By Wa Lone
TORONTO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - British director Andrew Haigh said Canada has the talent, landscapes and production infrastructure to be a major filmmaking hub, but Canadian filmmakers need more support to create internationally competitive projects.
Haigh, best known for writing and directing "Weekend", "45 Years" and "Lean on Pete", spoke to Reuters after the Toronto International Film Festival screening of "A Long Winter" on Wednesday.
He praised Alberta, where the film was shot, as a less-expensive location that was suitable for a film set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. He said he would happily return to the province for future projects.
"I knew I wanted to set it in Colorado, but it's basically too expensive to film in Colorado," Haigh said. "In the end, we went to Canada, and we traveled around Alberta, it is the Rockies... It's the right kind of environment. And there's great tax breaks."
The Canadian government funds local filmmakers through the Canada Media Fund, which has supported films and series including the international hit "Heated Rivalry." The culture ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"A Long Winter," adapted from a Spanish story, is set in Colorado's mountains but was filmed across Alberta after producers explored locations in the US and Europe. Haigh said finding financing for the project was the biggest challenge.
"The biggest challenge is always if you're trying to make a film like this, which is subtle, emotional, complicated," he said.
Once funding was secured, the production spent considerable time searching for the right locations, eventually settling on Alberta's diverse landscape. He said Canada's success in attracting foreign productions should also be matched by efforts to support domestic filmmakers.
"What you want to see is a lot of Canadian filmmakers also getting the budgets they need to make their films in Canada that can also go international," he said. "There's a lot of very talented filmmakers in Canada."
(Editing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by David Gregorio)
