Project of the Day: Queer Film Historian Jenni Olson’s New Experimental Documentary
Here’s your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.
In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
“The Royal Road”
Tweetable logline:
Casanova, a history of the Mexican-American War and so much more.
Elevator Pitch:
Contemplative and gorgeous, The Royal Road
is an innovative, cinematic feature shot on 16mm film. Deceptively
simple California urban landscapes become the framework for the film’s
lyrically written voiceover: an expression of yearning butch lesbian
desire and self-reflection interspersed with an array of non-fiction
tangents including an exploration of El Camino Real (the original road
connecting California’s Missions), a reflection on the life story of
Casanova, a capsule history of the Mexican-American War and a defense of
nostalgia. The film’s centerpiece is a brilliant five-minute lecture on
nostalgia and socialism by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony
Kushner.
Production Team:
Writer-Director: Jenni Olson
Producer: Julie Dorf
Additional Voiceover: Tony Kushner
Cinematographer: Sophie Constantinou
Editor: Marc Henrich
Executive Producer: Tom Rielly
Jenni Olson’s prior credits include: The 2009 short documentary 575
Castro St. (official selection: Sundance and Berlin Panorama); the 2005
experimental documentary feature The Joy of Life (official selection:
Sundance and winner of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Marlon
Riggs Award “for courage and vision in Bay Area filmmaking”); 2000 short
Meep! Meep! (official selection Sundance Online Film Festival); the
1997 short Blue Diary (official selection Berlin Panorama) and many
other short films and curated programs of vintage movie trailers
including the 1997 show, Trailer Camp (official selection Toronto
International and Sundance).
About the Production:
“I have always found it challenging to adequately characterize in words
the complex nature of my filmmaking. I can describe the ostensible
topics (in this case an array of historical interests ranging from the
Mexican American War to the life story of Casanova) but of equal, if not
greater, importance is the style and cinematic strategy of the
storytelling. My simple 16mm photographic compositions and the lengthy
duration of my shots are crucial components of this creative vision (in
my favorite review of The Joy of Life, The Village Voice called the
film: “thrillingly minimalist.”)” — Jenni Olson
Current Status:
In production.
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