. That’s always funny to laugh at.”
Thinking back to shooting, some of the images shown in the film stick out for Cohen. He recalled a shoot where Bombers head coach and general manager Mike Reagan flooded and cleared off a rink on a lake.
“I’ve never felt cold quite like that before, but watching that beautiful sunset there up at the house – it was an incredible experience. That was maybe our second day there and it was absolutely beautiful,” he said.
