TISH FEST 2025: MEET FILMMAKER CHRISTOPHER DALTON, DIRECTOR OF THE DAMNATION

Christopher Darton is an award-winning Anishinaabe Algonquin writer, artist and filmmaker with a Bachelor’s Degree in Indigenous Studies from Laurentian University and studying Illustration and graduating in Film at Sheridan College.   

Chris has produced/directed three feature-length films for his production company Blues Harp Productions: ‘The Way We Were: The Story of the Kendall Wall Band,’  ‘Hard Working Man: The Music and Miracles of Danny Brooks,’ and his latest ‘The Damnation.’  As well as a number of award-winning short films.  He is currently writing his fourth feature film ‘Straight to Hell.’ 

In 2019 he completed the short documentary ‘The Essence of Goodness: The Harold Axtell Story’ and in 2020, Chris produced and directed the award-winning short documentaries ‘At the Brink: A Personal View of Suicides Over Niagara Falls’ and ‘Angie: Tales of Determination,’ which won Best Director and Best Editor for short documentaries at the Hollywood North Film Award.  The film was also chosen as ‘Most Inspirational Film’ at the South Jersey Motorcycle Film Festival.

Chris also produced the award-winning music video/mini horror film ‘Halloween Baby’ and the horror short ’37% Pure Evil.’   Chris is also a producer on the documentary feature Project Cold Days and an Associate Producer on Greg Lamberson’s Guns of Eden and Frenzy Moon.   

The Damnation is Blues Harp Productions' first non-documentary feature-length film. Chris Darton is the project's writer, producer, and co-director. It premiered at Amazing Fantasy Fest in September 2024 and won Best Canadian Horror Film at the Western Canadian Film Festival.

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FIVE QUESTIONS WITH FILMMAKER CHRISTOPHER DARTON DIRECTOR OF THE DAMNATION

What made you fall in love with film?  

I grew up in a small town that had a drive-in movie theatre.  My parents were young and liked to go, so I saw all kinds of 1970s classics from the backseat of my mom and dad’s Pontiac Parisienne .  It was magical to me.  

What was the first film you saw in a theatre?

 I’m not 100% sure because my town didn’t have a movie theatre until around 1976. I would guess Jaws was close to the first.  We went out of town to see it.  My dad took me against my mom’s wishes.   It’s still a favourite of mine; I watch it a couple of times a year.  

What do you love about the collaborative process of independent filmmaking and film festivals?  

Collaboration is incredible when it works; sometimes, it doesn’t.  At the end of the day … I love the process.  Independent films give you the autonomy to go out and make your film and have control over its destiny.  If it’s good, it’s on you. If it’s terrible, then it’s on you. You’re in the driver's seat, guiding the way.  Film festivals are the gateway to giving my films a platform for people to see them. That part of the process is the great unknown to me, so I rely on festivals to open that door.  

As a filmmaker, what lengths have you gone to to get a shot, deliver a performance, or produce a scene?

  For the big creature battle in The Damnation, it was shot over the course of a few days, spanning close to three years.  So, the initial day was shot in September 2021, and we returned in 2024 while finishing the film and shooting for a couple more days. The clothing from the first shoot was blood-covered, and assuming we wouldn’t need it again, it was thrown out. I had to match everything as best I could.  We had to bring back the actors, make up FX for the creatures, and gain access to the location once again.  You name it.  It was a challenge.   

What's next for you as a filmmaker?  

It's a sequel but switching gears from horror to action at (hopefully) a much bigger budget.  It wasn’t initially planned that way.  I was developing a “next” film and thought back to the film's premiere when someone asked if I was considering a sequel.  I answered, “No.”  But then I started to think I could place the surviving characters in the new idea, and it helped that I knew the actors, and we got along great.  In bringing them back, I immediately added four leads to the new films using talented people who I liked working with and who knew me.  So that’s where I’m at; I'm currently developing the sequel titled Straight to Hell. 

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