''The Royal Road'' is a 2015 documentary film directed by Jenni Olson. The film premiered in the New Frontier section of the

2015 Sundance Film Festival The 2015 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 22 to February 1, 2015. ''What Happened, Miss Simone?'', a biographical documentary film about American singer Nina Simone, opened the festival. Comedy-drama film ''Grandma'', directed by Pa ...

. In the film's voiceover, Olson reflects on her butch identity and experiences of unrequited love. The film went on to earn the award for Best LGBTQ Film at the 2015

Ann Arbor Film Festival The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the fourth-oldest film festival in North America (after the Yorkton Film Festival, 1947; Columbus International Film ...

. Consisting entirely of 16mm urban landscape shots and a lyrical stream of consciousness voiceover, the film touches on a wide range of topics from reflections on classic Hollywood film to the history of the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War. A voiceover cameo appearance by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner serves as the centerpiece for the film's focal point segment entitled, "In Defense of Nostalgia."

Production

Olson cited '' Sherman's March'' and

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's '' Vertigo'' as influences. San Francisco Film Society was the film's fiscal sponsor. The film had its Bay Area premiere on April 29, 2015 at the SFFS's San Francisco International Film Festival. Olson also crowdfunded $24,038 towards the production of the film. Olson's wife,

Julie Dorf Julie Dorf (born February 28, 1965) is an international human rights advocate best known as the founding executive director of OutRight Action International (then known as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission). She started th ...

, produced the film.

Reception

Of the film, Dennis Harvey wrote in '' Variety'' that "The pic could hardly be smaller or quieter by conventional standards, assembly on all levels is serenely accomplished."

References

External links

*
The Royal Road
' on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Official website
2015 documentary films 2015 films American documentary films Butch and femme Documentary films about lesbians American LGBT-related films Documentary films about San Francisco American avant-garde and experimental films LGBT culture in San Francisco 2015 LGBT-related films 2010s avant-garde and experimental films Films shot in 16 mm film 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{LGBT-documentary-film-stub