BIMIFF #4 - ENG

B I M I F F I N T E R V I E W 26
I was a pretty good goalie. I chose this
position because I started late and
couldn’t skate well. I did not know it at
the time but I was dyslexic. This made
me slower to pick up things but, in the
end, understanding things in a deeper
more profound way than others. But
nevertheless, hockey was the first sport
I dropped because I was better at other
sports. Fast forward 40 years nd I got
the idea to start playing again as a
forward. If it wasn’t for Denis, I would
not have found a place to start or
restart my hockey.
Denis de Chantal, founder of DDC Hockey
and central character in the film, saw in
the creation of this Sports League a way to
integrate non-professionals into the sport.
How did you and Denis meet to make this
documentary?
Great question. We met when I was
looking for a league to play. Because
the cost of goalie equipment is very
prohibitive, I started as a regular
player. I broke my ankle and stopped
for a year. In a conversation with Denis,
I mentioned that I had always dreamed
of returning to play as a goalie but that
is was financially out of the question. I
was literally stunned when Denis
offered me the equipment to start
playing as a goalie. I believed my story
would inspire people to keep going not
matter what obstacles come your way. I
decided to interview Denis for MY
story. I quickly discovered his tragic
begging and the success he’s had since
being orphaned at such a young age.
The choice of making a documentary in a
short film format arouses the spectator an
even greater curiosity to know more about
the work of Denis de Chantal and the DDC
Hockey. Do you intend to subsequently
make a feature film about it?
Making a feature documentary film is
an enormous challenge. It takes years
of full time effort to realize. I believe
that my story of coming back to hockey
in my fifties and then coming back to
be a goaltender in my sixties would be
a story that would motivate and
resonate with others to keep reaching
fo your dreams even as you get older.
Denis would certainly be a major part
of this film tentatively called “Rusty
Blades”.
We know about the extreme level of
competitiveness in Olympic sports, but
sports are not just about ranking winners
and losers. In your view, how important is
it for the sports world to know someone
like Denis de Chantal?
Denis has a dream of making hockey
possible for all sorts of people. Not just
the top level athletes, but for regular
people like me. If you go to a league
and say; "well, I haven’t played or have
never played hockey in my life, can I
play in your league?” I can tell you
from experience that most leagues will
not take you. They just want to win. In
DDC, the object is to play for the love of
the game. Getting together with people
from different backgrounds to share
this wonderful sport. Like Denis says;
‘It’s another family”.
The award-winning "Ice Hockey
Orphans" is your latest audiovisual
project, can you tell us more about your
career in the 7th Art?
I’m not very good at spectator sports. I
don’t like watching other people do
things. I like to do things myself. So
when my youngest son, William,
started playing hockey, I got the idea
to rekindle the sport that I thought I
was pretty good at 45 years ago.
Concurrently, instead of watching my
son play, I decided to start filming his
games. I had had some good
acknowledgement as a filmmaker
with my first documentary, “Jazz
Ramp Rats,’ from my fellow ramp rats.
This is the under appreciated story of
the people (like me) that land, unload
your plane, fuel it, and safely send you
off again in all sorts of weather 24/7,
365 days a year. So I decided to film
sports. Every year, I would make a
film from the footage I shot for the
team party. The parents and players
were, in the beginning, expecting a
slide show or something. I gave the
much more than that. Spending
weeks putting films together. Once
again, I received some very kind
recognition form the teams and their
parents. These sports films were
instrumental in my filmmaking
career. In 2021, I won best music in
the Hong Kong International Film
festival for my short film; “Nothing to
lose.” This year, so far, I have won best
short documentary and best
experimental l film in the Medusa
film festival for my film; “the Squad.”
My plans for the next year are to make
several short documentaries on other
people like Denis, who have helped
me in my goalie career.
"Ice Hockey Orphans" behind the scenes