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With $10,000 and a four-person crew, actor and director Emilie Lowe has created The Canary, a two-hour period survival film that focuses on perseverance and self-acceptance, shot on Albany’s iconic Brig Amity.
Taking 18 months to film, and beginning in 2021, The Canary was filmed all over WA and, as well as the Brig Amity, features the Wongan Hills, Fremantle, and the forests of the south coast.
“We had some really, really beautiful spots to film, which we are very grateful for,” the Perth-based filmmaker said.
The film follows Florence, a 19th century woman who is cast adrift at sea on a wooden lifeboat with nothing but a caged canary.
“It’s all about her struggling to survive in the wilderness with just her and this bird that she starts off having like a very tumultuous relationship with,” Lowe said.
“But as time goes by, she learns to really love and accept this creature, and it all follows the themes of perseverance, self-acceptance and combating the social structure and standards that were placed on women at the time.
“And as she learns to survive and find her own power, she changes a lot as a person, and her relationship with the canary changes.
“It’s a very empowering film and we had a lot of positive feedback, both for men and women — that they found it very empowering to them, which is what I wanted to achieve with the script.”
The 25-year-old and her small crew faced numerous obstacles — including COVID-19, hot weather, and filming on the open ocean in 19th century clothing.
“We had a tiny team of only four people — so I did the script, the directing, the acting, the production design, the costume design, and location scouting,” Lowe said.
Working with cinematographer Peter Renzullo, who has three per cent vision and is legally blind, Lowe joked she put him “through the ringer”.
“We filmed almost entirely outdoors in quite complex environments,” she said.
“He’s great to work with — we both communicated really well on set and I drew up the shot lists beforehand.
“The whole thing was difficult, but it was really rewarding — only making it with four people, to have such a great kind of finished product is very rewarding.”
Lowe said the inspiration for the film came from a poem she wrote while studying screenwriting at Edith Cowan University.
“I really wanted to showcase female empowerment without the rejection of femininity,” she said.
“She uses what she has — her corset, her big Victorian dress — she uses what she has to gain her strength and power.
“It’s about defying the constraints that are put on you by your society and showing that if you truly believe in yourself and you kind of give everything you have, you can achieve some incredible things.”
As well as acting in and directing the film, Lowe also taught herself the art of film editing.
“I did the editing and I didn’t know how to use Da Vinci, which is the program I used, so I taught myself how to use the program for it,” she said.
“It took a little bit of extra time, but I like having kind of all the experiences in all the areas.”
The Canary has previewed at Backlot Theatre in Perth and a screening will be held at Luna Cinemas in Perth on April 6.
“I would just love if anyone wants to come down and see it, any support we can get is amazing,” Lowe said.
“We also want to do some screenings in the rural areas, like Albany, that we actually filmed it in.
“It truly is a WA film to its core.”
With $10,000 and a four-person crew, actor and director Emilie Lowe has created The Canary, a two-hour period survival film that focuses on perseverance and self-acceptance, shot on Albany’s iconic Brig Amity.
Taking 18 months to film, and beginning in 2021, The Canary was filmed all over WA and, as well as the Brig Amity, features the Wongan Hills, Fremantle, and the forests of the south coast.
“We had some really, really beautiful spots to film, which we are very grateful for,” the Perth-based filmmaker said.
The film follows Florence, a 19th century woman who is cast adrift at sea on a wooden lifeboat with nothing but a caged canary.
“It’s all about her struggling to survive in the wilderness with just her and this bird that she starts off having like a very tumultuous relationship with,” Lowe said.
“But as time goes by, she learns to really love and accept this creature, and it all follows the themes of perseverance, self-acceptance and combating the social structure and standards that were placed on women at the time.
“And as she learns to survive and find her own power, she changes a lot as a person, and her relationship with the canary changes.
“It’s a very empowering film and we had a lot of positive feedback, both for men and women — that they found it very empowering to them, which is what I wanted to achieve with the script.”
The 25-year-old and her small crew faced numerous obstacles — including COVID-19, hot weather, and filming on the open ocean in 19th century clothing.
“We had a tiny team of only four people — so I did the script, the directing, the acting, the production design, the costume design, and location scouting,” Lowe said.
Working with cinematographer Peter Renzullo, who has three per cent vision and is legally blind, Lowe joked she put him “through the ringer”.
“We filmed almost entirely outdoors in quite complex environments,” she said.
“He’s great to work with — we both communicated really well on set and I drew up the shot lists beforehand.
“The whole thing was difficult, but it was really rewarding — only making it with four people, to have such a great kind of finished product is very rewarding.”
Lowe said the inspiration for the film came from a poem she wrote while studying screenwriting at Edith Cowan University.
“I really wanted to showcase female empowerment without the rejection of femininity,” she said.
“She uses what she has — her corset, her big Victorian dress — she uses what she has to gain her strength and power.
“It’s about defying the constraints that are put on you by your society and showing that if you truly believe in yourself and you kind of give everything you have, you can achieve some incredible things.”
As well as acting in and directing the film, Lowe also taught herself the art of film editing.
“I did the editing and I didn’t know how to use Da Vinci, which is the program I used, so I taught myself how to use the program for it,” she said.
“It took a little bit of extra time, but I like having kind of all the experiences in all the areas.”
The Canary has previewed at Backlot Theatre in Perth and a screening will be held at Luna Cinemas in Perth on April 6.
“I would just love if anyone wants to come down and see it, any support we can get is amazing,” Lowe said.
“We also want to do some screenings in the rural areas, like Albany, that we actually filmed it in.
“It truly is a WA film to its core.”
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