Feist Song Becoming Movie

11/13/08 2:26pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew has made a short film about Feist's song "The Water."

The film is based on the emotions (instead of the lyrics) in the song, and is about a reincarnated loved one. It will feature Feist (who's Drew's girlfriend) and actors David Fox (Night Vision) and Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, The Dark Knight). They all collaborated on putting the storyboard together.

Drew told Paste magazine that he's sending the movie out to upcoming film festivals, but doesn't really care whether it gets a wider release.

"I wanted to do a short film before I went and did a full-length feature," Drew said.

"I'm not someone who can be educated in a classroom or by sitting down and having someone explain things to me; I need to be doing it and in there to truly learn. So, it was just one step closer to another passion and another outlet to have. And I enjoy very much telling and making up stories."

The film was shot over two days in January on a small budget. It reportedly features minimal dialogue and is set in a snowy environment. But a scene where Feist would have had to immerse herself in freezing cold water was scrapped.

"What I wanted was for them to [actually] go into the water," said Drew. "Leslie has so much spirit, God bless her, she was like, 'OK, I'll do it — give me a wet suit and I'll go in.'

"But she would have died from hypothermia and I would have probably had a hate list the size of Canada, so we didn't do that."

Drew has previously directed music videos with George Vale as part of the Experimental Parachute Movement. Their work includes Broken Social Scene's "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)" and "Fire Eye'd Boy."

Feist has had another big year and recently played two secret shows in Toronto that she worked around her fall tour. Her Cameron House performance took place inside a paper stage lantern.

"The tiny room filled with the passing darkness of cast figures and mysterious light, until a hole was cut in the paper screen by the impish pictured scissors," a Nov. 3 entry on Feist's MySpace blog reads.

"Out came little hands, passing little lanterns (one after another), until the room was filled with flickering light. These same hands, with more hands, slowly tore down the paper wall and revealed all the mischief-makers huddled on the stage (including musician Afie Jurvanen, shadow-boxer Clea Minaker and tap-dancer Dianne Montgomery)."

The entry also says Anthony Seck and George Vale shot footage of the show, which they may turn into films sometime soon.

Feist recently said she was going to take a break following her fall tour so she could figure out her next career move.