‘Fire Organ’ Demonstrated Jacobson’s New Film

‘Fire Organ’ Demonstrated Jacobson’s New Film

A real live "fire organ", whatever that is, will be demonstrated at Chandler Music Hall this Thursday, May 26 as part of a showing of Nora Jacobson's new movie, "Nothing Like Dreaming," which stars George Woodard, at right. The fire starts at 7, the movie at 7:30.

Nora Jacobson's new feature film, "Nothing Like Dreaming," a coming-of-age story about a Vermont teenager and a reclusive fire artist, comes to Chandler Music Hall in Randolph Thursday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m.

A Q&A with Jacobson will take place after each screening.

The Fire Organ itself, an experimental fire-powered musical instrument which plays a key role in the film, will be demonstrated at 7 p.m. outside the hall.

"Nothing Like Dreaming" is the story of friendship between a college-bound teen and an emotionally troubled outsider, set in Vermont's capital at the turn of the 21st century. While legislators battle over the rights of gays to marriage and civil union, 18-year-old Emma (Lyndonville native Morgan Bicknell), forms an unusual alliance with Sonny Gale (Waterbury actor/farmer George Woodard), an artist who makes music with fire.

Emma, traumatized by the death of a close friend, defies her father's authority and takes refuge in the company of the lonely man. Together they build a huge musical sculpture—a fire organ—which enchants, haunts and heals and sets each on the path toward recovery. Emma and Sonny play the fire organ, to the delight of Emma's teenage friends, but with dramatic reverberations in the adult community.

"Nothing Like Dreaming" has won unequivocal praise from critics and audiences: "Intoxicating," said Green Mountain Cinema, "a powerful coming-of-age drama. Exquisite ... not to be missed." Author Grace Paley called it "a work of superior imagination; I loved it." David Sommerstein, from North Country Public Radio calls it "a gripping drama that anchors you strongly to a sense of place."

Set in Montpelier, filmed in both New Hampshire and Vermont, the film brings together an impressive cast, including recent Middlebury graduate Morgan Bicknell and veterans George Woodard, John Griesemer, and Rusty Dewees. The late Rachel Bissex, a beloved Vermont based folk-singer, also plays a key role in the film, and scores of actual Vermont legislators and teenagers round out the cast.

The film provides a tough and compassionate view of a Vermont rarely seen on screen—not the tidy village green and cluster of white houses. It’s a provocative look at an urban Vermont, where even bright and articulate teens have few social outlets and little autonomy.

Writer-director Jacobson explores the curious likeness between the outcast status of adolescence and the no man's land inhabited by the homeless and mentally ill. Both are "subpopulations in our culture who lack autonomy."

Jacobson is also interested in the role of art as a healing force. "I worry that our society relies more and more on psychiatric drugs to address emotional trauma. I think that there is a tremendous untapped potential for art to set people on the path to emotional recovery. This is what the fire organ does for Sonny and Emma."

The fire organ used in the film is a real instrument, designed by internationally-known fire artist Michel Moglia. Moglia traveled to Vermont during production to design and work with production designer Antoinette Jacobson on the fire organ used in the film.

Moglia also taught the actors to play the instrument, and played it himself during key scenes. The original instrument now stands on a Vermont hilltop outside Norwich. A smaller version will accompany many screenings, allowing filmgoers to experience its unique sound live.

The film score was written by Larry Polansky (composer of the Grammy-nominated "Lonesome Road"), and the sound concept for Sonny Gale's unusual acoustical environment was designed by Brenda Hutchinson (Liquid Sky, Violet Flame).

"Nothing Like Dreaming" is Jacobson's second dramatic feature film. She is director and co-writer of the feature film "My Mother's Early Lovers," (First Prize, Film Fest New Haven; Best Independent Film, Ajijic International Film Festival; Audience Award, Maine International Film Festival), and the highly-acclaimed documentary "Delivered Vacant" (Sundance, New York Film Festival, Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Film Festival).

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