‘Dark comedy’ about oil industry playing in Saskatoon

After making its premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival last fall, a comedy about Canada’s oil industry is showing in Saskatoon.

Circle of Steel, directed and written by Calgary oilfield engineer-turned-independent filmmaker Gillian McKercher, will be showing in Saskatoon until Thursday.

In an interview with CKOM’s John Gormley on Monday, McKercher said her layoff in 2016 helped her pursue her goal of filmmaking and also influenced the theme of job insecurity that runs through the film. Although Circle of Steel isn’t a documentary, she said much of the project has a basis in her own experience.

“I describe it as a fictional dark comedy,” McKercher explained. “You see a slice of life with a little bit of humour and some sympathy too.”

One of the scenes featured in the film depicts a group of workers standing outdoors in blue coveralls monotonously reciting safety mantras provided to them by a visibly unenthusiastic instructor. McKercher said the “safety culture” is one of the aspects of the oil and gas industry that she wanted to both parody and depict realistically in the film.

“People who aren’t in the oil and gas industry, they’re often kind of confused,” she said. “They’re like, ‘That seems really unrealistic,’ but no – that’s actually what you do every day and it’s kind of weird, but also, it’s nice. It’s good to be reminded that safety is important.”

McKercher said the intention behind the safety culture is good, but “when you say the same thing every morning for 365 days, it loses its value.”

The film’s title, Circle of Steel, is another inside reference to engineering. McKercher said the name was taken from the iron rings worn by many Canadian-trained engineers as a reminder of their ethical duties.

The filmmaker said she’s had a lot of positive feedback at previous screenings, not just from oil workers, but from people across a number of industries “where you feel like a number.”

Circle of Steel is showing at the Roxy Theatre in Saskatoon until Thursday.