Hi, Pope Joan Fans and Readers!
This month: movie
news, both good and bad. But first, for new subscribers to
this newsletter (there are many since my last newsletter),
here are two links:
1. Still shots of the Pope Joan movie
can be viewed here.
2. The movie trailer
can be viewed
here. Note: it is impossible to duplicate the
quality of the film on YouTube. So the film appears
"fuzzier" than it actually is. On the big screen, it's
quite beautiful! But at least this trailer will
give you a sense of the film.
The Good News
The movie version of Pope Joan had another successful
screening. The film was nominated for
Best Movie Soundtrack
at the Park City (Utah) Film Music Festival--deservedly so,
for the score, written by the brilliant composer Marcel
Barsotti, is ravishingly beautiful. I attended the screening
to introduce the film and take questions afterwards.
The best part? Getting to meet and shmooze with my wonderful
Utah readers! Thanks to all the reading groups who showed up
in support of the film, some of whom undertook a journey of
over four hours to do so.
Even Better News
Pope Joan tied for the Gold
Medal (first prize) for best
feature-length movie soundtrack! To learn more about this
extraordinary soundtrack, including Marcel's and my "take"
on what the music contributed to the story,
click here.
The Bad News
We have no definite commitment yet from a distributor to
make the Pope Joan movie available across the U.S.
Apparently, distributors believe there may be little
interest in Pope Joan's story in the U.S. (the beauty and
high quality of the film itself notwithstanding). We
know they're wrong--and it's up to us to prove it. If
we can't get interest from the "top down", let's create it
from the "bottom up" (which is the way my poor orphaned
novel has sold, lo these many years, absent any meaningful publisher
support. Here's to grassroots power!)
Here are two ideas:
1. Do you live in or near these cities: Atlanta, Boston,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York City, Ottawa, San Francisco
or Toronto? If so,
contact your local Goethe Institute to request a screening
of Pope Joan. Yes, the film is in English. But it was
produced by Constantin, a German production company, so
Goethe Institutes will be interested in a screening.
Contact information for these venues
can be found here.
2. If you live in or near a city that hosts a film festival
(you probably know who you are), suggest Pope Joan as one of
the festival entries.
Click here for a partial list of U.S. and Canada film
festivals with contact information.
On a final note:
It's June, which means graduations.
If you're looking for a
gift, here's an idea: a copy of Pope Joan with a free
bookplate autographed and personalized by the author (that
would be me!) Joan's
inspiring example of empowerment through learning is perfect
for newly-minted graduates.
Suggestions for an appropriate inscription and details of
this offer
can be found here.
Thanks to all for your continuing support!Donna Woolfolk
Cross
June 2010
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