Park City-based filmmaker Jill Orschel’s documentary, “Snowland,” is going to Slamdance.
The film, which is about Cora Lee Witt, a former child bride who escaped the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint cult, has been accepted to the film festival’s 32nd iteration that runs Feb. 19-25 in Los Angeles.
“I never expected this,” Orschel said with a laugh. “I was applying to all of these different festivals, and they are tried and true and independent through and through.”
Slamdance was started in Park City in 1994 by Peter Baxter, Dan Mirvish, Jon Fitzgerald, Shane Kuhn and cohort Paul Rachman. It relocated to Los Angeles last year, and while Orschel had known a bit about it, she did a deep dive into the festival via FilmFreeway.
“That’s this big platform that connects filmmakers with different festivals,” she said. “You do your homework to see which festivals can fit your work. And as I was going through Slamdance’s information, I fell in love with its sensitivity about filmmakers. And I felt if I was chosen that I would be really lucky.”
One of the things Orschel loves about Slamdance is its mantra — “For filmmakers by filmmakers.”
“You can see how much they embrace the filmmakers, and there’s a sensibility that they work hard at so they don’t veer from that,” she said. “And they also try to be accessible and inclusive. I mean, they have $50 dollar passes, so everybody can attend.”
With “Snowland,” which is the name of the fantasy land Witt created to cope with the cult’s abusive lifestyle, Orschel joins other Slamdance alumni, including Lena Dunham, Christopher Nolan, Bong Joon-Ho, Rian Johnson and the John and Anthony Russo, also known together as the Russo Brothers, who all started their career with low-budget and grassroots films, which is how Orschel made her film.
“We had so much community support and pieced things together,” she said. “This film would never have been made in a studio with corporate money, big money, because it separates itself from other movies about people in cults. It does this by speaking with more nuance and humor, which I see as a lot of taboos.”
Orschel followed Witt, who joined the sect when she was 12 and became the second wife of a polygamous family when she was 14. The family eventually broke up due to abuse allegations after Witt had mothered eight children, according to Orschel
“She’s a real person, and the film is a character-driven documentary,” she said. “Her personality is resilient, and that shows in her sense of humor, her love for her family. The bigger umbrella is that this film is authentic. And I think that’s why Slamdance chose it to be in the festival this year.”
Witt’s resiliency especially comes to frame when she decides to revisit her former hometown of Colorado City, Arizona, which is the headquarters of the FLDS church, Orschel said.
“That shows her inner strength to the point where she can go back and make amends with some things, heal some relationships and even start the conversation about how she can be a source of positive impact to this community, which has been brutally traumatized by religious leaders,” she said. “That’s not a story that is comfortable to tell. Usually the story ends with a happy ending when someone escapes, cuts things off. But this film is different. ‘Snowland’ is her way into conversations with people, and it was also my way in to tell her story through this documentary.”
Although “Snowland” is Orschel’s documentary, she knows it wouldn’t have become what it is without her crew.
“Our editor, Susan Metzger, works out of L.A.,” she said. “We met through the Sundance Institute, and she was an editor at the labs.”
Kate Amend is the film’s creative advisor.
“Kate is kind of a mentor of Susan,” Orschel said. “And our composer, Connor Cook, is a composer at the Sundance Lab and a music teacher.”
The film’s newest recruit is Parkite Bridey Bush, who studies animation at Evergreen State College in Washington.
“Bridey and I had so much to learn, and we stepped into it and listened to our instincts,” Orschel said. “Throughout the project, I have gained so much confidence to work with and collaborate with others. And I’m proud that I could become a director that would hold onto the uncertainty, but know we could create something beautiful.”
A year ago, “Snowland” premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Fest in Missoula, Montana, and Park City Film, the locally based arthouse nonprofit, screened it last September to a packed house.
“Park City Film is a gem, and (Executive Director) Katy Wang has done some incredible work,” Orschel said.
Witt attended the screening and participated in a Q and A, Orschel said.
“So everyone got to meet this woman who I have been with these past 12 years,” Orschel said. “She’s not what everyone expects for being a child bride in a cult. She’s a delightful woman who is so courageous. She opened up her life, knowing that she could make an impact. And I’m so happy to be the steward of her story.”
While Orschel has her sights on attending Slamdance, she also knows the next step is to find an audience for the film.
“That’s our mountain to climb, and that’s my work right now,” she said. “We’re doing all of these things like festivals, community screenings and private screenings to get audiences to see our work and be impacted in a positive way. And we’re also raising money so Cora Lee Witt can join us at these screenings.”
For information about ‘Snowland,’ visit jillorschel.com/snowland.
For information about Slamdance Film Festival, visit slamdance.com.