$1 million film with award-winning actor will be made on Island

By Daniel Brown

Oct. 31, 2018

A feature film with a $1 million budget is being made on P.E.I. next year.

Mahdi Selseleh and his production team made the announcement after the premiere of their Island short film, 3:21:00, at the Charlottetown Cineplex on Oct. 29.

The film will feature Shahab Hosseini. He won best actor in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for his lead role in the Oscar-winning film The Salesman.

Dennis Trainor, Mahdi Selseleh, and Ryan McCarvill announced the high-budget film after premiering their short film, 3:21:00, at the Charlottetown Cineplex on Monday. Daniel Brown photo.

Selseleh couldn’t reveal much about the film because some details aren’t confirmed yet. It’ll be a cultural drama, he said.

“You’ll laugh, cry, and have all sorts of emotions.”

The film will be written and directed by an off-Island director. Selseleh and his new production team, 321 Entertainment, hope to announce more details after Christmas.

Selseleh wants to bring filmmakers who left the Island back for this project. It will prove you don’t have to leave to make good films, Selseleh said.

“We can do it here on P.E.I.”

Thomas Mears hopes this film brings Islanders together. He’s the technical coordinator of FilmPEI.

“There’s this overwhelming sense of community that I’ve discovered in the film industry on the Island.”

A big project like this could make it happen. It’ll take a large crew and lots of equipment, but P.E.I. has the resources, Mears said.

“It’s probably quite complex and challenging,” Mears said. “We should be able to handle production at that level.”