Festival's founder returns to his roots

Going back to the Nickel Independent Film Festival, this time as a participating filmmaker, can only be described with one word, said Roger Maunder: "electric."
For the first time, Maunder - who created the film festival in 2001 but resigned from the board in 2007 in order to focus on filmmaking fulltime - will take part in it as an audience member.
"I've had films screened there before, but I was working at the Nickel at the time. Now I can sit back and watch. It's awesome," Maunder told The Telegram. "I have nothing to worry about. Well, actually, maybe lots to worry about!"
Maunder's newest film, "Cut From the Same Cloth," will premiere at the Nickel on opening night, Tuesday, at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial University's INCO Innovation Centre. Starring veteran actors Paul O'Neill and Sheilagh Guy-Murphy alongside Mark O'Brien, Andrew Bartlett and newcomer Kimberly Drake, Maunder considers the film his most ambitious project to date, due to the sheer size of the production and the work involved in shooting it.
The 22-minute film tells the story of Johnny Cleary (Bartlett) of St. John's, who returns home from the mainland to tell his grandmother (Guy-Murphy) a secret he's kept hidden for years.
"On his way home, he strikes up a conversation with an old neighbourhood character; an old guy from the neighbourhood who knows everything about everyone," Maunder explained. "He starts telling him about his grandparents' scandalous history.
"Towards the end, Johnny realizes that life's too short to keep secrets and to live in a shadow."
The film alternates between present day and the 1940s, with O'Brien and Drake playing the part of the grandparents as 20-somethings.
With funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and the National Film Board of Canada, "Cut from the Same Cloth" was filmed over five days last July in the old west end of St. John's - Patrick Street, Cabot Street and Pleasant Street, with a focus on St. Patrick's church and a house belonging to local businesswoman Moya Cahill.
"My great-grandfather and his brother actually built that house and my grandmother grew up in it," Maunder said. "When I started writing the script, I had that house in my head the whole time, and if Moya had said no, I don't know what I would have done."
Maunder said the storyline for the film was partly based on his own grandmother, who had wanted him to become a priest. Once he came up with a way to weave that thread through a script, "Cut From the Same Cloth" was written in just four days.
Independently, Maunder has written, directed and produced a number of short films, including "It Ain't Funny," "Suitcase Horror," and the award-winning short drama "Swallowed," which aired on CBC TV and Bravo!. As an actor, he's appeared in productions like "Random Passage" and "George Street TV," and tried his hand at novel-writing in 2007, publishing "Mundy Pond," which he's now making into a film.
Maunder also works as the first-time filmmaker mentor at the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers' Co-operative (NIFCO), and teaches filmmaking classes.
While he's thrilled to be returning to the Nickel festival, he's content to remain an audience member and a behind-the-scenes adviser who routinely keeps in touch with new executive director Ruth Lawrence.
"What Ruth and the Nickel board are doing and what they've done over the last couple of years is phenomenal," Maunder said. "I'm really pleased. The festival is in great hands."
The trailer for "Cut from the Same Cloth" can be seen online on YouTube.
"Cut from the Same Cloth" is one of three local films that will screen during the Nickel festival's opening night, which will end with the Oscar short-listed "Gone Fishing" by director Chris Jones. An opening night reception with live music by Chris Kirby will follow the screenings.
The Nickel festival will continue until Saturday, with screenings each night at 7:30, late-night screenings at 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and children's matinees on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for regular screenings, $7.50 for late-night shows, and $5 for the matinees, with all proceeds going to the School Lunch Association.
More information is available online at www.nickelfestival.com.

tbm@thetelegram.com