Locally produced, edgy film stars Huron-Superior school kids, will play at Galaxy Cinemas (2 photos)

What started out as a Sault elementary school film project will make its way to the big screen and raise funds for Algoma Residential Community Hospice (ARCH).

Heroes of a Different Kind: Rise of The Dark Panther will be shown at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 and Sunday, Jan. 22 at Galaxy Cinemas at Station Mall.

The film was written and co-directed by Dan Lance, St. Paul Catholic School arts teacher, and his son Daniel, a St. Mary’s College graduate, who recently completed Sault College’s Digital Film Production program and plans to continue his film studies in Toronto.

“Initially, it started out as a promotion for filmmaking and for the arts program at St. Paul, but then we heard the announcement for new pediatric services at ARCH,” Dan told SooToday.

Dan rolled up his sleeves to get Galaxy Cinemas on board.

“It became ‘children helping children,’ so a lot of the funds being raised outside the school will go to the children’s wing at ARCH,” Dan said.

Proceeds from the sales of tickets and promotional items will be split between the St. Paul arts program and the ARCH Children's program.

Tickets to see the 90-minute film are $5, and are available by calling St. Paul Catholic School at 705-945-5533, or make a donation to ARCH.

The team wants to see a full house of 300 viewers each day.

“It’s very fast paced,” Daniel said.

“The movie follows the basic premise of good against evil, it’s the bullies against the victim,” Dan said.

Among the film’s cast are St. Paul Grade 8 students Evan Johnson and Jamie Njari, and St. Mary’s College Grade 9 student Anthony DeLorenzi.

In the film, the Dark Panther villain (portrayed by Njari), is assisted by his henchman Marc Coni (DeLorenzi).

The hooded Dark Panther comes from Sault Ste. Marie’s soon-to-be-closed St. Pius Catholic School, and desires to take over other schools, including St. Paul.

“His motivation is ‘okay, my school’s closing, I don’t want it to close but I want to take control of other schools, he’s upset,” Daniel explained.

“He wants to have control over the schools on the hill, including St. Paul.  He wants more power.  He’s a bully,” father Dan said. 

“The heroes at St. Paul have to realize they have to work together in order to defeat the Dark Panther…good prevails.”   

Heroes are stationed at schools targeted by the Dark Panther.

At St. Paul, the hero, known as the Patriot, is played by Johnson.

Dan and Daniel Lance came up with the idea of making the film a few years ago, and got down to shooting the movie throughout 2015 and 2016.

Filming wrapped up in July.

Heroes was shot mainly at St. Paul, with other scenes filmed at The Tech, Holy Cross Catholic School and Sault College’s library (meant to portray the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library’s main branch).

“We went to the basement of the Tech.  It’s creepy, it’s quite an experience, we filmed quite a few scenes down there,” Daniel said.

The movie has a cast of 15 and a production crew of five, all from St. Paul.

“We worked after school, whenever we could, to film with these marvellous students,” Dan said.

The film was made possible through school fundraisers and a Ministry of Education grant of $2,500.

The grant money went toward equipment and costumes.

The film provided valuable acting and production experience for the students, Daniel said.

“The opportunity to learn about how intense it is on set and working together as a team, then using parts to put together into one big story…it’s interesting to see how everything comes together,” DeLorenzi said.

“Basically it was about teamwork.  If people aren’t working together, it’s not going to happen.  You have to put everything you’ve got into every scene,” Njari said.

“Over time, we got to see how much time and effort and teamwork you have to put in, there has to be commitment.  Come and watch,” Johnson said.

“We are very proud of these students.  The calibre of the acting is incredible,” Dan said.

A trailer for the film has been released on YouTube and Facebook.