The Royal Road (Trailer)

From: Jenni Olson

Contemplative and gorgeous, The Royal Road is an innovative, cinematic feature shot on 16mm film. Deceptively simple California urban landscapes become the framework for the film’s lyrically written voiceover: an expression of yearning butch lesbian desire and candid self-reflection interspersed with a stream-of-consciousness array of non-fiction tangents including an exploration of El Camino Real (the original road connecting California’s Missions during the era of Spanish and Mexican rule), a reflection on the life story of Casanova, a capsule history of the Mexican-American War and a defense of nostalgia. The film’s centerpiece is a brilliant five-minute lecture on nostalgia and socialism by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner.

This bold, innovative film from acclaimed San Francisco filmmaker Jenni Olson combines rigorous historical research with lyrically written personal monologue and relates these seemingly disparate stories from an intimate, colloquial perspective to tell a one-of-a-kind California tale.

You can contribute to and be involved in The Royal Road's Kickstarter fundraising campaign here