Jeff Heuchert
Staff Reporter

William Shatner followed his intuition and boldly went where he had never gone before.
The result is William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet, his award-winning documentary which had its Canadian premiere at DocFest Stratford last Thursday evening.

Earlier in the day, Shatner spoke at a press conference at Stratford Central Secondary School, where students from across the region were participating in a digital film-making workshop.

“Take an impulse and make it your own,” the 78-year-old Canadian actor told students.

Shatner explained how when he was asked by the Milwaukee Ballet if it could use music from his 2004 album, Has Been, he not only said yes, but he was struck with the idea to send a camera crew to document the process.

Footage from that unlikely partnership, assembled with an intimate look at Shatner himself and the reactions from performers and those who worked on the album, as well as audiences, would eventually become the film which recently won first prize at the Marbella International Film Festival in Spain.

“And riding on that note of triumph,” he announced jauntily, “we’re here in Stratford.”

Upon his arrival, Shatner, who’s best known for playing Captain Kirk on Star Trek, was besieged by a crowd inside the school’s gymnasium shouting out calls of “You’re cool,” and “You’re my hero.”

“You see young people like that, filled with an enthusiasm and magic ... and I had that, that playground-mentality,” Shatner commented afterwards. “They have such an excitement, and to be a part of that is to keep yourself renewed.”

Shatner said he hardly recognized the city, where he performed with the Stratford Festival from 1954-56, during his brief drive-through on the way to the school. He also recalled his reaction years earlier when he learned the tent at the Festival Theatre had been replaced with a permanent roof.

“That’s not the Stratford I know,” he cracked.

With his sights set on the stages of New York, Shatner said he came to perform in Stratford all those years ago “to achieve something, but it wasn’t monetary.”

The veteran actor, author and musician added later, with a hint of a smile, “I came into this city in a used Morris Minor that cost $400 .... and I came in a limousine 50 years later.”

Fielding questions from students, Shatner said breaking into the film industry won’t be easy, but he encouraged them to keep trying and to not get discouraged.

“It’s very tough, but you’ve got to follow your bliss,” he said. “Every failure leads to some gain in knowledge and eventually you’ll have gained enough knowledge not to have failure.”

Every so often, he observed, a film that was made on a minimal budget will get picked up by a major studio.

“That’s the adventure,” he continued emphatically. “Nobody can tell you that idea won’t work.

“A documentary sails into view, makes a lot of money and every documentary filmmaker, which includes us, says that’s the golden grail, and it revives the vision of what you think you can do.

“It offers the promise of what the potential can be for a young filmmaker who has an idea and then follows it through.”

Craig Thompson, executive producer of DocFest, which was in its second year, said the underlying message of the festival is to inspire young people to get involved in film, television and digital media.

“The documentary festival is meant to raise money and awareness that this part of Ontario has a bright future in these industries,” he added.

Shatner called Stratford “a fountainhead of art,” and said it was exciting to see see young people getting the opportunity to learn about filmmaking and digital media, as they did during the two-day workshop, which was presented by Fanshawe College.

“Those talents need to be developed, and what an extraordinary place ... this high school,” Shatner said.

“I’m happy to be here to encourage that, and encourage the continuance of the DocFest in Stratford.”