Okotoks filmmaker debuts trailer for upcoming sci-fi short

A local filmmaker recently released a trailer for his latest project, set to debut later this year.

Aaron Glanfield’s The Awakening will be the second short film in his sci-fi/fantasy The Orb’s Archive series, following 2022’s The Guardian, which Glanfield also wrote and directed.

Despite being made with a minimal budget, The Guardian was featured in several film festivals, receiving a few award nominations along the way and even being named Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy at the Edmonton Short Film Festival.

What it lacked in budget, it made up for in dedication both from a handful of actors and crew members who volunteered their time, and months of post-production special effects work from Glanfield himself.

When it was released on YouTube in late 2022, an IndieGoGo campaign was launched alongside it to secure funding for this latest project.

“It was like ‘Hey, check out what we were able to do with no budget. Imagine what we could do with just a little bit of money.' We ended up raising just over $5,000. $3,500 went towards production, the rest is going towards film festivals. Still a super tiny budget but we were able to get more out of it.”

The Awakening benefitted not only from a higher budget but also from more people lending their time and talent to help Glanfield realize his vision.

“Again, we were relying a lot on people to donate time, but we did get a bit of a budget and that was mostly to go towards gear, lighting, makeup, locations, food, costumes, but everybody was generous with their time because they believed in the project, which was really cool to have so many people involved. It was probably around 40 people,” Glanfield says.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Glanfield.

He plans to eventually make a feature-length Orbs’ Archive film, with both shorts having been made as proofs of concept.

The 49-second trailer for The Awakening was released on March 13, and at this point, it’s not entirely clear when it will be released online.

Before that happens, it will tour a circuit of film festivals, like its predecessor.

“We submitted it to the Edmonton Short Film Festival, I’m working on submitting it to the Central Alberta Film Festival, there’s one in Australia called the Melbourne Film Festival, there was one in France, and one in England that I’ve submitted to so far. Also, the Toronto Short Film Festival and Toronto After Dark Film Festival,” says Glanfield.

He’s hoping to set up a few screenings of The Guardian in Okotoks, though that’s somewhat up in the air at the moment since some festivals require “premiere status,” meaning that in order for a film to be featured, it can’t have been screened publicly.

Okotokians are likely to get a chance to watch The Awakening at the 2024 Okotoks Film Festival, which is scheduled to run from June 5-9.

Updates can be seen on the Orbs’ Archive YouTube channel or Glanfield’s Instagram account.