The film is notably situated in a Mennonite community and was shot in Listowel, Ontario, just outside of Kitchener/Waterloo – an active Mennonite community in which you will regularly see families travelling by horse and buggy along the highway. “Several of the themes that were emerging when I was writing the script felt like they would be enhanced by placing the hero in a community of pacifists,” comments Gass-Donnelly. “I had recently been inspired by Carlos Reygados’ film Silent Light (set in a Mexican Mennonite colony) and I loved how the setting immersed the audience in a world that was unfamiliar to them.” And while the story has this backdrop, Gass-Donnelly stresses that it is a backdrop that provides the piece with an underlying tone of morality, but that the film is not specifically about the Mennonite community itself.
“Most people are not familiar with the Mennonite faith or the language and customs associated with it,” he says. “But the film isn’t ABOUT Mennonites. The purpose is not to educate the viewer, but rather for them to feel that the hero is a part of a different world governed by a strong set of religious beliefs which has separated itself from the rest of the society. “ Producer Lee Kim adds, “The Mennonite backdrop and the pacifism that this religion embraces, is the perfect juxtaposition to the anger that haunts Walter. His violent past is the reason why he is shunned in his community, and his conscious efforts to re-connect himself provide the conflict that propels us from beginning to end.” Listowel, Ontario, proved to be the ideal home for the production.
“Listowel really was the perfect town for us to be based in,” comments Kim, “because it embodied the right balance of Mennonite and modern characteristics. The “downtown” core was commercialized enough to provide those exterior and interior locations we needed, while at the same time you would see a horse and buggy drive by regularly. And the expansive, rural landscapes out here are really amazing – like our own little piece of Days of Heaven.”