German doc delves into Huntsville G8

He had witnessed the 2007 summit in Germany, which he said had a lot of violence, police brutality, protesters and huge concerts.
“The G8 in Huntsville was a total different story, which was mainly because there was a G20 in Toronto. When the G8 was in Germany, there was no G20, there was only the G8, so the whole protest concentrated on this event,” he said. “Imagine all the things that happened in Toronto happening in a much smaller community.”

Nüdling said the story behind the duo’s film changed once organizers moved the G20 to Toronto.
“The original conflict of the film that we had imagined was the media and all the activist groups coming (to Huntsville),” she said. “When we were pretty certain that they wouldn’t, the focus changed to the more personal stories and motivations of the people who are now the protagonists in the film – what they would personally do with the challenges and opportunities that came with the event.”
The two started filming in December 2008. The world premier of the 73-minute film happened in Hamburg on Dec. 3, 2011.

The film focuses on people who wanted to use the summit to make a difference, said Nüdling, people such as Kate Heming who led demonstrations and events including Huntsville Water Fest to make water a human right and Ruth Cassie who organized the Girl 8 Festival to give local artists a platform.
Paschmann said the tone of the film is both humorous and heartwarming.
“That is what I felt when, for example, I saw the march through town about making water a human right and when I saw the ladies making the posters by themselves. For me this was heartwarming because they were so motivated to do something, to change something and get in the action,” he said. “They didn’t know if they could change anything because the impact would be very small, but at least they are doing something. For me, this is a positive message.”

And there are beautiful shots of Huntsville in the film, he noted.
Nüdling said the film was well received in Hamburg.
“A few people felt they could really delve into life in Huntsville – a Canadian small town community and the life there. And a lot of people were quite fascinated with it,” she said.
Audience members had commented the film had a balanced use of humour, too, but that they would laugh with those in the film and not at them.
The Hamburg audience included film industry representatives, sponsors and supporters.
Paschmann, Nüdling and film editor Gernot Wöltjen are excited to attend the Huntsville premier this winter, said Nüdling, especially Wöltjen who spent eight months editing the film’s material.

“He knows all the people who were in the film but he has never met them. He knows them from the material,” said Nüdling. “And now he is really looking forward to meeting the people for real.”
But Nüdling commented the editing process meant some material was cut from the final version of the film.
“We had more than 100 hours of material that wasn’t used, so I’m afraid some people might think or hope to see themselves and they won’t, and that is something that is kind of the price we also had to pay,” she said. “It is something that I feel sad about but it was also something we had to do.”

The Huntsville premier of Coming of Eight: A smallworld story is set for March 1 at the Algonquin Theatre. The start time of the screening is yet to be determined.