U of R employee tells story of her brother in documentary

Posted: April 10, 2014 9:20 a.m.

Dianne Ouellette looks at a picture of her brother Guy.
Dianne Ouellette looks at a picture of her brother Guy. Photo courtesy of External Relations

It’s a story Dianne Ouellette has been waiting to tell since 2009. Thanks to a $60,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, the New Media Studio Lab Manager at the University of Regina can finally tell the story of her brother Guy Ouellette.

On December 14th, 2009, Guy Ouellette fell 60 feet to his death from an oil well service rig he was working on in rural Saskatchewan.

“The day after my brother died, right away, I knew I needed to tell his story,” said Dianne. “I did attempt once to try and do something, just go out and shoot, but it was too soon, too close to my heart, and I couldn’t do it then.”

Last summer, Dianne wrote a proposal and it was accepted by the Canada Council for the Arts. She will begin shooting the documentary, tentatively entitled Rigger, later this spring.

Dianne says the documentary is not intended to attack the oil and gas industry, but rather to serve as a tribute to her brother Guy.

“Making a film that tells us who Guy was, what happened to him and how it’s affected the people around him is more powerful than going out and saying you did this,” said Dianne. “It’s horrible, what happened to my brother, but it doesn’t respect him to go out and chase people down.”

Dianne hopes to complete the documentary by fall 2015.