Calgary International Film Festival to celebrate 10 years of CBC’s Heartland
The stars of the Alberta-shot CBC series Heartland, including a horse, will be walking the red carpet as part of a Calgary International Film Festival’s new Showcase Alberta program, which will celebrate the decadelong CBC family show by screening its 10th-season premiere on Oct. 1.
Showcase Alberta: Celebrating a Decade of Heartland was announced Wednesday morning at a news conference, held at Currie Barracks in front of the interior set of the Bartlett Ranch.
The screening and afterparty is the centre piece of a new initiative called Alberta Scene and the first in what will be an annual program celebrating content from the local TV and film industry. Heartland, which is now the longest running hourlong series in Canadian history, was a natural choice for the first event, said Calgary International Film Festival executive director Steve Schroeder.
“It’s massively successful in Canada and around the world,” Schroeder said.
“Obviously the show has a lot of fans. But in terms of general public, I know people know it’s successful, but I’m not even sure that here in Alberta we know quite how successful it has been and what a big deal it has been.
“One of the legacies for this celebration event is to have more people understand how high above our weight we are punching with this show.
“Showcase Alberta will go forward and next year it will be celebrating another wonderful Alberta story but this is all in the context of increasing and tripling-down on the amount of Alberta content.”
Heartland’s Amber Marshall, Shaun Johnston, Graham Wardle and Alisha Newton will be on the red carpet Oct. 1 for the event, as will the horse that plays Spartan in the series.
People know it’s successful, but I’m not even sure that here in Alberta we know quite how successful it has been and what a big deal it has been.
It will be held at Flames Central and include the screening of Season 10’s first episode, directed by Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald. The episode will air on the CBC the following night.
Heartland is now shown in 119 countries and, in Canada, tends to attract 1 million viewers per episode. Wednesday’s announcement was broadcast on Facebook Live on behalf of the film festival. Within a few hours, it had generated more than 10,000 views and shout-outs from as far away as Dubai, Australia and California.
“(During) a fan appreciation day in Toronto in the CBC atrium — it’s a big atrium — it filled up instantly,” said Heartland executive producer Tom Cox. “(The cast) were on the green room on the sixth or seventh floor — and when they came out and looked over the balcony at the fans below the uproar almost took the roof off. I think the CBC was as shocked as we were at the feedback and the fan passion.”
The Oct. 1 event, however, likely marks the first time Spartan has walked a red carpet.
“Although he is a veteran actor and hits his marks,” said Cox.
The film festival, which runs from Sept. 21 to Oct. 2, has not released its lineup yet, but Schroeder said it will include the most Alberta features and shorts in the festival’s 17-year history. That includes the 10 finalists of Alberta Spirit 2016, a Sept. 25 contest that awards $2,500 to the top short film by a local filmmaker.
“There’s this public hunger for understanding more about the film and TV and screen media scene from the Alberta public,” Schroeder says.
“People ask me, why are you focusing on Alberta so much at this festival? There’s lots of clever answers to that question, but the real answer seem obvious: We want to help feed that public passion for our industry in the province.”