Father Like Son Interview: Anna Kuelken
Anna Kuelken is the recently crowned National Winner of the BMO 1st Art! Competition. Her award-winning short film Father Like Son looks at the daily life of her family on their small farm in Alberta.
As the film progresses, you watch as Kuelken’s young niece and nephew are integrated into life on the farm and are faced with the reality of where their food comes from. I spoke to Kuelken about life on the farm, filming with her family, and receiving the call that she had won the BMO 1st Art! Competition.
Father Like Son will be displayed in the second virtual BMO 1st Art! exhibition from November 16–December 8, for more information: click here.
Can you introduce yourself and talk about how you got started in film?
Anna Kuelken: I’m Anna Kuelken and I’m from a small community called Fort Assiniboine in rural Alberta, about two hours from civilization. Filmmaking didn’t come naturally to me. I was unsure of what I wanted to do when I was in high school, so when I graduated I did a bunch of different things. I worked in oil fields, I did firefighting, I was a nanny in Europe, and then finally I was like ‘I’m good at art, I should go to school.’ I went to design school and sort of hated it but I took one film class and just fell in love, like completely in love, and it kind of sprouted from there.
I met a filmmaker in Edmonton who kind of took me under his wing, he did ethnographic films, research films. So, I got in at a weird spot but I got shown all the artsy and nerdy films and when I made one film that I enjoyed, and people were receptive to, I was lucky enough to meet somebody to kinda show me the way.
And what was that first film about? Was it along the same lines as Father Like Son?
AK: Yeah, my dad’s a huge inspiration to me. It was kind of on him and how it’s hard for people to get into farming these days because it’s really expensive, and land is expensive, and either you go big or go home. I’m kinda a weird farm, agriculture nerd.
I guess that’s a great lead-in to how you came up with the idea of Father Like Son, and obviously, you’ve done something similar, but why did you want to focus more on your niece and nephew in this film?
AK: When I got home — I moved back during the pandemic — I started to watch them with my brother. It just really reminded me of my upbringing and how my dad integrated us into farm life and it kind of spiralled from there. Focusing on Kayla, I felt like I was looking at myself. Jacob does a lot of the jobs, like driving the tractor, but Kayla is always there. She’s always a part of it even if she isn’t — although she does do those things. It just felt like I was watching myself so it kind of started from there.
And I guess that’s a very big theme, the cycle of life, you looking at your niece seeing yourself and also the literal cycle of life. Can you talk about what it was like watching her experience that for the first time?
AK: It was really interesting. We weren’t even supposed to be there that day and that made the film. Seeing her react the way she did, you’re glad that there’s sadness with those types of things. When I go to the grocery store I consciously buy. I know where my meat comes from. This animal had an amazing life, it wasn’t in close quarters with other animals, it wasn’t stressed out, it didn’t know it was going to die.
So for her, I’m just glad that she sees this and experiences this. You know she’s gonna go out in the world and have a better understanding of the cycle of life. It was hard to watch her cry but it was incredible to see her move forward. It’s pretty amazing to me, how she did, and I was glad I was able to capture that on camera.
What is it like filming your family was there any hesitation on their end?
AK: No, they’re so used to me with the camera by now. The kids were like: ‘we’re going to be movie stars.’ It’s kind of funny because they’re very quiet and I wasn’t quite sure of the excitement they had inside, but then their parents tell me that they’re telling all the kids in school that they’re in a film. It’s pretty cute.
My dad is meant for the camera. I didn’t use a lot of the footage that I have, he puts on a show sometimes which is kind of funny, but he’s really good at talking too. That was the nice thing about filming my family and interviewing them; it was a very natural conversation. They weren’t nervous with me because we’re used to each other. That was a nice part of it.
In Father Like Son you show that farming isn’t their main form of income, can you speak about what it meant to show that in the film?
AK: There’s a line that my dad says: we take off-farm jobs to support our farming habit. Unless you’re a big farm, any money that you make on a farm goes back into the farm. You’re not making money. I think the average small farmer maybe makes eight grand in a year.
Where we’re from the oil field is the closest thing you can get which is interesting because it’s drastically different than farming. It takes from the land as the farmer works with it, reads it, and cultivates it. I worked in an oil field and hated it. But for them, they don’t hate it, it’s just another job for them to do with the things they love. They’ve learned to love it, so I had to try to take my biases out of it.
I wanted to show that it’s not easy to be a farmer. You gotta work really hard. You have to come home after working however many hours on an oil field to check on animals or take time off to cut crops. It’s a different life and I really admire my parents for it.
What was it like submitting this piece into the competition?
AK: It’s weird because it’s my family and it’s my life. I think the weirdest part was submitting or showing it to people to edit it and them telling me I need these certain things. It’s such a personal piece that it’s hard to let go and hard to even show it because it is personal.
But to be honest, I submitted not even thinking that I had a chance. I just didn’t think people would resonate with it as much as they did.
And what was it like when you won the national prize?
AK: Oh my goodness, I was like I feel like they wouldn’t call me if I lost but I had submitted a long time ago. I was actually sitting in a vehicle with some friends when they told me the news and then they’re like you can’t tell anybody, so I said ‘you guys need to be so secret.’
It was kind of nice having people there so I can jump up and down, but the best part was calling my parents and telling them. They were super stoked and it feels good to be recognized. I think it’s quite rare for filmmakers to win money at this large scale so, it’s just nice for people to see my stuff. I’m really grateful that I won a prize for it, I don’t think I’ve won a prize before.
I saw that you are looking to maybe turn this into a feature or a longer film. Is that still the plan?
AK: Yeah, I’m in the works with something along the lines, but a little bit different. It still has to do with agriculture and holistic management and connection with the land. I definitely would like to expand on this and it’s definitely an area in which I excel because of very passionate about it.
If there’s one thing you hope people can take from the film what would it be?
AK: This is a very small look into a family farm but these are the people that know the land, grow it, understand it. We’re so disconnected from everything because we’re trying to feed the whole world instead of looking into our communities.
I think it’s about taking the time to know what farmers are in your community, to go to the farmers market and think about the food that you’re eating. I know that’s pretty grand in the scheme of things because it’s a very personal story, but there are people behind the food that you buy.
