Not another fish story

BY VICKI GILHULA

There was a world premiere of a big film this past weekend in Sudbury, but most people didn't notice. There was no red carpet. No movie stars. No paparazzi.

The $6 million Science North Imax film Mysteries of the Great Lakes had its first showings Friday and Saturday. The stars are a fish and a biologist with supporting roles played by bald eagles and woodland caribou. The story of survival is set against magnificent scenery with a dramatic soundtrack.

The film focuses on the survival of the lake sturgeon, a fish that has lived in the lakes for millions of years but faces extinction due to over-fishing and lake pollution. The sturgeon can grow as big as 300 pounds and live as long as 200 years. The "star" of the film is a female sturgeon that is believed to be 100 years old.

Ron Bruch, a senior fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is the other star. He is leading research to build healthy populations of sturgeon in the Great Lakes and feeding waters.

If the sturgeon can be saved, so can the Great Lakes, say the filmmakers.

Director/producer David Lickley said the real mystery of the film was putting the funding together to make it.

"It took almost four years to get the funding."

In addition to corporate support, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation contributed $1 million, the Ministry of Natural Resources provided $200,000, FedNor and Parks Canada invested more than $1 million.

The film is narrated by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent. Gordon Lightfoot gave permission to use his song about the Great Lakes, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The two-year effort to get the OK from the folk singer to use the haunting song "is a movie in itself, " said Lickley.

Science North CEO Jim Marchbank said no one at the centre dreamed of making giant-screen films when the Imax theatre opened in 1994. This is the fourth Imax film Science North has produced and the first one the centre will be responsible for distribution.

He expects thousands of people, maybe millions, will see the film over the next 10 years. Ten giant-screen films have already booked the film. A Toronto media film launch will be held May 8, at the Ontario Science Centre.

The Mysteries of the Great Lakes is being shown to complement the Science North special exhibition WaterWorks: Soak Up the Science!

Other Science North produced Imax films are Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees, Bears and Gold Fever. Science North's website has extensive and comprehensive information about The Mysteries of the Great Lakes.

Vicki Gilhula is managing editor of Laurentian Media Magazines.