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To the Mountain

The story of five hikers who find meaning in their lives after the beautiful yet harsh surroundings force them to connect with one another.

This ensemble piece features a father and son as they mourn the one year anniversary of their mother/wife’s tragic passing, a pair of young women on their year abroad, and a retired professor in search of a new meaning to her life. All of these stories collide into one another and when the Rocky Mountains finally reveals its darker side they are forced to consider what is truly important to them.

Featuring a truly independent approach to film making, beautiful cinematography, and an original score by Canadian artist Young Neighbours, To the Mountain is an emotional journey into the exploration of longing.

  • Eric Pauls
    Director
  • Eric Pauls
    Writer
  • Paige K Boudreau
    Producer
  • Michael Janke
    Producer
  • Eric Pauls
    Producer
  • Dan Braun
    Key Cast
  • Peter Morton
    Key Cast
  • Joan Miles
    Key Cast
  • Alysa vanHaastert
    Key Cast
  • Tanya Stone
    Key Cast
  • Young Neighbours
    Soundtrack
    youngneighbours.bandcamp.com
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 15 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 8, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No

  • Canada
Director Biography - Eric Pauls

Eric Pauls is a writer/director based in Calgary AB, Canada. He has created both narrative and documentary shorts which have played in several festivals including North West Fest, Canada Independent Film Festival and the Newtown Film Festival. To the Mountain is his debut feature film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I attended film school with the intention to learn how to tell a story, however we learned everything but. Since I left there I’ve dedicated myself to writing screenplays with the intention of learning how to tell a story in a feature length format. Feature films have always been the art form that spoke to me the most; short films were too short, novels were too wordy. Feature films have both forward momentum and time to breathe and they were all I have ever wanted to do. So when the story of To the Mountain came to me, I knew I had to take that leap into the feature film world. With $7500 and the help of some close friends that’s exactly what I did.

This script was originally inspired by the Rocky Mountains located just an hour from my home, but it became a story I had to make when the theme of longing revealed itself on the page. I had written the script as a collection of characters I found interesting but subconsciously the major through line I had created was longing. When I started writing this script I had just become a father and the realization that life as I knew it was over and that life ahead of me is very uncertain was very real. My struggle with that found into the lives of my characters and connected them to one another and to the audience.

As a director the script left so much space to work with. It never forced a view point and allowed me to take the audience in directions they were not expecting. We were in the mountains, a place I find beautiful but also very intimidating, and I wanted the film to have that dichotomy of tension. At any moment out there you can have your breath taken away or tragedy could strike, and I wanted the audience to be aware of that fact at every moment.

This film was shot for nearly nothing and required a lot of people to sacrifice a lot to make it happen. As we wrapped production and began to see an assembly of the cut come together, there was a collective sense that the stars aligned for us on this project in a way that may never happen again. The film has made conscious what was my sub-conscious and has reaffirmed my belief in the magic of film.

Eric Pauls