Rory Feek on ‘Josephine’ Film: ‘The Story Needs to Be Told’
Rory Feek's Civil War-era film Josephine premiered at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival on Thursday night (April 14). The movie, which stars Alice Coulthard and Boris McGiver and is based on actual events, was directed, co-written and edited by Feek and co-written and produced by Joey + Rory’s manager (and Feek’s cousin), Aaron Carnahan.
"I've always wanted to make movies, and I've just been watching for an opportunity," Feek tells The Boot. "When Aaron and I started writing the script and it came to life, like a song, you just get a sense that this character needs to happen, that this story needs to be told.
"We just started praying and hoping that the doors would open, and they opened as we walked through," he adds. "We've learned so much, and we've met so many incredible people, and they've all been on this journey with us."
Josephine tells the story of a woman who poses as a man and enlists in the Army near the end of the Civil War, in an attempt to find her missing husband, John Robison. Having the film screen at the Green Hills Regal Cinema was especially meaningful to Feek.
"It was actually here at this cinema, a year and a half ago, August of 2014, Aaron and I and Bryan Allen, the cinematographer, sat outside a little restaurant and did a little toast and decided, at that moment, we were going to make this film," he recalls. "We didn't know how, we didn't know when, but it was right outside of here, at a little cafe, we made the decision, so pulling in here today was especially special."
The letters that inspired Josephine, from Robison to his wife, first inspired a song of the same name, on Joey + Rory's 2012 album His + Hers.
"I love movies. [I wanted to] take an audience on a journey bigger than just three minutes," Rory Feek told the sold-out crowd prior to the film's showing. "My wife loved the idea of me having the chance to do that."
Feek, who funded the movie with a Kickstarter campaign, along with a generous gift from a friend, shared from his heart about his and his wife's journey, especially the difficulty of the several weeks since Joey Feek passed away.
"Thank you for supporting not just this film, but my wife and I all these years," he continued. "A lot of people see my wife and I's life as the very perfect love story, but nothing is perfect. We've had our struggles, just like everyone has their struggles. We have a very strong faith, and it has helped us through to where we are right now. But part of what's been important to us is to be real in our lives, and real in our faith, so when it came time to make a movie, it was important that we be real in our storytelling, and we have tried our best to be as authentic as possible."
Loretta Lynn and Gillian Welch are among the artists who contributed to the Josephine soundtrack. Joey Feek sings its final song, "Amazing Grace."
Josephine will screen two more times during the 2016 Nashville Film Festival: on April 21 at 6:30PM and on April 23 at 2PM; both showings will be at the Green Hills Regal Cinema. More information is available on the Film Festival's official website.
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