Friends of the Yarmouth Light Society excited to see their site selected

THEVANGUARD.CA

The group of volunteers that view themselves as the current lightkeepers of the Cape Forchu lighthouse are excited at the prospect of their property being featured in a film with famous actors.

Patti Durkee, a director with the Friends of the Yarmouth Light Society, tells how the production company for The Lighthouse, said to be starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, ended up at Cape Forchu.

She says she understood that film executives were scouting all over the world for the right place.

“Shaun Clarke, the location scout, sent an email in December to the Friends of the Yarmouth Light asking us to get in touch with him to talk about the property as a potential location for a movie,” she said.

“We viewed the site a number of times. Some crew came; the director came. Eventually it came together,” she said.

As the project is scheduled to

wrap up around mid-May, the filming shouldn’t impact the tourist season and, as of early March, visitors could still access the lighthouse property, excluding the Leif Ericson trail.

However, there may be times when public access to the property during the project is temporarily unavailable.

“As far as I know, the area around our lighthouse is still accessible by foot as it’s always been,” said Durkee. “But at some point, when they start getting the full crew here, they will be taking over the whole parking lot and may restrict access just for safety’s sake.”

There will be 24/7 security on site.

The movie is about a Nova Scotia lighthouse keeper in the early 20th century. The film company has not yet officially commented about the project to the TriCounty Vanguard, despite numerous queries.

The actual Cape Forchu lightstation will not appear in the film. Instead another lighthouse is part of the set construction.

The 60-foot lighthouse framework under construction at the end of the trail for the movie will basically just be “a skin around scaffolding,” said Durkee. “There won’t be much to it.” She added that the film company was informed about the Keeper’s Kitchen at the lighthouse but that meals for the production crew of about 70 would likely be contracted out.

The film company has donated an unidentified sum of money to the Friends of the Yarmouth Light Society.

“We’re excited. It’s certainly going to put Cape Forchu on the map. There’s no question about that. I would bet that we’re going to have media from many different places coming to have a look,” said Durkee. “The economic benefit is going to be fabulous.”