The Okotoks Film Festival is happening this week, and a local filmmaker has a couple of films being shown.
Okotokian Logan Coutts has two films as part of the Film Festival, which begins on Wednesday.
One of them is an official selection of the festival, while the other is part of the 48-hour challenge.
"Usually, filmmakers can only submit one, but because the 48-hour exists, we're able to get your stuff in there twice, which is really exciting," explained Coutts.
One of the films Coutts has in the festival is called Echoes, which will be premiering on Saturday at noon, as part of the Afternoon Shorts.
"This one is written, directed, and edited all by me. It was one of the first projects that was entirely myself. So, it was a nice challenge."
He was able to make the film as part of a film mentorship in 2024, and he was able to submit it to the festival, and it got selected to be shown this year.
"So, you won't see me acting in that one. I do show up as a person over the phone."
For the film he made as part of the 48-hour challenge, Coutts said he made it with a group of friends.
"This one I was able to act in, kind of. I play a puppet. It is called Binky's Playhouse, and it will be a part of the screening on Sunday, at 7 p.m., where we are competing with our short film against like 20 other people who also made a short film in 48 hours over the May long weekend," Coutts says.
Coutts isn't new to the Film Festival, as he edited a documentary that had previously been shown at the festival.
"This is, like, the first time that I'm getting something fully created by me in a film festival, and I've submitted to a bunch of them, and this is the first one that said yes, and the first one that it's getting screened. So, it's a pretty big deal for it being up on a big screen."
While this is the first time something he created by himself is part of the film festival, Coutts has participated in the 48-hour challenge every year since it started.
As part of the Afternoon Shorts, Coutts is the only Canadian filmmaker in that package.
"In that afternoon shorts, there's myself, which is a local, and the rest of them are from all over the world. I think mine also might be the only English one in that package. So, it's really cool to be featured alongside other really talented people."
Coutts' short film, Echoes, which he wrote and shot himself here in the Foothills, is about a retired NASA Engineer who spends his time in retirement doing an amateur radio signal bouncing through the solar system when he receives a cryptic, unexpected signal that is in English.
"But, you know, where did it come from? Why did he get it? It's all just phrases and numbers, and so, he tries to figure out this bizarre transmission and what it means and if he can do anything to potentially help the person on the other side," Coutts explains.
Coutts has always been a fan of filmmaking and finds it interesting to create things.
"I've always been a theatre actor where you tell a story from, like, start to the finish in one continuous run," Coutts says. "But, with filming, you can cheat, and you can cut and make angles and tell stories in a visual sense, and you don't have to explain it to people."
To see the full schedule of films at the film festival, click here.