Interdisciplinary storyteller and composer Corey Payette says that he created his new film, Starwalker, as a love letter to East Vancouver. It opens with an isolated image of artist Ken Lum’s Monument for East Vancouver, a.k.a. the East Van Cross, looming large in the night sky. From there, the film cuts to nighttime traffic passing by along Clark Drive and then to the SkyTrain heading east from Commercial-Broadway Station. Next, Payette shows other quintessential scenes in the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood.
By the time a cast of talented drag artists in the fictional House of Borealis nightclub perform the zestful opening number, “What They Don’t Know About You”, Payette has already framed the broad outline of the story. This film is not only about wildly colourful drag queens, it’s also a reflection of the alluring community that he has called home for 16 years.
“It’s so welcoming—very queer, very Indigenous, and very arts-focused,” Payette, artistic director of Urban Ink, tells Pancouver over Zoom. “So that, I feel, is something special and something that I wanted to share.”
Payette, a member of the Mattagami First Nation with French and Irish ancestry, initially presented Starwalker as a musical. It received outstanding reviews following its world premiere in 2023 at the York Theatre. The theatrical show and the feature-length movie both revolve around an East Van Indigiqueer, Two-Spirit callboy named Star, played by Dillan Chiblow—an Ojibwe storyteller from Garden River First Nation.
“I wrote it for Dillan,” Payette says. “So he developed it since my first workshop that I had of it… And so it was a real dream to see him do the stage production and then get to be in the film.”
Vancouver Queer Film Festival presents Starwalker
Payette decided to set an important early scene in Starwalker near Trout Lake in John Hendry Park. There, Star meets his love interest Levi (Jeffrey Follis). Levi introduces Star to the world of drag at the House of Borealis, which is headed by the charismatic Mother Borealis (Stewart Adam McKensy).
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival will present the B.C. premiere of Starwalker at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday (September 13) at Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas. It’s the second musical theatrical production that Payette has adapted into a feature film; the first was Les Filles du Roi, which was released in 2023.
Payette reveals that the name Borealis in House of Borealis came from an affectionate nickname bestowed on him by his husband: Corey Borealis.
Payette adds that his father—through whom he’s connected to his First Nation—is seriously into stargazing. His dad explained constellations to him in his childhood, so he has long felt a connection to the nighttime skies.
“When I moved out west from northern Ontario, my father said to me: ‘If you ever need to find home, just look up for the Bear and that will point east,’ ” Payette discloses. “So, that is one of the lines in the show.”
There are other references to Indigeneity sprinkled throughout the script. Talented Vancouver dance artist Ralph Escamillan choreographed stage performances at the House of Borealis in the play and for the film. Escamillan also plays one of the drag queens. The other drag queens are played by Jesse Alvarez, Jason Sakaki, Connor Parnall, and August Elzinga.
Camera becomes the audience
Payette is thrilled that most of the cast members from the theatrical production are also in the film. In fact, he dreamed of creating stage and screen versions from the time he began writing Starwalker in 2019.
“Part of why it felt so well-suited for that is because there are on-stage singing moments where they’re singing to an audience,” Payette says. “And then you go back-stage with them, and you get to see the inner workings.
“So what they’re presenting to the audience is actually only one part of the true drama and complexity of these characters,” he continues. “It’s a whole dance, like an intricate camera ballet, where the camera is really the audience and is able to capture things. You can really tell this very specific, intimate story in a way that you could never do in the same way on-stage.”
Payette composed 16 memorable songs in the film, including the show-stopping “Soar”. For Payette, this composition offered an opportunity to create an 11 o’clock number for his Indigenous character Star. This serves as a catalyst for the audience to cheer him on.
“I started writing the melody at the Banff Centre and I actually recorded it on my phone,” he acknowledges. “I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I just knew it was special.”
Payette decided to save “Soar” for the right project. This came about years later when the dramaturg that he was working with advised him to include a “really big song” to provide context for Star’s journey.
“Once that moment became clear to me, I thought, ‘Well, I have the perfect song for this moment.’ So, I would say I’m the most proud about that one, only because it felt like it was such a special moment,” he states. “I was able to pair that special moment with what I think is a really special song for the character—and that’s always really satisfying.”
Event details
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival will present Starwalker at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday (September 13) at Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas (88 West Pender Street, 3rd Floor). The filmmakers will speak at a post-screening Q&A. The festival is also making Starwalker available online from September 22 to 28. For more information, visit the Vancouver Queer Film Festival website.
On November 14, the Transform Festival will present The Starwalker Experience to celebrate the music of Starwalker. It will take place at the Vancouver Playhouse. Tickets are available through thecultch.ca.
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