iN VIDEO: X-wing Starfighters in the Okanagan? Celebrate May the Fourth with this fan film | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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iN VIDEO: X-wing Starfighters in the Okanagan? Celebrate May the Fourth with this fan film

Yep, that's a Rebel Alliance X-Wing Starfighter flying over Okanagan Lake. The fan film "Kaiburr Kid" was created by two Okanagan friends for Star Wars Day, May the Fourth.
Image Credit: YOUTUBE/Maurits Nienhuis

Two Okanagan filmmakers are celebrating May the Fourth, also known as Star Wars Day, with a film of their own.

Summerland-based videographer and graphic designer Maurits Nienhuis, and West Kelowna author Andrew Buckley recently collaborated to shoot a Star Wars fan film to celebrate the special day.

Using Peachland, West Kelowna and Summerland as a backdrop, the short film posted to YouTube features Buckley’s youngest son as the main character in Kaiburr Kid, according to a press release issued by Buckley.

Nienhuis came up with the concept after recently watching the original Star Wars trilogy.

“I grew up not knowing much about Star Wars as it's not a big thing in European, the Dutch at least, pop culture,” he said in the release.

“Andrew made me watch the original trilogy recently and I fell in love with the story and style of those movies. I've never worked on films before but I got curious to see if I could make my own Star Wars scene with Summerland's Giant's Head Mountain as a backdrop. It turned out great and sparked some ideas to make something with an actual storyline.”

Based on the story concept, Buckley wrote the script and the pair went into production on a hot spring day in April.

“I shared my story idea with Andrew and before I knew it, he had a script ready. He's an author and went to film school so he's familiar with how these things work and it was great to collaborate on it,” Nienhuis said.

The film features shots of Okanagan Lake and the surrounding mountains with extra footage shot at both filmmaker’s homes in Summerland and the Glenrosa area of West Kelowna.

Buckley and Nienhuis are also business partners in Wordsmith Academy — an online writing school launched in November 2019 that caters to new writers across multiple disciplines, employing literary instructors from all over the world.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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