ShebaFilms is a Canadian film, video and new media production company with a difference. ShebaFilms is led by award-winning producer, director and editor, Kelly Saxberg. No other production company in Northwestern Ontario offers the experience that ShebaFilms does because Kelly has worked with some of the best filmmakers in Canada and she has been a mentor to many of the emerging filmmakers in Thunder Bay. We have produced and/or managed the production of everything from short films to major series. We also have extensive international experience; we make films that are smart, and we welcome a challenge. Many of our films are intended for use in education and they have been screened around the world. Explore this website to see the depth and quality of our work. Take a few minutes to peak at some of our current projects or scroll down to see full-length versions of our films. Many of our films can be screened via our various Vimeo channels.
If you like what you see or have any questions, feel free to email us for more information. shebafilms@shaw.ca
HERE ARE SOME OF OUR CURRENT PROJECTS
UNDER THE RED STAR
(Punatähden alla)
Under the Red Star (a.k.a. Big Finn Hall), is a feature length docu-drama, in Finnish and English, about the vibrant culture and politics at the heart of Canada’s most significant worker’s hall. For screenings near you check out our facebook page Under The Red Star.
In 1910, Finnish immigrants built the Finnish Labour Temple in Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay). In its early days it was inseparably linked to the activities of Canadian labour and the left. The Big Finn Hall was a place where culture and politics came together. This film integrates archival footage, photos and fictionalized scenes to bring to life the lively and dramatic past of the early years of Finnish immigration to Canada. Under the Red Star tells the story of the struggle for a just society in the early twentieth century Canada.
The film stars Rauli Pohjolainen, Kevin Brothers, Danny Johnson and well known Finnish actors Jussi Nikkilä and Elena Leeve, 45 local actors and over 200 extras. The Director of Photography is Harvey LaRocque. Music by Danny Johnson, Animation by Hubert Den Draak. Under the Red Star is written and directed by Kelly Saxberg and produced by Ron Harpelle. The film had its first screening for over 250 cast and crew on 26 November 2011. Researcher and Finnish immigrant scholar Dr. Varpu Lindström, whom the film is dedicated to, was in attendance. We then had a sold out community screening at the Bay Street Film Festival where it won a People’s Choice award. The film had its official world premiere in Murmansk Russia, at The Northern Character international film festival. Kelly Saxberg was awarded a special jury prize for Best Director for “Letters from Karelia” at the Northern Character film festival in Murmansk, Russia on November 17, 2011
Copies of the film can be ordered via this website or bought in Thunder Bay at the Scandinavian Deli, The Hoito and The Finnish Bookstore.
HARD TIME
Hard Time Promo from Shebafilms on Vimeo.
Hard Time is a one-hour documentary about Robert King’s personal journey, from a life of poverty in rural Louisiana, through the state corrections system, to becoming a political activist who has devoted his life to the plight of political prisoners in the United States.
When Robert King was sent to the Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana for the first time for a crime he did not commit, he learned that the justice system was corrupt, When he was sent to prison a second time for an crime he did not commit, he knew that he had to resist his detention. And resist he did. Robert King and two other prisoners formed the only Black Panther political cell in a U.S penitentiary. They focused on prisoner rights and attempted to protect young men, called “fresh fish” by other inmates, from being sexually abused. Their efforts to organize prisoners to defend themselves raised the ire of prison authorities and the three Black Panthers of Angola prison became known as the Angola Three. King remained Angola for 31 years and spent 29 of them in solitary confinement. His two comrades have been in solitary for 38 years, also for crimes they did not commit. The story of the Angola Three is well-known in justice circles throughout the United States, but the story of Robert King is not. “Hard Time” is the story of Robert King’s journey through and radicalization in the Louisiana corrections system.
For an glimpse of the Robert King story, see this report we prepared for CyberPresse, the online version of the La Presse newspaper in Montreal. This short video is in French, but King speaks English throughout. If you can read French, you can also read the feature story by journalist Eric Clement that went with the videos about Angola Prison by clicking here.
LIFE IS BUT A DREAM…
Life is But A Dream… Promo from Shebafilms on Vimeo.
