A new non-profit film festival organization, which launched in March of this year, is looking at Stettler as a possible affiliate.
Central Alberta Film Festival (CAFF) was organized by Ranjit Mullakady, and Naeem Rabbani, earlier this year to support, promote and educate the central Alberta community on local film makers and the genres of films they produce. Rabbani worked in Bollywood for about seven years before coming to Canada, and Rabbani has been working as a documentarian for nearly 20 years, five in Canada.
Town of Stettler Mayor Dick Richards and councillors Sean Nolls and Malcolm Fischer attended a meeting held by CAFF in March to show their interest in being part of CAFF's plan to have satellite festivals. Stettler was the only group to attend the Red Deer meeting other than the city of Red Deer and Red Deer County.
"It was baffling to me because there are so many communities nearby," Nolls said of the lack of participation. "The appealing thing about CAFF is the involvement of the local community."
Nolls said he and the others are completely behind the idea of CAFF as there's a desire for more cultural activities in the community.
"We had an orchestra sell out at Christmas," he said. "People want these sort of things."
He noted the success of the various dance and singing events in the community, as well as the support of red carpet events at the Jewel Theatre.
"(A Film Festival) is something we've not had as long as I've been here," Nolls said. "And we're in a place where we can do it."
The independent nature of the Jewel Theatre — a rarity — means Byron Geddes, the owner, can hold special events and bring in films of his choosing. To date, he'd held a red carpet event for a film starring a local performer and has been showcasing Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) films in conjunction with the library.
"A lot of people don't realize how much of a hub Stettler is," Nolls added. "We're a stopping point on that Highway 12 corridor, and we get people from all over."
The day after the meeting, CAFF's people made the trip to Stettler, where they had a tour with the town delegation and Stacey Benjamin from the Board of Trade. The group looked at the AV department at the school and toured the community.
"They were really fascinated by the town," Nolls said. He explained that CAFF has contacts with people in the film industry who are looking for places to shoot their films, and he hopes that working with CAFF will see more film tourism come to the community.