Eastern Washington-based film ‘Train Dreams’ nominated for four Oscars

A local production supervisor was caught off guard when a friend from the East Coast called him to wish him congratulations early Thursday morning.

“I’m like, uh, what?” Marc Dahlstrom recalled saying, unaware that the Eastern Washington-based film he worked on had just been nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture.

“Train Dreams” is an intimate portrayal of a man, Robert Grainer (Joel Edgerton), as he navigates loss and adapts to the rapidly evolving Pacific Northwest during the early 1900s.

Director Clint Bentley crafted a film adapted from Denis Johnson’s novella that captured audiences and Academy voters alike, landing nominations in best original song, cinematography, adapted screenplay and best picture.

“Train Dreams” was considered an underdog to make the best picture list after Netflix’s campaign for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein gained momentum at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. But both films were able to secure spots in the race.

“Hollywood – I mean, it’s a big world out there, and there’s lots of things that go into that whole machine of the motion picture arts,” Dahlstrom said. “It’s hard to know for sure how everything works, but again, it’s just great to be recognized and great for those that were part of the nominating that movie, and then those that worked on it can be very, very proud of their efforts.”

Filmed largely in Eastern Washington, the movie features many familiar backdrops for Spokane locals, such as the Davenport Hotel, The Spokesman-Review building and the Pacific Northwest’s lush forests.

A local crew ensured the details were right. More than a third of the hands behind the project were Spokane-based, and now Dahlstrom said their work will bring their hometown to the center stage on Hollywood’s biggest night.

“It’s going to put a spotlight on Washington,” he said. “And particularly Eastern Washington and Spokane and what we’re able to accomplish here.”

Since news of the film’s nominations has spread across the West Side, Dahlstrom’s phone has been bright with notifications from his friends and fellow crew members.

“I’m jazzed,” propmaster Andy Wert said.

Though he was out of the country Thursday, it is on Wert’s weekend agenda to send out calls to the people in his life. The local propmaster has worked on multiple movies previously nominated for Academy Awards, including Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Dallas Buyers Club” and Patty Jenkins’ “Monster.”

For his part, Wert saw the nominations coming “from a mile away.”

“Just the whole feel of the project while we were working on it, I just knew that it was something special,” he said. “And here we are going to the awards. It’s just amazing.”

When the Academy Awards show happens in March, Dahlstrom is hoping to get the chance to dress in his Sunday best and attend.

“I don’t know how it all works,” he said of attending the awards. “In fact, I was just cleaning up my office a little bit and I’m going to fire up the computer and (search), ‘How do you get Academy Award tickets?’ ”

The Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, March 15, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Viewers around the world can tune in live from home through the ABC Network or Hulu. It starts at 4 p.m.

Until then, “Train Dreams” can be streamed on Netflix. Wert has no shortage of faith in the film.

“The crew and the people on the ground there in Spokane – it’s such a great community, and if there was a place where something magical is gonna happen, it’s gonna happen in Spokane.”