This is documentary is about author Charlie Wilkins and his row across the Atlantic Ocean with 15 other people on a boat called Big Blue. Prior to embarking on this project we made Charlie the subject of an entry for the International Doc Challenge competition. 130 films were made around the world in a 5 day span and the one we put together was among the 12 finalists and the only Canadian film to make it to Hot Docs. You can watch the Doc Challenge video here.
The full-length documentary we are producing focuses on Charlie Wilkins, but it includes footage from the training session off the coast of Long Island, the launch in Morocco, 53 days at sea, and the arrival in Barbados, with interviews with the crew before, during and after the voyage.
You can see lots of footage for this film on our Big Blue Row channel. Here we have a series of short videos that document some of the stages of the row, introducing the team and the concept.
About Shebafilms
ShebaFilms was established in 1996 as Shebandowan Films. Our production company seeks to ensure the representation of Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian film industry. ShebaFilms is the leading film and video production company in our region and we are happy to say we have helped support many local filmmakers over the years. Shebafilms is also the contact point for Franco Finn Films, a separate production company currently producing Big Finn Hall.
We work in English, Spanish and French and produce programming in formats ranging from film to high definition video. Our films have been broadcast across Canada and elsewhere in the world. We have also shown our films internationally at festivals and in classrooms.
A good example of our creative work is Citoyens du Monde – 6 x 54 min. documentaries about research for development shot in 16 countries around the world. Airing on TFO. The English version Citizens of the World is also available from Les Productions Rivard. As an extension to Citoyens du Monde, we produced a series of 52 video clips on development issues for the International Development Research Centre. Here is a sample with Vandana Shiva.
Now you an watch most of our films on our Vimeo site. On this site you can watch individual productions or watch one of our dedicated channels.
Click on the links below to see what we can do
In Security This is one of our latest documentary films. Released in October 2010, this film explores the history of barbed wire, from its introduction on the Great Plains in the 1870s to control animals, to its use today to control people.
Northern Grown This is 30 min. film about food security in Northwestern Ontario and research by Lakehead University’s Food Security Research Network.
Seeking Bimaadiziiwin a 30 minute drama that tackles depression and suicide among First Nations youth. It has garnered many awards including Best Live Action Short at the American Indian Film Festival.
Life is But a Dream… This is a short film Kelly Saxberg directed as part of the 2010 International Doc Challenge. It was the only Canadian entry out of 12 finalists from around the world to be selected for screening at Hot Docs.
Banana Split, (2002) winner of the 2004 Deborah Fletcher Award for Excellence in International Development Filmmaking and in 2005 at the Latin American Environmental Media Festival in New Orleans.
The Hoito Project See Finnish guitar legend Jukka Tolonen and his band, Cool Train, back up the best talent in Northwestern Ontario.
Perogy Nation This is a little something we put together as a comedy food show that takes a light hearted look at perogies of the world and the people who make them. This film stars Ivanka, the polyester princess, who is played by singer/actor/playwright Jo-Ann Waytowich.
Dorothea Mitchell: A Reel Pioneer, (2006) a documentary film about Canada’s first female amateur filmmaker. In addition to our documentaries, Shebandowan Films also developed The Fatal Flower Project which resulted in, among other things, The Fatal Flower, winner of the 2003 Burrit/Thompson Award. All three screening on our Lady Lumberjack Channel.
Turning Points, a 14 part video series for young women about physical and emotional well-being. All 14 screening now our Turning Points Channel.
Kelly Saxberg is our award-winning resident director and editor of the Gemini nomimated documentary, Letters From Karelia, (NFB 2004). and was also the director of Rosies of the North (NFB 1999). She has also distinguished herself as a film editor on series like Pioneer Quest, a hit television series for the History Channel and For Angela (NFB 1994) which won a Gemini “Canada Award” in 1995.
Kelly has directed several films for Les Productions Rivard, Among them are Le printemps des voyageurs: La genèse (produced in English as Voyageur Legacy: Our Story) and Hinge of an Empire (in HD). Her editing credits with Les Productions Rivard include L’Ange de Budapest a one hour documentary directed by Marcel Collet, and Le printemps des voyageurs, two, one hour Docu-dramas in HD directed by Jean Bourbonnais. This experience guarantees the quality of our productions and makes Shebafilms the first choice in filmmaking in Northwestern Ontario.
