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By Chris Brown

Starring Corb Lund

Alberta film showing in Medicine Hat this weekend

Dec 8, 2022 | 3:52 PM

An Alberta-made movie starring a country music star born and raised in southern Alberta has a limited showing in Medicine Hat this weekend.

Guitar Lessons is playing at Medicine Hat’s Galaxy Cinemas on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was filmed in High Level and stars Taber’s Corb Lund.

“When a 15-year-old Metis boy (played by Kaden Noskiye) inherits an old guitar from a dad he never knew, he is intent on learning to play it by reaching out to a cantankerous oilfield contractor (Corb Lund) who is reputed to be something of a rock star back in the day. After several put-offs and failed attempts when the lessons finally begin, they learn to grow up together,” reads a synopsis.

The High Level community raised funds to get it started and more than half the cast and crew are from that community. Director and writer Aaron James is from that area and says when the community found out he was there a couple of years ago due to travel restrictions they approached him about making a movie.

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“I had just written a short story called Guitar Lessons based on an experience I had as a substitute school teacher,” he says in an email. “I turned it into a script, they raised some dough and we made a movie. Now it is in 16 theatres in four provinces and has already played over 50 prairie towns. All without a distributor.”

James counts Lund as a friend and they’ve worked together in the past. He says Lund fit the part in many ways, though the part wasn’t written for him. James says Lund was perfect for it because he knows the characters.

“It was a vulnerable move for him and he worked very professionally to prepare and get it right, asking his director for help. He brought the same ‘A’ game he brings to all his work, and in the end, he nailed it.”

Check the local listings for showtimes.