Tumblehome

Master canoe maker Brian Cook and award-winning filmmaker David Breckenridge needed an ethereal setting for their movie Tumblehome, an idyllic canoe trip tinged with fantasy. Cue the natural waterslide at Stratton Lake in Algonquin Park.

STORY BY PATTI VIPOND | IMAGES: DAVID BRECKENRIDGE, CINEMATOGRAPHER

Custom canoe builder Brian Cook had left his former career as a stem cell biologist far behind him when friend and documentary filmmaker David Breckenridge contacted him a few years ago.

Breckenridge had just returned to Ontario after filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia about that country’s illegal snakeskin trade. After connecting with his friend, Cook invited Breckenridge to work in his Cook Craft Canoe Company shop in Dwight. That’s how Tumblehome began.

“We got to talking and decided to make a film,” recalls Cook, whose collaborative award-winning short film Tumblehome has to date been shown at 17 international film festivals. “I thought a film would be perfect for my idealization of what a canoe trip should be in a sort of fantasy, mythological, Lord of the Rings genre. I wondered how to get that feel and decided to create a nature canoe.”

Tumblehome has won awards at the Big Sound International Film Festival in Parry Sound, LA Sun Film Fest in California, Canadian Cinematography Awards in Toronto, and earned an Honourable Mention at the Waterwalker Festival in Canmore, Alberta. The film has been an official selection at such festivals as the Montreal Independent Film Festival, Newmarket International Film Festival, Tokyo International Short Film Festival, Milan Short Film Festival, Ontario International Film Festival, New Wave Short Film Festival, New York Independent Cinema Awards, and the Arizona Sunburn Film Festival.

For those who would like to view Tumblehome, a copy of the film is available for borrowing at the Dwight Public Library in the Township of Lake of Bays. (It can also be viewed online.)

Tumblehome’s theme is finding inspiration in nature and using that experience to fire creativity and manifest your vision. Over scenes of quiet paddling, tranquil fireside evenings and misty sunlit mornings, Cook narrates the tale of his transformation from stem cell biologist in the States to master canoe builder, paddler and company owner in the village of Dwight in Muskoka. Scattered throughout the film are quotes and musings by American ecology writer Annie Dillard who inspires her readers to connect with nature.

Cook decided the best canoe for the film would be the first one he ever built. The 13.5-foot ornate wooden model is still his constant paddling companion. With the addition of new gunnels and a hand-painted border of white trilliums and greenery, the canoe was ready for its close up. Breckenridge filmed Cook’s druidinspired journey from an accompanying 17-foot Kevlar canoe.

To enhance the fantasy element, Cook created a paddle resembling a large green leaf to propel and steer the canoe. A lastminute decision to add a sail and mast to the craft ramped up the ambient ethereal atmosphere.

After Cook and Breckenridge portaged their canoe to a waterfall on High Falls Lake, Cook used the falls’ naturally water-polished rock slide for some enthusiastic afternoon fun.

“Because of that sail, I’ve had orders for canoes with sails,” says Cook, who usually works on custom orders and canoe repairs during the summer. “The film’s sail was made of the same old school canvas that was used on sailing ships. I had a left over scrap from canvas I use to wrap canoes. I cut it into a four-cornered shape to make the wind slip off it a little nicer. It’s a traditional gaff rig.”

Before returning home to Dwight and eventually opening his canoe company, Cook used his education in biotechnology and molecular genetics to work in stem cell research in California for several years.

The next order of business was to choose a location. Gorgeous Killarney Provincial Park was considered, as were Temagami and Quetico Provincial Parks. Cook remembered a natural water slide in Algonquin Park’s backcountry on Stratton Lake near Barron Canyon that would be an appropriate location.

