Help wanted: filmmaker looking for 300 extras for Gander film
Gander International Airport is going to have an influx of passengers next month, but not because extra flights landing.
Filmmaker Mike Lewis is making a movie at the airport, and he needs local people to play the parts of those passengers, and has put out a casting call for 300 extras of all ages to be in the background of several scenes.
The work will be part of a series of short films celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary next year.
"It's a series of films that look at the idea or name of Canada as kind of an imaginary entity that has been conjured and understood throughout the world," he told CBC.
Lewis chose Gander Airport because he and his wife frequently traveled through there en route to their house on Fogo Island from their home in London, England.
The filmmaker says architecture and design of the terminal speaks to the idea of Canada as place of the future.
"The building itself, as originally designed, is a minor modernist masterpiece," he said.
The film will depict Gander as being one of the busiest airports in the world - as it was in its heyday.
Impressive architecture
Lewis said that contemporary airport architecture is all about consuming and selling other products, and the building itself becomes invisible behind that. He thinks Gander airport conjures memories of a time when air travel itself was an exciting opportunity and brought with it ideas about the future.
"The terminal itself speaks very much about this idea that Canada is a modern nature of the future so I want to return it briefly to that moment," he said.
The extras will pose as travellers arriving or departing the airport, to replicate the vibrancy the International section of the terminal once had.
The dates of the film shoot involving the volunteer extras will be October 11th and 12th for the whole day.
The film series will involve ten other films from location across the country, and those interested in taking part can email gandercasting@gmail.com for details.
