Amar Wala
Director's Blog
Today is my birthday.
I normally don’t think too much about this day. Last year was the big 3-0, so this year doesn’t really have any special significance, except for one thing. This year, I can say with confidence that I will have completed my first feature film. Every year on Feb 18th, I’d get a year older and ST5 would still be “moving along.” That was my answer of choice when I was asked how it was going.
I remember our first shoot day quite well. It was the fall of 2009, and The Harkats’ house arrest conditions had just been loosened. I was 26. I was naïve. I was stupid. Thank goodness for that because I can honestly say if I knew what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have made The Secret Trial 5. If you’d told me that I’d be 31 and just wrapping up, I’d probably have written a romantic comedy instead (or some sort of “coming of age” piece of crap). I’m glad I didn’t. I’m glad I was ignorant to the current documentary climate in Canada. It taught Noah and me to be creative and to take chances wiser men wouldn’t take.
When I started this process, I thought I knew how to make a film. I didn’t. I thought I understood the documentary process. I had no clue. I mean I knew the basics, and I knew that in docs, “editing is where the story take shape” and so on. As a director, I’ve always been very confident in my ideas, very clear in my thinking. Well this film kicked my ass, and the only reason I got through it is because of my team. If ST5 has any success, it will be thanks to the team I have around me. I know this is a sports cliché, and some of you just rolled your eyes, but I say this as a very attention hungry filmmaker. This was a team effort. It took the creative instincts and efforts of all of us to get this far. And there’s still some work to be done.
Pretty soon, all of you, the people who’ve been supporting us for the last 4 years will see the film for the first time. It’s really exciting but scary as hell. I sincerely hope you like it because once the film is done, we will call on you again. This time to help us raise awareness, spread the film’s message, and turn “security certificate” into a dirty word. Making a film isn’t enough.
Thank you.
Amar.