“We came through Grand Lake at Achray and portaged to High Falls Lake to get to

Stratton Lake,” says Cook. “We portaged the canoe to a tiny pond at the foot of the waterfall. It wasn’t anywhere you would normally take a canoe because it’s a dead end. The rock slide is beautifully polished and you really can slide down easily. We spent a few nights on High Falls Lake. It’s a tiny long, skinny lake dotted with little islands. It may be the most beautiful lake I’ve been to in Algonquin. That’s the kind of lake I like, a small lake that is calm and relaxing.”

The original music in Tumblehome was composed and performed by Cook on a classically styled mahogany lyre he built in his workshop. Strung with eight banjo strings, the lyre pulls focus to the film’s enchantments. Cook plays the instrument from his canoe’s stern seat while the wind fills the sail. In the evening, he plays it beside his campfire. The ancient instrument seems right at home in this poetic idyll.

“I thought I’d make something that would sound calm, relaxing, meditative and contribute to the whole fantasy genre that we were going for in this film,” explains Cook. “I gave the lyre an antiqued look. I found it was very easy to play and knew it would be good for the soundtrack.”

Filming of the co-directed and co-written project took place from Sept. 6 to 13, 2019. As the friends paddled up Stratton Lake on their first day, the lake’s southern breeze let Cook raise the canoe’s sail and cruise along. As it happened, the lake was full of campers. That gave him an idea.

“Every campsite was occupied, so I sailed close to shore and played a little musical concert on my lyre for everyone,” says Cook, with a grin. “All the way down the lake, people were coming to the shore to listen. I think they were a bit baffled by the instrument. I didn’t even have to steer, we went straight down the lake. The sail and mast were easy to portage. They are really nice things to have on a canoe. On a canoe trip, it’s all about what you surround yourself with. I like to keep it traditional with a big canvas pack with leather straps and a canvas canoe.”

Once the duo was on Stratton Lake, they searched for appropriate shooting locations. They camped at five different sites over seven nights, stopping at suitably beautiful locations to set up and compose the film’s scenes.

“We’d have a plan of where we were going everyday and a whole itinerary,”

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August19,20 & 21,2022 • 10am to5 pm says Cook. “Then by happy coincidence, we’d end up being somewhere else instead where the sun was just right for the shot. As filming went on, we got a better idea of what we wanted to do and how to look for inspiring places. One time, there was a perfect sunset. We stopped, set up and were just about to start filming when we looked up. Massive clouds had gathered and rain started pouring all over our gear. We had quickly jumped in the canoe and paddled out so we didn’t have any protection for it.”

Though viewers wouldn’t know it from watching the film’s sun-kissed scenes, Algonquin bountifully delivered rainy days. Cook and Breckenridge came prepared with rain gear and extra tarps to loft over eating areas, campfires and the tents.

“Even if your tent has a fly, if you put a tarp over it the tent will stay totally dry,” says Cook. “You can pack it up and move on even where there’s pouring rain.”

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After filming was done, Cook and Breckenridge crossed their fingers and hoped they had enough usable footage to make a film. To their joy and relief, they did. In 2020, the LA Sun Festival in California awarded Tumblehome the Best International Short Documentary prize. The Waterwalker Film Festival awarded the film a Honourable Mention, but organizers told Cook they wanted to award it First Prize. However, because Cook doesn’t wear a life jacket in the film, and the festival is organized by Paddle Canada, they couldn’t award the top prize to a film that might influence unsafe paddling.

“Ethically, they couldn’t give me First Prize but they gave me Honourable Mention and put the trailer up on their website,” says Cook, smiling. “If I had worn a life jacket it would have ruined the druid effect of my wearing a hood and playing the lyre while sailing in the canyon. But, I’m totally happy. To have been included in their festival was really wonderful.”

Cook hopes Tumblehome, whether viewed in person or virtually, will give people a beautiful hit of outdoor life on the water. He plans to make DVD copies of Tumblehome available at the Dwight Public Library.

Brian Cook and David Breckenridge’s short film “Tumblehome” can be viewed at www.cookcraft.ca/tumblehome. For more information, please call Cook at 705-349-1509 or email brian@cookcraft.ca.