A former Parry Sound resident is on cloud nine after taking home accolades at the 2020 Canadian Film Awards.
Wendy Ord is the co-writer, director and co-producer for “To The Worlds,” which won the honour of the ‘Best Documentary Program’ at the awards on Monday.
“To The Worlds” is about an inspiring group of eight women from British Columbia, ranging from ages 47-77, as they defy their years to compete in the International Adult Figure Skating Competition in Germany.
In an interview with MyParrySoundNow, Ord says it was a complete shock to have even been nominated and to win is an unbelievable accomplishment.
“I mean, we were chosen from hundreds of entries across Canada, and we did not expect to win either. There were five nominees, and they were all great documentary films so we were pretty shocked. There were a lot of tears here watching the computer as our names were announced.”
The film beat out the competition, which included a documentary entitled “Humboldt: The New Season,” which surrounded the devastating highway accident involving the Humboldt Broncos in April 2018.
Ord says it took around two years for the film to be made, which involved thousands of hours of recording, getting in shape and pushing themselves to their mental and physical limits.
“It was a long process, and by the time we finished, we probably had about five thousand hours of film footage of what was originally ten women. So then, it took about six months to get that project edited down to its one-hour format.”
Ord says while was originally apprehensive about making the film, it was her husband who convinced her to go through with it.
It also pushed 59-year-old Ord to finally learn how to skate for the first time.
“Growing up in Parry Sound, I am surprised I didn’t learn to skate earlier,” she said. “Even growing up in the home of Bobby Orr, I didn’t learn how to skate as a young person and decided to take it up at my age, so; the film has a message that you can do anything.”
Ord adds that she hopes audiences take some inspiration from the film and seek to try out new things and challenge themselves.
You can watch the film here.