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JOAN is a present day re-imagining of the silent classic film, Carl Dreyer’s Joan of Arc

Joan

Status:

JOAN premiered at the Portland Art Museum as a special event to open the 42nd annual NW Filmmakers’ Festival. Black and white, and silent, JOAN features a beautiful score – a string quartet – produced and composed by Mark Orton.

“Dir. Matt Schulte’s JOAN was a great opportunity for me as a composer: a black and white silent film with stunning imagery and a well-sculpted narrative – combined with a director open to musical and sonic exploration – that provided a perfect blank canvas on which to work.”

– Mark Orton, Composer

Synopsis:

Set in a Conversion Therapy clinic, rather than a courtroom filled with judges, Joan defends herself from the clinic counselor’s attacks, foregrounding the gender identity issues implied in Dreyer’s masterpiece.

Written, produced, directed and edited by Matt Schulte

Starring Kira Distler as Joan, with John Branch, JJ Johnston and David Frank as the counselors.

JOAN

Biography of Mark Orton, Composer for JOAN:

MARK ORTON, founding member of the genre-bending acoustic chamber ensemble TIN HAT, has written original scores or contributed music to numerous films including THE GOOD GIRL, THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN, SWEET LAND, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, BUCK, THE REVISIONARIES, MINE, Fernando Meirelles’ 360, and Alexander Payne’s NEBRASKA. Recent projects include PEOPLE-PLACES-THINGS, MY OLD LADY, Ken Burns’ THE ROOSEVELTS, and Laika’s THE BOX TROLLS. An alumnus of The Peabody Conservatory and The Hartt School of Music, and a recipient of a Sundance Institute Composer Fellowship, he was nominated Best New Composer by the International Film Music Critics.