For the past five years, Canadian make-up artist Lesia T. Bear has been working on a feature documentary about her father, Jimmy Bear, a legendary snooker player.
Along the way, she commissioned a logo for the project from Running Buffalo and more importantly, saw her dad get inducted into the Canadian Snooker Hall of Fame in 2022 (along with his brother and several others). "The Billiards and Snooker Association finally acknowledged my father's outstanding achievements, which had previously been overlooked," Lesia told ACTRA Alberta. "I am extremely proud that sharing his story brought my father the recognition he deserved."
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| Logo created by Running Buffalo |
This weekend, it's finally time to show Jimmy Bear the finished product, at a private screening. At age 86, Jimmy Bear today, July 18th, will get to watch Jimmy The Bear at Calgary's cSpace together with his daughter and others.
Astonishingly, after Lesia's parents separated when she was just a baby and she was sent to live with her grandparents, she was told her father was dead. Per a write-up in the Cochrane Eagle, it was only at age 13, when Lesia asked to visit her father's grave, that she finally learned the truth.
Jimmy won the 1980 Canadian Snooker Championship and was known during his playing days for racking up perfect games. For the documentary, his daughter interviewed dozens of former players and contemporaries, many of whom touch on the racism dad faced in snooker halls. Lesia used a main grant from the Alberta Foundation of the Arts as well as other grants and fundraised support to complete the film.
"Creating the documentary for my father has been an incredible odyssey," Lesia shared on Instagram, "filled with lessons and triumphs. With every setback, my resolve only strengthened, because making this for him is what truly matters."
She told the Eagle that her plan is to submit the documentary to festivals, especially in the United Kingdom, where snooker remains popular. In addition to make-up, Lesia has worked as a set dresser on films such as the 2020 Kevin Costner drama Let Him Go and 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, as well as a stand-in on countless other projects.
[Jimmy The Bear: Official website]
Previously on FilmStew:
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