Brokeback Mountain may be fictional - but the location isn't. And since the release of the soul-stirring cowboy romance -more inquiries at Alberta Film and Travel Alberta have been generated than any other movie in recent memory

“Since its limited showing in early December (first appearing in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago), we’ve had dozens of calls per week - from tourists to film-related calls - wondering where in Alberta Brokeback was shot,” says an ebullient Tina Alford, manager of location and marketing resources for Alberta Film. Annie Proulx’s short story, adapated by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for the silver screen, seems to have struck a potent emotional chord with all audiences.

“Most of the tourists who are calling Travel Alberta are from the United States,” adds Derek Coke-Kerr, managing director of Travel Alberta. But that could change with Brokeback’s release worldwide. Hanging around to view the credits, it’s these movie buffs/travellers who have realised that Brokeback is not actually shot in Wyoming, but southern Alberta.