Social Sciences room 217
Phd student Geo Takach screens his documentary film investigating Alberta's identity.
Will the real Alberta please stand up?
Student explores Alberta's identity in new documentary film
To some, Albertans are oil-spoiled, beef-loving, polluting mavericks... rednecks with less culture than yogurt. But to skeptical filmmaker and Phd student in Communication and Culture, Geo Takach, these stereotypes are just the tip of the grain elevator. Setting out to define the real soul of his home province, he has created a documentary film in which he introduces viewers to some of Alberta's iconic personalities and citizens, as well as keen observers from coast to coast, and paints a fast-paced, funny and perhaps even surprising portrait of the province that people love to pigeonhole.
"Alberta fascinates and frustrates me to no end," says Takach, a long-time resident of Albertan. "I wanted to explore the extent to which the largely unflattering stereotypes of our province were true."
The film, created for a popular audience, ladders into Tachach's Phd thesis where he will explore questions around Alberta's identity and how that identity has been communicated and mis-communicated.
Produced by Geo con Brio Productions and Reel Girls Media for City TV, Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up? had its broadcast premiere in June on City TV stations across Canada.
