Filmmaking duo brings ‘anti-comedy’ home

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This article was published 14/11/2019 (2535 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local film shot by two friends on a shoestring budget is heading to Europe for its international debut later this month, but Winnipeggers will get the chance to see it before it crosses the pond.

Tapeworm, which begins a five-night run at Cinematheque today, marks the feature-film debut of Winnipeg filmmakers Milos Mitrovic and Fabian Velasco.

“The film is an anti-comedy,” Mitrovic says.

“It’s a loosely interconnected story about a group of people living their mundane lives in Winnipeg.”

The story follows several characters — including a man in an unhappy marriage, a standup comedian who is not particularly good at her job, a stoner couple and a loner — as they seek to escape their seemingly meaningless existence.

The characters are brought to life by a cast of city actors including Adam Brooks (The Editor) and Alex Ateah, a standup comedian originally from Winnipeg and currently based in Toronto.

The film also features Sam Singer, Steph Berrington, Dave Barber, Jennifer Mauws, Julie Simpson and Mitrovic himself.

Mitrovic, an award-winning Canadian writer and director, teaches film studies at the University of Winnipeg.

He initially met Velasco there when they were both film studies students.

“We quickly became friends and started making short films together,” Mitrovic says.

“We’ve made numerous short films together, including the 2016 short film Imitations, which garnered international and national praise premièring at the Toronto International Film Festival.”

The two filmmakers shared directing, writing and producing duties on Tapeworm, which they shot on a shoestring budget between October 2017 and August 2018.

“We shot the film on 16-mm film and funded the film largely ourselves,” Mitrovic says.

“We did receive some funding from Winnipeg Arts Council and the great Winnipeg Film Group, but the major portion of the funding came from our own pockets.”

The film had its world première at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival in September.

Its international première will be on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in the Estonian capital.

Each screening at Cinematheque will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Mitrovic and Velasco.

Frances.Koncan@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @franceskoncan