LaFrance Will

Article by Lois Ann Baker
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16 March 2016

Former Akwesasne resident Will Lafrance has been nominated, for a Best Actor Award at the World Music International Film Festival for his part in a short film. "See How Easy That Was".

It might not be the Oscars, but it's a step in the right direction. Will Lafrance, who grew up in Akwesasne, has been nominated for Best Actor in a Short Film - International for his role in the film "See How Easy That Was" at the 2016 World Music and Independent Film Festival (WMIFF).

Lafrance got interested in theatre when he started high school at General Vanier Secondary School. He went to state-side schools before coming over to Cornwall to continue his education.

"I just thought I would bite the bullet and decided to take a drama class at GV," he said. "I just fell in love with it from there and have been doing it ever since."

After graduating from high school, Lafrance went on to study Theatre Arts at Algonquin College where he graduated near the top of his class.

Lafrance has been very busy and since graduation he has been in 30 theatrical plays, six short films and one feature length film.

"I've been keeping busy," he said.

Lafrance said lately he has been able to pick and choose which projects he wants to work on. "At the beginning you are picking up everything trying to do what you can," he said. "Now I'm able to pick up roles like the one in this last short film where I feel I can give the role a lot more justice."

The festival itself doesn't happen until late August with the winners being announced probably around Sept. 2, Lafrance said.
"The gala is happening on a cruise ship this year," he said. "This festival usually happens in a few theatres near Washington, D.C., but this year they decided to do it on a cruise ship."

Lafrance said the venue means he will spend about a week on the sea. "It's like a vacation/film festival," he said. "I'm so excited about it."

Lafrance said most of the films he does are independent films so they don't necessarily get a wide release due to not having big distribution contracts, but most of the short films he has done can be found on the Internet.

Lafrance said the people who run the bigger festivals like the Toronto International Film Festival or the Cannes Festival, the unionized festivals, started the WMIFF as a way of helping non-union actors, performers and professionals get noticed and into the unions.

"Basically, my goal is to walk away from the festival with some good representation," said Lafrance. "That's the next step for me and then we'll go from there. It's one step at a time with this stuff."

Lafrance said he is thankful for the support he has received from his family and friends over the years.

"It's been a long process," he said.