A new film project is in the works for the Turtle Mountain Souris Plains Heritage Association (TMSPHA), thanks to recent funding from the Province through the Arts, Culture and Sport in Community Fund.

Committee member, and co-lead on this project, David Neufeld, says the newest film to add to their growing list will be on Whitewater Lake, which is located between Deloraine and Boissevain, in the municipality of Deloraine-Winchester.

"We've been interested in doing films over the last ten years," explains Neufeld.  "We've done 3 films, just because we think it communicates how exciting or interesting our local history is to younger people better, but it communicates to adults too!  So, this is the next one. 

Why Whitewater Lake, you ask?

"Whitewater Lake is a unique geographical feature, and it also has a unique history," shares Neufeld, "and it also creates some unique problems for us as a people. So, we wanted to cover that in a short film that would make it very interesting for young people, and for adults as well."

The $17,000 grant will go to making of the film. "We have ideas, as a committee, about what the story should be, and so we have given those ideas to the filmmakers out of Brandon," he says.  

The film will feature Whitewater Lake's unique geography and the controversy that surrounds it. 

"The film will tell the story from the meltwaters of the glacier to the present day, and we'll do our best to capture that history in 15-20 minutes, and it will be quite a lively film.  There will be a lot of footage from years gone by. There have been different ideas about the lake that seem ridiculous to us now, like the provincial government trying to sell the lake bottom in 1912 because it totally dried up, and they thought the lake would stay dry!"

"So, we'll look at a whole variety of ways that humans have had to contend with a terminal lake; that doesn't have an outflow, at least not an obvious outflow," he adds, "and this is a lake that has been causing trouble for farmers and for municipalities.  So, we hope that looking at the history of lake would be helpful to the present-day councillors and future ones as well."

The newest film featuring Whitewater Lake will be most entertaining, to be sure! 

For more information on the TMSPHA video series follow the link below, or click HERE!

The Vantage Points Video Series – Turtle Mountain-Souris Plains Heritage Association