An iconic piece of Humboldt’s skyline has made its mark on the big screen, as the historic Water Tower plays a starring role in Jett Kowalchuk’s award-winning film John’s First Tattoo, which took home a Golden Sheaf at the Yorkton Film Festival
Kowalchuk says the Water Tower immediately caught his eye when he visited Humboldt a couple of years ago for a film festival.
“I was just blown away how beautiful the building was.”
He said the imagery remained in the back of his head until he decided to incorporate the water tower inside of his film.
“When John's First Tattoo had a sequence that calls for a staircase, I thought that would just be the perfect location.”
Kowalchuk said he contacted the Humboldt Cultural Services department, and they were very receptive for Kowalchuk to use the Water Tower in the film.
“They let me rent out the space and shoot what I needed to shoot. And it just makes for an incredible set piece right at the heart of the film that truly wouldn't be the same without.”
He appreciated the Cultural Services department's cooperation in allowing him to use the spiral staircase.
“I was really happy that they were willing to work with me and open up the space for me to shoot.”
Footage of the Humboldt Water Tower was about one minute of the film, but Kowalchuk says that it took about an hour for him to complete.
Kowalchuk said he was writing John’s First Tattoo shortly after he received his first tattoo.
For anyone that has tattoos, obviously, they've had to have a first one, and that first one is quite a leap to make. You were on this one side of society where you don't have any ink on your skin and it's a big decision where you're physically changing your body forever.”
Along with the physical aspect, there’s a social dynamic apart from a tattoo Kowalchuk explains.
“In making the decision, it's a scary decision to make to get your first tattoo and one that physically and maybe emotionally and mentally represents change. And so that's where this idea kind of blossomed into John's First Tattoo.
Kowalchuk added that John’s First Tattoo is a silent film that was inspired by a lot of expressionist films.
He details how the experience of a first tattoo influenced his creative process.
“This dichotomy exists upon entering when you don't have a tattoo, like everyone else does, and there's immediately this visual divide. Therefore, sort of social divide, and when you get your first tattoo. You're enduring physical pain for sometimes hours. My first tattoo was. a little over 3 1/2 hours, almost 4 hours and you're completely willing. It's something you want, but it's painful when you go to kind of earn it and then you come out on the other side, not just physically change, but also maybe mentally and emotionally changed.”
A love of filmmaking is a trait that Kowalchuk has possessed his entire life, noting that he constantly would go to movies every weekend between 2007 until 2012, where he saw almost every theatrical release during that period.
Following high school, Kowalchuk enrolled in the Creative Technologies Program at the University of Regina. Initially, he pursued a career in animation, but his passion for filmmaking would soon guide him to his current path as he started making a few short films that have appeared in some festivals.
Late last year, Kowalchuk was awarded the Best Director Award for a Student Production at the Saskatchewan International Film Festival with John’s First Tattoo, before he won the award in Yorkton.
He noted that it was quite an honour to receive recognition at the Yorkton Film Festival with its rich history as it’s the longest continuously running film festival in North America.
With the current film festival circuit approaching its conclusion, Kowalchuk said John’s First Tattoo appeared in Edmonton and at the Comox Valley International Film Festival, and the film will soon be released online.
Possessing a lifelong affection for films, Kowalchuk feels fortunate to be involved in a profession that feeds his creative passion.
“It's an incredible feeling that I didn't know was possible,” he said, “it made me just extremely grateful that these festivals were still seeing my work and responding to it and not counting it out.”
For more about Kowalchuk, you can visit his website here.
Following photos were provided by Jett Kowalchuk