Followed by a discussion with filmmaker Jay Craven in person!
“Lost Nation” is a Revolutionary War-era action drama set in the early upstart Republic of Vermont. “Lost Nation” stars Irish actor Kevin Ryan (“Copper,” Harry Wild”) as Vermont founding father and rebel schemer, Ethan Allen, who leads resistance to New Yorker land claims, launches an ill-fated attack on British forces in Montreal, and leads invasions by his Green Mountain Boys into Yorker strongholds of Guilford and Brattleboro. At every turn, Allen navigates thick entanglements with allies, enemies, and family.
“Lost Nation’s” parallel and intersecting story features Kenyan actress Eva Ndachi (“Beautifully Broken”) as Lucy Terry Prince, whose poem, “Bars Fight,” about the 1746 Deerfield Massacre, is the first known work of African American literature. Enslaved in Western Massachusetts at the age of 3 – for 30 years – Terry then settled with her family on a Guilford homestead carved out of the forest by her husband, formerly enslaved frontier transport operator, Abijah Prince.
Like Ethan Allen, the Princes found themselves caught up in turbulent times that threatened their prospects for the land and freedom they sought. Like Allen, Lucy Prince upset the status quo in her assertive use of early Vermont’s legal and political systems to defend her family in the face of pressure and threats.
It is worth noting, that the film was shot on Nantucket and in the western Massachusetts towns of Colrain and Leyden. Samuel Adams plays a small role – and is played by Adams’ direct descendent, Sam Adams.
Lost Nation writer/director Jay Craven has written, produced, and directed eleven feature films, four documentaries, and a regional Emmy-winning comedy series. His films include Where the Rivers Flow North (w/ Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Michael J. Fox); A Stranger in the Kingdom (w/ Ernie Hudson, Martin Sheen); Disappearances (w/ Kris Kristofferson, Genevieve Bujold), Northern Borders (w/ Bruce Dern, Genevieve Bujold) and Jack London’s Martin Eden (with Andrew Richardson and Annet Mahendru). Festivals and special screenings include Sundance, South By Southwest, AFI Fest, the Constitutional Court of Johannesburg, Cinematheque Francaise, Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela, The Smithsonian and Lincoln Center. Awards include Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival; Producers Guild of America NOVA Award; and American Film Institute’s AFI:20/20 selection as one of seven filmmakers to represent the U.S. during a two-year international cultural exchange.
Craven produces and directs The Semester Cinema program where 30 professionals mentor and collaborate with 40 students from multiple colleges to make ambitious feature films for national release. He also serves as artistic director of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, now in its 11th year.
“As usual in Craven’s films, there are many strong performances and the kind of richly evocative landscape photography one associates with the work of Carroll Ballard or Terrence Malick.” — Scott Foundas, LA Weekly
“Craven’s poetic sensibility is steeped in an appreciation of nature, as well as an awareness of man’s ability to exist both in harmony and at odds with it, sometimes simultaneously. ” — Justin Chang, Variety
Jay Craven has established himself as one of America’s foremost independent regional filmmakers. Craven uses the Canadian border as distinctively as Sam Peckinpah used the Mexican one. ” — Marty Rubin, Curator, Gene Siskel Film Center, Art Institute of Chicago
“Craven’s films communicate the special character of Vermont at a pivotal point in its history so effectively that it ends up being a strong argument for regional cinema: the idea that an area of the country is best interpreted on film by those who know and love it. ” — William Arnold, Seattle Post Intelligencer
