Northern novel The Lesser Blessed to be filmed

The Northwest Territories needs to offer better incentives to lure film productions, says the author of The Lesser Blessed, a novel that is set in the territory but may be filmed elsewhere.

Richard Van Camp, whose novel'sscreen rights wererecently sold to the Toronto-basedFirst Generation Films , said the movie should be shot in the Northwest Territories because it is based inCamp's hometown of Fort Smith, along the Alberta border, and Behchoko,about95 kilometres north of Yellowknife.

"I want this film to be shot in the N.W.T.," Van Camp told CBC News last week.

"I want to see Northern actors on the big screen. I want to see the beauty of the North on the big screen."

Van Camp said he was excited that the story was being converted to the silver screen, but fearedit would be filmed outside the territory because the N.W.T. does not offer the same incentives as other territories and provinces.

"The second we signed the deal, northern Manitoba and the Yukon called the producer and said:'We've got money. We've got grants. We've got experienced film people, set designers, caterers, costume designers, continuity experts. You name it, we've got it.'"

A casting call for the film will be held in the next few months with shooting scheduled to begin in July, he said.

The Lesser Blessed, published in 1996,is a coming-of-age novel about a young First Nations teenager grappling with the complexities of modern life.