Review Fix chats with director Jenni Olson discusses her current Sundance flick, “Royal Road,†breaking down the influences and creative process of the film, as well as her hopes for it. With more goals and aspirations for 2015, Olson is set on making sure you don’t forget her name after Sundance.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this film?
Jenni Olson: There were many inspirations for the film — especially many cinematic influences. Ross McElwee’s 1985 personal documentary, Sherman’s March really was the film that inspired me to know that I wanted to make movies. And it is also very much an inspiration in terms of the film’s structure and tone (a journey in which we will learn more about the filmmaker’s love life than about the ostensible non-fiction topic he’s exploring). Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo was also very much a muse for me. Living in San Francisco, surrounded by Vertigo’s production locations in my daily life I definitely have a unique and very deep relationship to the film. Because the plot of Vertigo revolves so much about Jimmy Stewart’s pursuit of Kim Novak’s Madeleine/Judy (the quintessential unavailable woman) it very much mirrors one of the main themes of my own work (my voiceovers are always interwoven with this as a backdrop — the desire and pursuit of unattainable women). I’m thrilled that I was able to shoot at many of Vertigo’s locations so there are shots in the film of Fort Point, Mission Dolores, Mission San Juan Bautista and the drydock cranes at Pier 70.
Review Fix: Why shoot in 16mm? How do you think this affects the viewers experience?
Olson: Shooting on regular 16mm (as distinct from Super 16mm with its wider aspect ratio) is an organic component of my vision as an artist. While it may not do so on a conscious level, I’m convinced that viewers are impacted emotionally and psychologically as they experience these images in the now veritably obsolete format. The 4:3 aspect ratio, the grain of the film image and the color qualities of 50 daylight film stock all contribute to a set of feelings akin to nostalgia — evoking a calmer, quieter time in one’s own life.
Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?
Olson: I’m very proud that I think the film is accessible to people who may not have a lot of experience with experimental cinema. It starts off with a reflection on Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard. And I think that in the same way that Sunset Boulevard is a Hollywood movie about Hollywood movies, The Royal Road is a film about film. So, I have to say that I think cinephiles and movie lovers will enjoy it the most.
Review Fix: What does it feel like to be a part of Sundance again? How are you a different person/performer/creator since your last appearance?
Olson: Being invited to Sundance — and especially to the New Frontier section which is always my goal — is an incredibly validating experience as an artist. I know that my my filmmaking skills and creative vision have matured since I was at the festival ten years ago with my first feature, The Joy of Life, and even from five years ago when I came with my short, 575 Castro St. I feel an enormous sense of gratitude to Sundance and all the festival programmers for nurturing me as an artist in so many ways. There are times (many times) when one feels incredibly alone and really kind of terrified that what you’re trying to achieve creatively isn’t worthwhile or doesn’t make sense. Having the New Frontier section exist as a forum for my work reminds me that even though the work I create has little commercial potential, there are still audiences who believe in film as an art form (an art form which in fact ideally has inherently no commercial value because it is art).
Review Fix: How do you want this production to be remembered?
Olson: I am especially proud of the section on the history of the Mexican American War and I hope the way I’ve presented this in the film will provoke people to have a renewed dialogue about the fact that California and the entire American Southwest actually belonged to Mexico and were forcibly taken from them by the United States through a conquest that had nothing honorable about it and was really quite a shameful moment in US history.
Review Fix: What’s next after the festival?
Olson: I’m really looking forward to doing a lot of writing in the coming year. I’m working on a bunch of different writing projects including my memoir (in bits and pieces) and an experimental piece called Kinch, incorporating every line of dialogue spoken by Ivan Dixon’s Sergeant Kinchloe in Hogan’s Heroes (Kinch was one of the first African American characters in a mainstream TV show but as the unit’s radio operator his dialogue was sparse to say the least and consisted mainly of conveying plot information and relaying the words of others). I’ve also got a project called Nova, about a feminist housewife and mother in the ’70s (much of it based on my Mom).
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