First-time director excited about Regina film festival premiere

Amy-Louise Roberts is feeling a combination of nerves and excitement.

That’s because she finally gets to see the culmination of years of hard work.

The first-time director’s project “Three People, Three Stories” plays at the University of Regina’s Shu-Box Theatre on Friday night as part of the Regina International Film Festival and Awards.

“I am so excited to share my documentary with the audience and also to see it on the big screen for the first time,” Roberts said.

Roberts is a student of LOOK: A Mental Health/Film Initiative. It’s a volunteer-run non-profit that’s dedicated to “promoting mental health awareness through the art of film.”

Several of her fellow students will have screenings shown Friday night as part of the festival, which has partnered with LOOK.

“(Three People, Three Stories is) a documentary on mental health and addictions. It features three very strong, resilient individuals and their stories,” said Roberts.

Roberts said she learned a lot about patience while making her short film.

“Creating a film, whether it’s 15 minutes like mine or a feature film, it takes a lot of time (and) it takes a lot of work,” she said. “There’s a lot of going back and forth with different people. It’s a lot bigger task than you might think but it’s really enjoyable.”

Roberts has been working on this film since before COVID. She was inspired to make the film in part by her own experience with anxiety.

“I know a lot of people who have mental illnesses or struggle with addictions and saw that it’s not something that’s really talked about enough,” Roberts said.

“It’s not something that people address often enough. So I wanted to find a way to spread awareness and to let people know that it’s OK not to be OK.”

Trevor Grant, the co-educational and creative director of LOOK, said it feels incredibly rewarding to watch the journey of his students, especially since many of them deal with their own issues of mental health.

“To just keep going and produce something that they’re so proud of, I just can’t express what it means to me,” Grant said. “It’s the most satisfying thing that I’ve ever been involved in in my life.”

Other LOOK projects to be showcased at the Shu-Box Theatre on Friday beginning at 8 p.m. include “War Inside My Head,” “Pride INK,” “Fases De La Luna,” and “Welcome to Groovy Toons.”

Screening times for other films at different locations can be found here.