A movie shot and set in Wood Buffalo National Park is up for some awards at the Regina International Film Festival.
Elijah and the Rock Creature is about a young boy who gets separated from his mother while camping in the park and meets an alien who helps him find his family.
Writer and Director Jennifer Walden tells Mix News the story is more than just another adventure film.
“It’s also a story about grief and healing, the young boy recently had a great loss in his life and it’s about how we process loss and how we move beyond it.”
The story intertwines between Elijah and his mother, getting different aspects of a child and mother dealing with this situation.
Walden says she got help from her two kids to really bring Elijah’s character to life.
“I’d be sort of stuck on a scene or a moment and I would ask them straight out ‘what would you say’ and they would come up with the most wonderful responses that absolutely made its way into actual dialogue in the film.”
It was released in 2018 and has been shown in multiple cities across North America.
As for the possibility of it coming to Fort McMurray, Walden adds it’s quite high.
“I would love for that to happen, we screened it in Fort Smith on the north side of the park but would love to bring it to Fort McMurray.”
Elijah and the Rock Creature is one of many films up for awards this Saturday at the Regina International Film Festival.