Calm
before the celebration
by Louis B. Hobson
Calgary Sun
There's a Storm warning for Calgary Sept. 6. It was
20 years this month that budding local filmmaker David Winning, armed
with $70,000, was in Bragg Creek filming a dark little thriller called
Storm.
STORM A-BREWIN’ ... Director David Winning, right,
pictured on the Calgary set of Storm in 1983 with actors Thom Schioler,
left, and David Palffy, celebrates the 20th anniversary of the
independent film Sept. 6.
— SUN file photo
After the film was completed, it took four years for
it to reach theatres.
"Storm was one of the first of the homegrown,
entirely original, independent, all-Calgary movies to be made in the
80s, so we wanted to celebrate its 20th anniversary," says Winning from
his offices in L.A.
Winning has booked a special screening of Storm,
plus a documentary on the making of the movie, at the Uptown Screen for
Sept. 6 at 4 p.m.
"Most of the cast and crew will be in attendance,"
promises Winning.
Storm kick-started
several careers, including that of David Palffy who for the past decade
has been a familiar face on movies and TV series filmed in Vancouver.
He's the villain
Anubis on Stargate SG-1 and is currently working on Vin Diesel's sci-fi
epic The Chronicles of Riddick.
"I'm doubling Vin.
It's a dark, ominous science fiction movie, so once they put his nose
and chin on me and, given certain camera angles, they feel I look
enough like him to do scenes shot from a distance."
Though he would
have preferred an actual role in the film, Palffy admits "it's an
incredible experience to work on a movie of this magnitude.
"They've built five
complete sets in a building in Burnaby. You can actually get lost
making your way from one set to another."
When he's not needed on Chronicles, Palffy zips over
to the set of Stargate SG-1. "We're finishing off the seventh season
and we've already been renewed for an eighth season. There's also talk
of a spin-off series called Stargate Atlantis."
Palffy was finishing off his political science
degree at the U of C when he answered an open audition call for Storm.
He nabbed the central role and his life and career took an abrupt turn.
"I went to New York for a brief holiday and
discovered that (Britain's) Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts was
auditioning, so I booked a spot," recalls Palffy who was accepted,
switched careers and headed to London.
His first film after graduation was Stanley
Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.
He's looking forward to returning to Calgary for the
Storm reunion because "that's where it all started for me."
Tickets for the screening ($6 for adults, $3 for
seniors and students) are available at the door or in advance by
calling 265-0120.
2003-09-03
Calgary Sun Article