Community spirit in Gabarus
Film shows dedication of community of 78 in protecting its seawall
A Toronto-based filmmaker has spent the part four years working on a film about a small Cape Breton fishing community’s determination to rebuild its seawall and he’s not really sure why.
“Everybody asks me that and I have no idea,” said Jawad Mir. “I’ve pretty much taken care of this entire film for the past four and a half years on my own dime.
“It struck a chord and I just went from there.”
The film, “Only 78,” was shown in Sydney in August and was premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival earlier this fall.
Now it’s scheduled to play in Port Hawkesbury on Friday at the Strait Area Education and Recreation Centre at 6 p.m., and on Saturday in Arichat at Ecole Beau-Port, also at 6 p.m.
Everyone is invited to the Port Hawkesbury and Arichat showings and Mir says there may be further viewings in the new year in Louisbourg and at Cape Breton University.
“There are no tickets for this but we are welcoming donations,” said Mir about this week’s showings. “Just to put it into context, I’ve pretty much taken care of this entire film for the past four and a half years on my own dime. Even coming down there right now is completely on my own — I just want to cover as much of my cost as I can. I don’t want to push people — whatever they can donate is great.”
Mir says he had been looking for an idea for his first featurelength film when he read a story about the Gabarus seawall and the difficulties the community was experiencing in getting it rebuilt.
“When I wasn’t looking for anything, that’s when the story appeared and I just picked up the phone randomly — it just kept on going and working out and I was really blessed to have people in the village with me.”
With severe storms happening more frequently, the seawall needed those repairs if the village was to remain and the repairs did eventually happen in 2014, thanks to financing from three levels of government. But the repairs, along with prize money from a competition that
helped save their lighthouse, was due largely to a concerted effort from residents, all 78 of them.
It’s that human element that people are responding to, he says, adding the film received a standing ovation when he
brought it to Sydney.
“It has been great and it speaks to the human condition — it’s something I knew people would like but the way people have liked it and the way people have turned out have surprised me too, which is great. It’s good for the film and it’s good for the cause and for the grand scheme of things.”