Vancouver, December 14, 2022 – Steven Schwabl, with Austrian roots, plans to make a documentary about people with German backgrounds or cultures who were inspired to immigrate to North America by reading the books of Karl May. “This author has nothing but imagination.”
Steven’s dad came from Austria as an 18-year-old in the 1950s looking for a life of adventure and riches that he had read about in May’s books – and he found and created that life here in Canada. He helped build dams and power stations in the wilderness, built and sold houses, and started gold mines. And he loved to share stories of “Old Shatterhand,” May’s purported identity in the Old West.
“Your imperial majesty, should I as a cowboy or as a writer conduct the conversation with you?”
Schwabl would like to meet and interview other people who were similarly inspired to come to North America, and find out what their expectations were, and what they discovered here. He would like to start by interviewing people in the Vancouver region, where he lives, and then travel to the Canadian North and the US South-west, to meet and interview others. While traveling, Steven will tell stories from May’s books, as well as his dad’s stories in the New World.
About Stephen Schwabl
Steven Schwabl is a filmmaker, stage actor, writer, and singer from Vancouver, recently reunited with the west coast after many years in Toronto. His most recent film, W, toured festivals internationally, winning prizes in Korea, Poland, and Italy.
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