Q&A: N.L. director says Skeet resonating with audiences outside the province

The new movie Skeet is having a big impact — not just in Newfoundland and Labrador, but across the world. 

Starring Newfoundland and Labrador's Sean Dalton and Syrian actor Jay Abdo, the film tells the story of a man returning home from prison, and a his interactions with a Syrian-refugee. 

The movie has been screened locally at the Scotiabank Cineplex theatre in St. John's, but director Nik Sexton says the it will soon be screened in other countries, including Germany and potentially Syria. 

CBC Radio's Weekend AM spoke to Sexton about audience reactions. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You just finished a cross-country cinema tour with Skeet. What has the reaction been across Canada?

A: You make these films in Newfoundland and they're unapologetically Newfoundland films, even though the story is pretty universal. And you never know how it's going to go. But, it was incredible to see how many people [also] knew Billy Skinners in Edmonton, or Antigonish, or in Vancouver. 

Tell me about some of the reactions that you're getting from people who you might not think of in terms of cinemaphiles. 

We got these messages from social workers especially, saying I want to take clients to see this. The intention of the film was to show what the root cause of these problems is, how we got here was kind of the intention of some of the storytelling. 

We [heard from] a social worker from Her Majesty's Penitentiary who wants to show it there. We had a social worker — a friend of mine [that] I leaned heavily on during the research for the film — we made sure we got all our facts straight before we started rolling cameras. 

Jay Abdo, your Syrian lead actor, is used to working on big-budget films. What does he make of the reaction to this film?

He's kind of blown away. He really loves Newfoundland. And he really is what you see. He's that charming, beautiful man. I think he's kind of shocked about how much people are connecting with it on such a deep level.

I will say this about Jay Abdo, he too understood the character Moe very well because [while] he may have worked on some big productions at one point, he found himself with nothing in Los Angeles, not knowing the language [and] having to flee for his life from Syria because he spoke out against his government.

I think between Billy and Moe, if you really look at the film, both of these men are trying to rebuild their lives and I think he really connected with that.

How about the Billy Skinners of the world? Have you heard from people that have lived that life and have seen the film?

If I'm being completely honest, some of the Billy Skinners I think about — myself and Sean talked about — a lot of them have passed away, sadly. 

No one's reached out directly, I don't think people want to be called a skeet in Newfoundland either. No one wants to really be Billy Skinner as much as they identify with Billy Skinner. 

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