A viral YouTube video shared by a friend during COVID lockdown, a fascination with the art of freestyle canoeing and a fondness for Mainer-isms inspired a film written and directed by Samuel Dunning, a filmmaker and actor with roots in Brunswick.
Dunning’s mockumentary, “Canoe Dig it?,” about the trials and tribulations of a freestyle canoeing competition in northern Maine, will paddle to local movie screens this spring.
Described as “wholesome” and “low-stakes,” the film combines the mockumentary style of “Best in Show” with the trademark dryness of New England humor, Dunning said.
“It’s about a fictional competition in northern Maine, but the sport itself of freestyle canoeing is quite real,” Dunning said. “It’s sort of like watching figure [skating], but in a canoe.”
While locked down at his mom’s house in Maine during COVID, Dunning saw a video of Marc Ornstein canoeing to “The Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh at a 2007 competition.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, how did nobody turn this into a mockumentary yet?” he said. “A week later, I just started writing stuff down.”
Ornstein himself appears in the film, and serves as a body double for the canoeing scenes, along with his wife.
It was natural to set the competition and its eclectic competitors in Maine, Dunning said. The film was shot primarily at and around Camp Agassiz in Poland.
“It’s about 50% a sports mockumentary, then 50% just a love letter to Maine, and the little oddities about the state that I think are so cool,” he said.
The characters are a mix of true Mainers and out-of-staters, all competing for the title of “top paddler.” One canoer is given subtitles to account for his heavy Maine accent. In addition to writing and directing, Dunning also plays the loathed frontrunner, whose dominance over the past decade threatens the longevity of the competition.
Dunning, who now lives between New York and Los Angeles, recently starred in the feature film “Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox,” playing the tititular mad scientist as he creates endless versions of himself in an attempt to understand a paradox.
He’s also booked acting roles in TV series including “Blue Bloods,” “The Equalizer” and “The Gilded Age” and starred in the New England-set horror film “Dead Whisper.”
Dunning hopes that making his directorial debut in Maine will inspire viewers to support indie films.
“If you’re tired of consistently watching Marvel movies and $100-200 million comedies where everyone has a gun – which is pretty much all that exists nowadays – the way you can combat that is to come down to a theater and see a movie like this,” he said.
IF YOU GO
“Canoe Dig It?” is showing around Maine on the following dates:
April 2, 7 p.m. – Nickelodeon Cinema, Portland
April 10, 7 p.m. – Magic Lantern Movie Theater, Bridgton
April 11, 7 p.m. – Eveningstar Cinema, Brunswick
April 17, 7 p.m. – The Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro
April 22, 7 p.m. – Black Bear Cinemas, Orono
April 28, 7 p.m. – Colonial Theater, Belfast
May 1, 7:45 p.m. – Smitty’s Cinema, Topsham
Tickets are already available online for some showings.