Not all movie premieres are alike..Some are red carpet, stilettos, film legends, and paparazzi. This one was truckers, work boots, Canadian flags, and folk heroes..Thursday evening, Calgary was host to the world premiere of a unique documentary created by Rebel News reporters to chronicle February's trucker blockade at the Coutts border in southern Alberta — it was a full house. The documentary, Trucker Rebellion: The Story of the Coutts Blockade, sold out the auditorium's 355 seats in three days..The border blockade at Coutts began at the beginning of February and lasted until February 15. The truckers and protesters were expressing their frustrations over the provincial and federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and other restrictions, most of which were dropped shortly after the end of the Ottawa Truckers Convoy and the Coutts blockade ended..Federal vaccination mandates are still in place..The documentary was met with much support from the audience, many of whom were present at the Coutts and Milk River protests in February. The premiere was also attended by a number of truckers, three of whom made statements on the stage at the beginning of the screening and were welcomed with rapturous applause..The documentary premiere was attended by the Rebel News team and included Alberta Bureau Chief Sheila Gunn Reid, the documentary's director, Kian Simone, reporters Sydney Fizzard, Mocha Bezirgan, Adam Soos, and lawyer, Chad Williamson..Kian Simone and Sydney Fizzard were embedded at the Coutts blockade documenting the events for most of the blockade's two-week duration..The film's opening sequence was a montage of government-sponsored media outlets voicing provincial and federal politicians' concerns about the motives of the truckers and what the politicians saw as the consequences of the blockade. Many of those statements were met with loud boos from the audience. The reel then launched into footage that included stunning aerial videography of the Milk River protest, insightful coverage of the truckers' negotiations with the RCMP, interviews with the truckers and protesters, interviews with Coutts residents, and general in situ reportage covering activity on the ground..The blockade organizers decided to end the protest shortly after several people were arrested by the RCMP following the discovery of an arms and ammunition cache in the town of Coutts. Although the discovery of the arms cache and the arrests was quickly followed by the enactment of the Emergencies Act, it was announced several weeks later the arrests had not been connected to the Coutts blockade..The Western Standard spoke with Kian Simone, documentary director, to gain some insight into his experience reporting on the blockade and creating the film. Simone was asked what he hoped to achieve by the film. He said he wanted to set the record straight following what he saw as misrepresentation of events by the mainstream press.."The mainstream media, they got things wrong — likely on purpose and unlikely by accident — the entire time, and same with Jason Kenney. They got everything wrong ... about what happened there," Simone said..Simone said they were met with several challenges during the documentary filming. He said bringing the whole thing together was "not easy. Not easy at all. ... There was no service there." He said he "basically live-tweeted the entire experience for nine days straight" at the same time he was gathering his and the other reporters' 565 gigabytes of data..Asked what he would have done differently, Simone said, "I wouldn’t have done anything differently other than just pack more underwear. Yeah, I had two pairs of underwear for nine days.".Simone said he was not done film-making and has other plans in the pipeline.."I've started a new documentary series on the World Economic Forum. ... So, me and two colleagues, we all read the book The Great Reset by Klaus Schwab. And we're just kind of breaking it down and making it digestible for people so they can really see what's going on.".Sheila Gunn Reid said she was "very proud" of the finished film and of the work by the Rebel News reporters..Gunn Reid said reporters Simone and Fizzard "jumped into a little car and drove through a snowstorm in the middle of the night to go there.".Simone and Fizzard had only planned to visit the blockade for the day, but it soon became clear they needed to stick around for a bigger story.."I think it was after [Simone] was there for a few days. He said, 'You know, I think I have a documentary here.'"."Between the entire team we had there, we had someone on the ground from beginning to end. And in both communities, we really did have the full story," she said..Two audience members travelled from Lethbridge for the screening in Calgary. Retired Professor Emeritus Anthony Hall, and his friend Jan Peterson had both spent a lot of time at the Coutts border entrenched with the truckers and wanted to see if the documentary had captured the spirit of the protest.."I was in Coutts myself. It just so happened that I got to be there. It just happened. And I was down there for four days myself in the café, helping out to feed the truckers. ... For me, that was the best period of my life — those four days, the feeling of oneness," Peterson said..The documentary featured Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski and covered the speech that landed him in jail for 51 days until he was granted bail. Pawlowski was at the premiere with members of his family and spoke with the Western Standard after the screening concluded. He was asked what he thought of the film.."I think it was awesome. That was one of the most beautiful things I was part of. ... Seeing people every colour, every creed, young children, families, older people, coming together under the umbrella of freedom, it was absolutely beautiful," he said. "So what I saw during this documentary, kind of rekindled those emotions that I had, when I was with them, the solidarity there, sense of freedom, the sense of unity, we are Canadians, standing for our rights — God- and state-given rights — together. It was awesome.".A second screening of the film is available on June 1st.
