Dear friends at MAPC,

I'm an indie filmmaker (Where the Rivers Flow North, A Stranger in the Kingdom) and I'm headed to Madison with my new feature film, The Year That Trembled, a dramatic film which is set on the American "homefront" during the Vietnam War. 

I'll be there on May 5th and most of the film discussions turn into practical dialogues about the 60's and the current political situation.

Historian Howard Zinn (Peoples History of the United States) said this about my film:

"The Year That Trembled deals with matters that Hollywood won't touch, and gets people thinking about a dramatic piece of our history that has been largely forgotten.    What happened at Kent State was a microcosm of what happened to the nation. TYTT’s young characters have their lives changed, and we get to know them up close -- their loves, their fears, their dreams. This is an unusual film."
 
My own activist background includes:

I traveled to Vietnam in 1970--as student leader (at BU) on the Peoples Peace Treaty delegation; spoke at Hobart and Cornell and many others and was trailed by a local undercover agent back to Philadelphia and New York.  Also worked on Pentagon papers Trial; worked on John Lennon "peace tour" which was terminated by Nixon White House after one concert; helped organize massive May Day civil disobedience with 14,000 arrested in May '71).

One of the main characters in the film is an agent provocateur--which brings up questions of civil liberties relative to today.  I could discuss some of the research that went in to him and other characters and situations surrounding the events at Kent State (the film's setting).

Feel free to contact me at jcraven@marlboro.edu or call Moriah Taylor in my office at 802-592-3190 for more information.

Thanks

Jay Craven


Here's a blurb on the film:

JAY CRAVEN’S 60’s FILM DRAMA TO PLAY AT BARRYMORE THEATER, MADISON

Independent Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven’s new award-winning film "The Year
That Trembled," (TYTT) will play at Madison’s Barrymore Theater, Monday, May 5th, 7pm.  Writer-Director Jay Craven will introduce the film and lead a post film discussion.

Based on the novel by Scott Lax, "The Year That Trembled" is a 1970 coming-of-age story, set on the American "homefront" during the Vietnam War. Three teenagers, fresh out of high school and fearful of the impending draft lottery, experience a year that transforms their lives.  They find themselves caught up in the anti-war upheaval at Kent State following a guerilla theater action. Later, they meet a young college activist who takes refuge at their summer farmhouse, hoping to sidestep an FBI investigation triggered by the Kent shootings.  Next door, a young couple also struggle over war-related complications.  She loses her high school teaching job.  He launches a civil suit on behalf of the Kent State victims and struggles to decide about military service as he tries to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Kennedy.  Confronted by the challenges of the War and the complexities of the counter-culture, no one emerges unscathed. Choices are made;
emotional boundaries are transgressed; and innocence is lost.

"The Year That Trembled" was awarded the "filmmaker of the year" award at this year’s Cleveland International Film Festival and the "Best Film" and "Audience Award" at the Cincinnati Film Festival.   The picture features an eclectic ensemble of young talent, seasoned actors, and veterans from Craven's previous films. The cast includes:

* Marin Hinkle (I Am Sam, ABC TV’s Once and Again)
* Jonathan Brandis ("Ride With the Devil," "Outside Providence," "Hart’s War")
* Jonathan Woodward (Mike Nichols’ "Wit")
* Fred Willard ("Best in Show," "Waiting For Guffman," "Austin Powers")
* Henry Gibson ("Magnolia," "Nashville," "A Stranger in the Kingdom")
* Martin Mull ("The Player," "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Fernwood To-Nite")
* Meredith Monroe ("Dawson’s Creek," "Beyond the Prairie")
* Sean Nelson ("Fresh," "American Buffalo," "The Wood")
* Bill Raymond ("12 Monkeys," "Summer of Sam," "Where the Rivers Flow North")
* Charlie Finn ("Super Troopers," "The In Crowd")
* Jay Fergueson ("Higher Learning," "The In Crowd," "Glory Days")
* Danica McKellar ("The Wonder Years")
* Kiera Chaplin (screen debut; granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin)

Craven directs Kingdom County Productions in Peacham, Vermont and is the recipient of The Producer’s Guild of America¹s 1995 NOVA award for Most Promising New Film Producer of the Year.  His previous films include "Where the Rivers Flow North" (starring Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal and Michael J. Fox) and "A Stranger in the Kingdom" (starring Ernie Hudson, Martin Sheen, David Lansbury).  His projects in development include "Disappearances," a Vermont whiskey-running adventure set during Prohibition.
 
For more information, please contact Kingdom County Productions at (802) 592-3190 or e-mail to kcp@sover.net or web site www.kingdomcounty.org.