Gloria Mercer's Hekademia
SCA film alumni Gloria Mercer's short science fiction film, Hekademia, has been awarded support from the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker Assistance Program. As described on the NFB's government site, the "Filmmaker Assistance Program (FAP) is designed to help developing independent filmmakers complete their films/videos by providing technical services and support." In particular, the FAP is for new filmmakers who have completed their studies but who have also not yet made "more than three film/video projects" outside of film school. Find out more about the program HERE.
Her first science fiction film, Mercer says Hekademia is "about a teenage girl living in the near future and attending a virtual reality school." Shot at a "picturesque farm in Chilliwack and a high rise in downtown Vancouver," the film explores the precarious dynamic between technology and the natural world through the self-reflective trope of "women who feel uneasy in worlds that they can't accept," which is a central problematic Mercer has explored in her previous work. Although Mercer admits Hekademia "required lots of technological challenges, such as a much bigger art department and some really stunning remote locations," she says it was a "thrill" to make the film.
As well as writing and directing the film, Mercer co-produced Hekademia with fellow SCA film alumni Andy Wong and Aidan West, the latter of which she also founded See Horse Films with to collaboratively develop future projects. Devan Scott, the film's director of photography, is also a SCA film alumni, and other SCA film alumni were involved in the production of the film, as well, including current SCA film students Hân Phạm and Antonia Ramirez.
Mercer tells us the film will be completed by October 2019, in time to submit to Canadian and international film festivals.
Find out more about Mercer and her work HERE. Follow the official Hekademia Twitter account HERE and go HERE for the film's IMDb page. And check out the film's trailer bellow, as well as film stills and some 'behind the scenes' pictures (click through to see the images).