Not all movie premieres are alike..Some are red carpet, stilettos, film legends, and paparazzi. This one was truckers, work boots, Canadian flags, and folk heroes..Thursday evening, Calgary was host to the world premiere of a unique documentary created by Rebel News reporters to chronicle February's trucker blockade at the Coutts border in southern Alberta — it was a full house. The documentary, Trucker Rebellion: The Story of the Coutts Blockade, sold out the auditorium's 355 seats in three days..The border blockade at Coutts began at the beginning of February and lasted until February 15. The truckers and protesters were expressing their frustrations over the provincial and federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and other restrictions, most of which were dropped shortly after the end of the Ottawa Truckers Convoy and the Coutts blockade ended..Federal vaccination mandates are still in place..The documentary was met with much support from the audience, many of whom were present at the Coutts and Milk River protests in February. The premiere was also attended by a number of truckers, three of whom made statements on the stage at the beginning of the screening and were welcomed with rapturous applause..The documentary premiere was attended by the Rebel News team and included Alberta Bureau Chief Sheila Gunn Reid, the documentary's director, Kian Simone, reporters Sydney Fizzard, Mocha Bezirgan, Adam Soos, and lawyer, Chad Williamson..Kian Simone and Sydney Fizzard were embedded at the Coutts blockade documenting the events for most of the blockade's two-week duration..The film's opening sequence was a montage of government-sponsored media outlets voicing provincial and federal politicians' concerns about the motives of the truckers and what the politicians saw as the consequences of the blockade. Many of those statements were met with loud boos from the audience. The reel then launched into footage that included stunning aerial videography of the Milk River protest, insightful coverage of the truckers' negotiations with the RCMP, interviews with the truckers and protesters, interviews with Coutts residents, and general in situ reportage covering activity on the ground..The blockade organizers decided to end the protest shortly after several people were arrested by the RCMP following the discovery of an arms and ammunition cache in the town of Coutts. Although the discovery of the arms cache and the arrests was quickly followed by the enactment of the Emergencies Act, it was announced several weeks later the arrests had not been connected to the Coutts blockade..The Western Standard spoke with Kian Simone, documentary director, to gain some insight into his experience reporting on the blockade and creating the film. Simone was asked what he hoped to achieve by the film. He said he wanted to set the record straight following what he saw as misrepresentation of events by the mainstream press.."The mainstream media, they got things wrong — likely on purpose and unlikely by accident — the entire time, and same with Jason Kenney. They got everything wrong ... about what happened there," Simone said..Simone said they were met with several challenges during the documentary filming. He said bringing the whole thing together was "not easy. Not easy at all. ... There was no service there." He said he "basically live-tweeted the entire experience for nine days straight" at the same time he was gathering his and the other reporters' 565 gigabytes of data..Asked what he would have done differently, Simone said, "I wouldn’t have done anything differently other than just pack more underwear. Yeah, I had two pairs of underwear for nine days.".Simone said he was not done film-making and has other plans in the pipeline.."I've started a new documentary series on the World Economic Forum. ... So, me and two colleagues, we all read the book The Great Reset by Klaus Schwab. And we're just kind of breaking it down and making it digestible for people so they can really see what's going on.".Sheila Gunn Reid said she was "very proud" of the finished film and of the work by the Rebel News reporters..Gunn Reid said reporters Simone and Fizzard "jumped into a little car and drove through a snowstorm in the middle of the night to go there.".Simone and Fizzard had only planned to visit the blockade for the day, but it soon became clear they needed to stick around for a bigger story.."I think it was after [Simone] was there for a few days. He said, 'You know, I think I have a documentary here.'"."Between the entire team we had there, we had someone on the ground from beginning to end. And in both communities, we really did have the full story," she said..Two audience members travelled from Lethbridge for the screening in Calgary. Retired Professor Emeritus Anthony Hall, and his friend Jan Peterson had both spent a lot of time at the Coutts border entrenched with the truckers and wanted to see if the documentary had captured the spirit of the protest.."I was in Coutts myself. It just so happened that I got to be there. It just happened. And I was down there for four days myself in the café, helping out to feed the truckers. ... For me, that was the best period of my life — those four days, the feeling of oneness," Peterson said..The documentary featured Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski and covered the speech that landed him in jail for 51 days until he was granted bail. Pawlowski was at the premiere with members of his family and spoke with the Western Standard after the screening concluded. He was asked what he thought of the film.."I think it was awesome. That was one of the most beautiful things I was part of. ... Seeing people every colour, every creed, young children, families, older people, coming together under the umbrella of freedom, it was absolutely beautiful," he said. "So what I saw during this documentary, kind of rekindled those emotions that I had, when I was with them, the solidarity there, sense of freedom, the sense of unity, we are Canadians, standing for our rights — God- and state-given rights — together. It was awesome.".A second screening of the film is available on June 1st.
