Huge accolades have come in for a film produced by a local film production studio and they just happen to be the stars of the film.

Matthew Paproski and his wolves are part of the film “The Last Howl”. The film has won Best Nature / Wildlife Film and Best Director Documentary Feature at the Cannes World Film Festival. The film was also nominated for Best Picture at the Los Angeles Film Awards and came away with a Special Jury Award at the festival. Paproski couldn’t be more surprised that they came away winners. “I had no idea that this would happen. We entered it in some awards and film festivals, and I am actually shocked. I spent 20 years making this film with all the people that have helped us. We wouldn’t have done it by ourselves. It’s not just good news for me, it’s good news for everybody. The film ends in Drumheller, on purpose. People are going to see that and have one more way of liking Drumheller.”

Paproski is proud of the win but also proud on how the film showcases the animals. “We entered it to win, but mostly because we need to get the word out about animals, and caring for them, and the planet, and this is one way of doing it. Also, to be commercially successful. It has taken a lot of time, money, and energy from lots of people to get it this far. We don’t want to stop here, we want to keep moving forward.”

When you think of the Cannes Film Festival, the big films are what come to mind. Paproski shares that they are part of a separate festival focused on documentaries and television productions. He and his team are also hoping to enter the film in the Calgary Film Festival and possibly showing the film here locally. As for upcoming projects, Paproski notes that they do have one on the go that should hopefully be coming out soon, and they are focused on the creation of their YouTube channel.