Fort Whoop-Up will be under siege this summer. So with that in mind, the Drama Nutz are looking for 20 good men and women for this year’s event by holding auditions at the Fort,  this Wednesday from 7-10 p.m.
“It’s the second year we’ll be doing this. We did it last year and found out what didn’t work, which wasn’t a lot, and decided we’d try to improve on it,” enthused Drama Nutz director David Gabert. His drama group, which  has been doing dinner theatres and improv shows for corporate and business gatherings in Lethbridge since 2006, are preparing for a new summer dinner theatre, which will run Friday and Saturday nights July 23-Aug. 29-Aug. 10 from 6-10 p.m. at Fort Whoop-Up.
“It’s a different story this year but people who came last year will see some of the same characters. And of course there is still the gunfight at the end,” Gabert continued.
“This year it takes place during a wedding. The dinner is at 6 p.m and it is set up like it is the wedding dinner, however the wedding never happens because there is a prisoner and bandits take advantage of the open gates to attack and free him and the groom is killed,” he said adding the doors will open at 6:30, giving the audience a chance to interact with the scoundrels for the Fort. Dinner will begin at 7 p.m., with the hour-long gunfight to follow at  8 p.m.

CinéImagine is looking forward to bringing a touch of French culture  to Fort Macleod  during the eighth annual  Alberta French Film Festival, April 30-May 2 at the Empress Theatre.
“ Half of the movies are from Quebec the other half are from France,” said CinéImagine Youth co-ordinator Marie Héléne Lyle.
“What I like about it is that you are in the middle of Fort Macleod and everybody will be speaking French,” she continued  adding one of the many highlights in addition to having French films from all over the world as part of this annual festival, will be speaker Carole Mondello, executive producer of ‘J’ae tué ma mere’ (loosely translated as I Killed My Mother) which  kicks off the festival at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
“Its important to have famous people like Carole Mondello coming to answer questions about the movie,” Lyle continued adding having these guest speakers is an important aspect of CinéImagine’s grant applications.
In addition to films, most of which are subtitled in English, there will be a coffee shop, Café Jazzette for people to gather afterwards, have some coffee and discuss the movies.
“People enjoy  going out after seeing a film to talk about it,” she continued adding a new feature will be having Calgary’s Theatre á Pic  Inouk Touzin ‘animate’ and  facilitate a discussion group on Saturday and Sunday. He will  invite the spectators  to share their experiences of the movies. He’ll also cover cinematographic elements and present a different perspective by looking at  the movies from an artistic point of view.
She is looking forward to seeing ‘I Killed My Mother’ which isn’t about killing  a mother at all, but rather is a thought provoking story of a 16-year-old boy whose homosexuality puts him in conflict with his mother. The 2009 Xaviar Dolan  film was Canada’s nomination for the best foreign language film Oscar category.
“It (the festival) is about  the community coming together and enjoying French films, even if they don’t speak French because they all have English subtitles. So you don’t even need to know French,” she added, noting there are all kinds of films from thought provoking, to comedies and scary movies.

Friends and family look out for each other. So local musician Evan Van Reekum is organizing a special fundraiser at Henotic to help his friend, writer/ director and artist Colin Asker complete post-production on his film ‘Roger’s Pass,’ April 24.
“Colin is one of my best friends and I know his family quite well. His dad passed away and the movie is based on that, so I’m the Lethbridge connection for the fundraiser in Lethbridge,” Van Reekum said adding some of his own music may also be featured in the film.

Roger’s Pass is an independent movie  based on the story of Colin Askey’s dad who passed away  from cancer.

The youngest son, ‘Dennis’ is a  free spirited artist with a  ninja fascination who must step up and take care of his dad while his successful older brother, who he has always been overshadowed by is away in Guatemala and expecting a child with his beautiful Guatemalan wife.

“We want to make some money for the post-production. I’ve seen the move completed so far, but much needs to be done,” he continued adding the money will go towards  touch ups like colour correction which can cost up to $9,000 as well as the costs of  festival distribution.