ELY- Tessa Blake, the director of the indie film “Boundary Waters” has won the Ely Film Festival’s award for Best Director. Her film, which was shot in Ely almost two years ago, sold out its two showings in advance of last week’s Ely Film Festival and likely could have sold out a third.
The “rush line” list for seats due to no-shows was two pages long twenty minutes before the scheduled 7 p.m. start of the film for its second showing on Saturday. The festival staff were seating the people from the rush list as late as 7:20 p.m. No one in the audience seemed to mind.
For those who have not yet had a chance to see “Boundary Waters,” it is a rich and deep look at the effects of sexual assault, to its victims as well as the families surrounding them, as seen through the eyes of Michael, a 12-year-old boy whose mother is one of the victims.
The city of Ely is prominent in the film, with many scenes shot in the alley between Harvey and Chapman streets, near the post office and library. Ely City Hall was relabeled as “Athens City Hall” on the Art Deco sign above the main entrance. Ely Memorial High School was the backdrop of the school scenes.
Ely didn’t provide all of the shooting locations. The outdoor scenes were outside of Ely city limits in Morse Township, notably Grant McMahan Blvd. along the north shore of Shagawa Lake and the old quarry site. A small number of downtown scenes were shot on Chestnut St. in Virginia.
A question-and-answer session followed the Saturday showing of “Boundary Waters,” with director Tessa Blake, Bill Heck who played Michael’s father, and Alison Miller who played Michael’s mother.
Blake spoke about how a staff member at Minnesota North College talked them into coming up to check out Ely, and how the film’s management fell in love with the community as a filming site.
Blake also had praise for the residents of Ely, who welcomed the production crew and served as the film’s extras: “This cast, from top to bottom, was incredible, including all the extras, all of the amazing kids from Ely who came for the talent show, all people who came for the amazing crowd scenes, and the clown band! Incredible, right?”
More showings ahead
“Boundary Waters” has only been shown at a small number of film festivals since its premier in October 2024. The film was nominated for best feature narrative and excellence in directing at the Woodstock Film Festival in New York. It also won the Bill Cooper Best Minnesota Feature Award at the Twin Cities Film Festival.
“Boundary Waters” does not have a deal yet with a film distribution company, which is a necessary step before it is shown as a general release in movie theaters and on streaming services.
“We’re hoping to be able to show it this summer,” said film festival director Jacob White, “but that depends on when the film gets a distribution deal. We know lot of people in Ely want to see it and haven’t had the chance yet.”
Assuming the film does make it to theaters, it may not appear under its current title. Blake said distributors had told her that a change in the film’s title will likely be necessary and her crew offered some suggestions and asked for feedback from the audience.
Film festival awards
The Ely Film Festival gave out all but one of its awards on Sunday morning. The winners are:
 Best Cinematography - Ryan Rumpca, “Where the Wind Takes You”
 Best Director - Tessa Blake, “Boundary Waters”
 Best Documentary – “Electric Indian,” Leya Hale
 Best Minnesota Film - “A Sea Change for Superior”
 Best Feature Film – “Ultimate Citizens”
 Best Short Film – “Of Two Worlds,” Mikayla Swanson
 Independent Spirit Award – “Singing Back the Buffalo,” Tasha Hubbard

The Audience Choice Award will be announced on Friday, March 21, after all the attendee votes have been counted. The award could not be given on Sunday because the festival scheduled extra showings on Wednesday and Thursday of this week for the first eight films to sell out.