Vegreville Filmmaker Troy Ruptash Excited to Premiere his Movie

Vegreville Filmmaker Troy Ruptash Excited to Premiere his Movie

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

Vegreville Filmmaker Troy Ruptash’s movie ‘They Who Surround Us’ will be premiering at the Edmonton International Film Festival on October 9.

Ruptash, who wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the full-length feature movie can hardly wait to return home, and for his family and friends to watch his movie at the Landmark Theatre in Edmonton Oct. 9 and 10.

“I’m excited that it’s going to be premiering in Edmonton. And then we’ll have a screening in Vegreville so everyone who worked on the film and was so involved in supporting the film in Vegreville will all be able to see it together,” said Ruptash while on location in Vancouver on Sept.11.

There will be two screenings of the movie on Oct. 9, one at 6:30 pm, and another at 7:30 pm. Ruptash said the 6:30 pm screening can also be viewed across Canada through Super Channel Fuse.

In between each screening there will be a question and answer session with Ruptash with a few members of the cast and crew in the theatre. The Q & A’ after the 6:30 pm screening will also be broadcast on Facebook live.

Ruptash said participating in a question and answer session is a great opportunity. “It’s great because normally you don’t get to interact with your audience much. But when you do this you get immediate feedback. It’s good for the actors and the filmmaker as well as audience because they can give their immediate response, and if they have questions they can go straight to the source.”

As to how Ruptash heard about his film being officially selected into the film festival he said he was in Vancouver at the end of July to finish the film in person. “I got a text from my producer and she told me I could not tell anyone, but that we were definitely confirmed as being accepted into the Edmonton Film Festival. I was a little numb at first because it was such a dream come true in terms of being able to screen it in Edmonton and premiere in Edmonton so that everyone from the community could come and see it.”

Ruptash said he had to keep the news secret for two-and-a half weeks, but did admit, “I did actually tell my parents. Getting them to keep the secret was the challenging part. Mom, she’d call up and ask, can I tell people now? Can I call people now? Not yet. Not yet. It was very sweet though because my mom and dad are so excited. I can’t wait for them to be in the audience because they are both in the movie. It’s going to be a lot fun.”

The idea for the movie came from his desire to research his parents’ families who immigrated from Ukraine.

“I wanted to tell a story that focused on people that came to Alberta from another country. That was really the inspiration. I changed some stuff because I wanted to make it universal, but that was the inspiration. Really, my great uncle actually was sort of the core of it, but the whole family and all the things they went through to get to Alberta.”

Momentum for the movie began shortly after becoming a finalist in the Hometown Heroes contest that is sponsored by two producers in Hollywood. “I finished writing the screen play and within a year I had the movie financed and ready to go the following summer. We shot it in 2019 and now we’re getting it ready to premiere in 2020. It’s pretty remarkable actually.

Many residents were extras in the movie and there were many businesses that helped support the project. “It really was a community effort. I feel like it was exactly what this competition is supposed to be all about in terms of creating community and bringing people together through the arts.

What’s better than my own excitement even is to see the excitement of others and the community. I know so many people who had never been on a film set before and they got to see what it was like to be an extra in a movie and see what the process is like. And now they will be able to go to the theatre and see it. That’s such a big part of this. That’s what’s been so gratifying, the excitement of the community.”

Ruptash doesn’t consider himself a hometown hero, even though that was the intent of the competition. “I feel all the people that I interviewed and met, those people are the hometown heroes. They are the people who really should be recognized…I think the people of Vegreville are the real hometown heroes.”