Slamdance 2019 – Frontier Wisdom
In the dry desert space between here and there, a phone repairwoman encounters a chatty corpse, a self-propelled peanut, and some portents of the rapture.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Animator/Editor Jenna Caravello
Watch Frontier Wisdom here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I had just moved from Chicago back to the Los Angeles area. Specifically I was living in Santa Clarita, which mostly looks like a clean truck stop settlement on Mars in a crater between mountains. I was having a really hard time placing myself. My heart was in the Midwest, but the overpasses on the 5 were making a big impression on me. My fascination with manifestations of Protestant symbolism in small Midwestern towns was applicable in Santa Clarita, but the landscape was all wrong. This is to say, the reason why I made Frontier Wisdom is that I was feeling really disoriented.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Watching Frontier Wisdom is like visiting a fever dream I had while trying to make sense of some crucial changes in my life. It is inspired by loss, longing, bad interpretations of biblical passages, daydreams I had when I was a kid about my dad's job driving a truck around for Pac Bell, the Mojave desert, David Berman's poetry, metaphors for a breakdown of communication between generations, and the rapture. Maybe it'll all feel very alien or maybe it'll feel familiar. Either way, it's short.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
At first, Frontier Wisdom didn't have any kind of linear narrative. It was about the strange ways obscure Protestant symbols pop up in small towns and gas stations alike, and how for an outsider, their gravity can be projected onto a landscape separate from their actual meaning. But I wanted a protagonist who could act as my surrogate in that landscape – someone who misses otherworldly cues and doesn't have control over apocalyptic reckonings. That's how the film began to take its shape.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Frontier Wisdom has been screening at fests throughout the past year and it recently won an award at the Indie Memphis Film Fest. I've had some really interesting conversations about religious and secularized symbolism with audience members.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I'm just really glad that the film makes people laugh sometimes, too.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
It makes me happy to share this film with people, so if anyone out there would like to screen it or write about it, let me know. I'd like to premiere Frontier Wisdom online eventually, too.
Would you like to add anything else?
Thanks very much for reaching out!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Right now I'm working on a 3rd-person VR game called Amber Row. The game will draw connections between building an inventory coveting unhelpful memories. It's so exciting – we are also producing custom controllers that you can use to play Amber Row at home.
Interview: January 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Frontier Wisdom
In the dry desert space between here and there, a phone repairwoman encounters a chatty corpse, a self-propelled peanut, and some portents of the rapture.
Length: 5:13
Director: Jenna Caravello
Producer: Jenna Caravello
Writer: Jenna Caravello
About the writer, director and producer:
JENNA CARAVELLO is an animator and new media artist currently based in Los Angeles. Her work explores the role that narrative plays in personal, collective, and digital memory.
Instagram: @jennafruit
Website: www.jennacaravello.com
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Slamdance Film Festival / Park City, Utah - 01-28-2019