Penn State alumni come together for a short film that will be shot in Boalsburg this weekend
A short movie about two sisters who reconnect after the loss of their mother is set to be filmed Saturday and Sunday in Boalsburg.
At least four Penn State alumni will have a hand in producing “Sisters,” an intimate film that plays out over one night in the shadows of Tussey Mountain. It’s expected to be released by spring 2020.
“We want to put the viewer in a place that they know really well. We want to reach out to people that not just grew up in cities or deep in the country, but also people who grew up in the middle of America, in places like State College,” cinematographer John McClellan said. “... It’s kind of the perfect setting because this is where a lot of America grows up.”
The about 15-minute film, to be shot in a residence near the Elks Club, will rely on two main characters and the dialogue between them, McClellan said. Producer Abigail Wilson described the film as “emotional” and “heavy.”
The film was “very inspired” by writer and director Sarah Nolen’s personal life and her childhood in Butler County, where she was the only female in the home.
“It’s really shaped who I am as a woman,” Nolen said. “I’ve always wanted to explore a story that was about generations of women facing challenging choices and how it puts them on different paths and how they struggle and doubt and question that.”
The script was elusive for years, she said, but everything came together on a subway ride in Brooklyn, New York. She shared it with McClellan, who offered to record the film.
The crew hopes to create an “instantly recognizable” film, McClellan said. The “toughest hurdle” will be keeping the tone of the film consistent, Wilson said.
“It kind of feels like a play,” Nolen said. “They’re circling this thing that they want to talk about because they both want to achieve connection, but they’re coming from different places. At the climax, they talk about it and secrets come out, and they have to reckon and confront them.”
Once the two-day filming is complete, Nolen plans to return to Los Angeles so film can be edited.
Dark Mind Productions creative director Pablo Lopez — who Nolen said was the film’s “missing piece” — said the crew plans to show the film at The State Theatre and Rowland Theater, as long as the Centre Film Festival makes becomes an annual event. They also plan to submit the film to Sundance Film Festival, Lopez said.