A locally filmed movie is being featured at the Fort 91原创 Film Festival this weekend, produced by 91原创-based film company Roguescots and brothers Justin and Kris MacGregor.

鈥淭he Founder Effect鈥� was filmed across the Lower Mainland in locations in 91原创, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Hope, and the Okanagan, and will be screened on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Fort 91原创 Community Hall.

It follows a grandfather (played by Rick Edwards) who desperately searches for his missing grandson after a family getaway goes wrong in Hope, B.C. Pulling from his experience as a former policeman, he鈥檚 forced to confront his family鈥檚 past and haunting tales of people vanishing.

The idea for the film started as a no-dialogue and instrumental short in 2015, but after it was completed, Justin said he felt there was still some unfinished business.

鈥淚t took the pandemic to finally give us the breathing room to revisit that story and re imagine it鈥� It became about shaping the story to best suit the gravitas that we know [Edwards] could bring to the role and ultimately centre it around themes of family, hope, and redemption 鈥� some of the core tenets that I hope guide all of our stories,鈥� Justin explained.

Both brothers were already familiar with Edwards鈥� work from casting him in their film 鈥楤est F(r)iends鈥�, and looked forward to working with the actor again, as well as Greg Sestero 鈥� who plays a missing person expert in the film.

鈥淭eaming Edwards back up with Sestero was icing on the cake. When you can share that level of camaraderie between director and actors鈥� there鈥檚 genuine coalescence of mind and spirit,鈥� Justin said.

Kris called it a 鈥渢reat鈥� to film in 鈥渙ur own backyard.鈥�

鈥淎 lot of our work takes us abroad, but this project became so intimate鈥� We got to capture many of the landscapes that inspired our youth, and work with local cast and crew 鈥� many of whom were longtime collaborators. This is very much a homegrown film,鈥� Kris told the 91原创 Advance Times.

The brothers hope people find themselves relating to the grandfather鈥檚 integrity, humility, and his desire to atone for past mistakes.

鈥淚n the pursuit of his missing grandson, our protagonist Jack鈥檚 internal compass guides him toward truth, redemption, and ultimately self-forgiveness 鈥� which is something a lot of people struggle with,鈥� Justin noted.

Kris noted that the opening shot of the film is the welcome sign to Hope because they wanted to retain the real-life town name for the fictional film setting.

So far, 鈥淭he Founder Effect鈥� has been screened in more than 55 film festivals in 22 countries.

The Fort 91原创 Film Festival starts Friday and runs until Sunday, Feb. 23 to 25, at the community hall. It features a lineup of local and international independent films and special events.

The three-day festival kicks off on the evening of Friday, Feb. 23 with an awards gala reception of the Fort Flicks 48-Hour Film Challenge, which saw a dozen teams of all ages from local schools, post-secondary institutions, and the community create short films over a single weekend.

All of the films from the challenge will be screened on Friday night, with three winning filmmakers being awarded the Best Film prize and their short film being screened the following day.

Saturday festivities will start at 10 a.m. with a coffee social hour, followed by an afternoon presentation of 16 short films from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus the three 48-Flick challenge winning films.

In the evening 鈥淭he Founder Effect鈥� will be screened at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, the film 鈥淰oices鈥� will show at 11:15 a.m., followed by 鈥淭he Program鈥� at 1:30 p.m., and 鈥淢anufacturing the Threat鈥� at 4:30 p.m.

A question and answer period with directors will follow each screening.

People interested can purchase single-film, daily, or weekend passes at .

The Fort 91原创 Community Hall is located at 9167 Glover Rd.

Justin and Kris hope to have another Lower Mainland screening after this weekend鈥檚.

They are also in post-production of a documentary featuring the 91原创 Ukulele Ensemble, which was several years in the making, they said.

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