An actor's nightmare

Katrin Bowen shows us the dark side of the Hollywood dream in Amazon Falls

Last Updated: Saturday, September 11, 2010 | 2:28 PM ET

By Matthew Hays, CBC News

April Telek, left, and William B. Davis in a scene from Katrin Bowen's film Amazon Falls. (TIFF)

For filmmaker Katrin Bowen, the inspiration for Amazon Falls came amid desperation and defeat.

A year and a half ago, the Vancouver-based director was set to start shooting her first feature-length dramatic movie. But then cable TV's Superchannel went bust and she and her producers lost their crucial broadcast licence. The project had to be put on ice.

'Making a feature film is not an impossible fantasy. It can be done, and it is within reach.'

— Katrin Bowen, director of Amazon Falls

“It was really harsh,” she recalls now. “I was pretty devastated. But then I realized that I had an eager crew in place, I had all the momentum behind me. I thought about what we could do on practically no budget very, very quickly.”

Bowen had long had the idea of making a film based on her days as a struggling B-movie actress in the cutthroat scene of L.A. She had worked there in the ’80s, trying desperately to get better roles while acting in films like Fortress of America, an exploitation feature made by Z-movie specialists Troma Studios. “We were all so desperate to make it,” Bowen says. “Some were more realistic about the dream than others, though.”

Among the women Bowen worked with was an aspiring actress named Lana Clarkson, who supported herself by waiting tables on the side. Bowen, who had been brought up by Mennonites in rural Alberta, said the older women at the restaurant looked out for the younger ones with the same dreams. Years later, Bowen would be horrified to read that Clarkson had been shot dead at the mansion of music producer Phil Spector — a crime he would later be convicted for (he’s now serving his prison sentence).

“When I heard the news, I thought, 'There, but for the grace of God, go I.' I mean, that could have happened to anyone. If I’d been better at B-movies, I’d probably still be in that scene myself.”

Bowen took her idea – a feature about a struggling actress facing down her 40th birthday – to producer Darren Reiter, who immediately saw the potential in such a story. They brought writer Curry Hitchborn on board and he liked the challenge of writing a feature screenplay in a couple of weeks.

Amazon Falls introduces us to Jana (April Telek), a well-meaning and sweet woman desperate for a half-decent film role. We see her descent into acting hell as she goes from degrading audition to audition, with sleazy producers neglecting to tell her about the nudity requirement until the final moments of their meeting. She keeps thinking she’s got a gig, only to learn that they were never considering her for the lead, or that they had a much younger actress in mind. To make ends meet, Jana works as a hostess in a dive bar where men often take the hostesses and waitresses home with them after last call. If her work life leaves something to be desired, there’s little comfort at home, where her live-in boyfriend (Zak Santiago) is attempting to hide his worsening cocaine addiction while working as a deejay and having affairs on the side. While the Hollywood-underside premise may seem familiar, Amazon Falls is brought to life by a fine cast.

“I was so incredibly lucky to get this group of people for the cast,” says Bowen. “One weak link would have brought the whole thing down. If you don’t believe one dramatic moment, it would have sunk everything.”

Amazon Falls is held together by Telek’s brave performance. Bowen says Telek, a former Miss Canada (1994), understood the pratfalls of showbiz.

Katrin Bowen on the set of Amazon Falls. (TIFF)

“Early on, she showed me that much of her hair was actually wigs and extensions. She told me she’d be willing to take them off for a breakdown scene if I wanted her to.” Bowen liked the idea that Telek’s character “was a bit over-the-top. I wanted to suggest that beauty can be a bit of a burden. You can only make a living on your looks for so long.

"A model once said to me that beauty was a curse. There are always an army of 20-year-olds waiting to take your place. Now this character is no longer centre stage — she’s become the third Amazon from the left.” A turning point comes when Jana’s agent (played by veteran Gabrielle Rose) tells Jana she’s lined up for a dinner-theatre role.

“An actor would probably take the dinner theatre,” says Bowen. “But Jana doesn’t. She’s still trying to get this thing that really doesn’t exist. B-movies, which was the last big thing she did, are for young, athletic women. At 25, you’re done.”

Though not autobiographical, Amazon Falls includes some very personal touches from Bowen. One scene features Jana exercising while watching footage of herself in an old B-movie. The footage is actually of Bowen, acting as an Amazon in an ’80s Troma Film. When Bowen contacted Lloyd Kaufman, the head of Troma Film Studios, and asked if she could use some of his film posters as props, he sent her a load of them. “He was very supportive,” she says.

Filming her first feature on a budget of about $60,000 in a mere few weeks taught Bowen an important lesson.

“Making a feature film is not an impossible fantasy. It can be done, and it is within reach. That was the best part about the learning curve for me. Hopefully, our working model can work for other aspiring filmmakers as well. I needed to know I’d actually enjoy it — and I did.”

Amazon Falls has its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 11, and also screens Sept. 13 and Sept. 18.

Matthew Hays is a writer based in Montreal.