The Strathcona Standard

The Kelsey Bay wharf  in Sayward is one of the locations in an upcoming international feature film, with shooting underway until later this month.  

  The Vancouver Island North Film Commission (INFilm) posted photos from the first day of production, Thursday Feb. 5. A local casting call for the production was held last November.

  According to information from the casting call, the film is called “The Exchange” and is written and directed by Thai director Chatchai Hongsirikun. It will have a theatrical release in Southeast Asia and is described as a horror.

  The film is about Niu, an 18-year-old Thai exchange student who disappears in Canada. It follows her mother’s journey to find her, aided by a young Thai student named Pete. During the search, she uncovers disturbing hints of a darker reality behind her daughter’s disappearance and confront past mistakes, unknown forces, and the mysterious man who was her daughter’s Canadian host and the key to her disappearance.

  Shooting in Sayward is scheduled until Feb. 16.

  INFilm is a government-funded organization which provides liaison and location scouting services for the film industry, including a digital database of potential filming locations. It represents communities from Nanaimo to Cape Scott, including the Powell River region.