The B.C.-filmed indie psychological thriller Comforting Skin returns to a Vancouver screen this Sunday (9:15 p.m., the Rio, Tickets $10 Adults, $8 Students, $6 Seniors) after going on from its Vancouver International Film Festival launch two years ago, to screenings from Brazil to Slamdance.
Writer-director Derek Franson’s movie is striking for its blend of indie grit and subtle computer-generated effects that would have been impossible just a few years earlier. The film, finished on a budget of $250,000 with some help from Franson’s talented friends, is also a testament to what can happen when those talents take a break from their mega-feature day jobs to focus on a labour of love.
Franson enlisted behind-the-screens players who had contributed to Watchmen, the Harry Potter movies and Man of Steel for his cottage-industry project.
Vancouver stage actor Victoria Bidewell stars as Koffie, a lonely and self destructive woman who comes to be possessed by a new tattoo. The tattoo speaks to her while migrating around her body. Hers is a brave, raw performance, with the actress essentially playing two characters.
Bidewell was named best actress at Brazil’s Fantaspoa Film Festival. Also starring is B.C. indie staple Tygh Runyan as Koffie’s reclusive school friend and her one confidante. Jane Sowerby and Phil Granger have rich supporting roles.
Franson, who polished his craft in documentaries, animation (MTV’s Ren and Stimpy was a day job), and by directing commercials and music videos, started writing Comforting Skin back in 1994. He was set to make the movie back in 1998 for a bigger budget, but the money fell through.
A good thing, as it turned out, giving him time to go back to the script and start over, paring some of the excesses. He admits to having been on a “Tarantino bender” in early drafts of the script.
Ten years later, advances in digital know-how made the movie’s subtle visuals – a tattoo swimming across a woman’s skin — possible on a budget. His producer spotted star Bidewell in a local stage production, and they had their Koffie.
The shoot took place in Vancouver on a tight 16 day schedule, making the best cinematic use of a few interior and exterior locations.
The writer-director has a more ambitious project making its slow way to a shooting date – watch Comforting Skin and you’ll be curious as to what he could do with a big budget.
