Former Oak Parker Jonathan Lacocque and his filmmaking partner Clara Lehmann’s feature documentary O Pioneer will screen at 7 p.m. April 3 at the Classic Cinemas Lake Theatre.
The film follows the story of three Appalachians from West Virginia: a blacksmith, a seamstress and a hospital chaplain. It’s a global story, Lehmann said, because it has expressions that are human and universal. Tickets can be purchased online.
“O Pioneer redefines and reckons with what it means to be an American pioneer,” Lehmann said.
Lehmann said she wanted to pursue this topic after finding inspiration in a poem titled “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” by Walt Whitman that her grandma used to recite.
“When looking back at it, I was immediately shocked at some of the violence in the poem, but also the way that he identifies what a pioneer is,” she said. “It’s very different from what, maybe, we think of as a modern-day pioneer.”
In West Virginia, there’s repetitive stereotypes of the locals and other southerners, Lacocque said. Most news stories are about poverty, obesity or addiction, he said, and people are often surprised to learn that there is more there than that.
“A secondary goal of ours was to counteract that and tell a story by Appalachians and for Appalachians, so it isn’t focused on some of those stereotypes,” Lacocque said.
Their first goal in making the film was to inspire people to connect and be curious.
Even in Illinois, there’s a dichotomy between rural and urban lives, Lehmann said. This film shows the stories of some individuals in those rural communities and attempts to remind viewers that we’re not all so disconnected.
“That is meant to help, again, redefine that pioneer, but seeing within yourself there is this tether that we all have that is kind of universal,” Lehmann said.
Lacocque and Lehmann met in college while they both attended Carleton College in Minnesota and took film classes together. After college, they came to live in Oak Park before moving back to Lehmann’s home state, West Virginia.
Film has been an interest for both co-directors, but neither studied it full-time.
While attending Oak Park and River Forest High School, Lacocque said he and his best friend, John Severson, created a film club. Later, he and Severson started a wedding videography company called Smiling Toad Productions.
O Pioneer took about three and a half years to create, Lehmann said, after they started in 2020. The two filmmakers wanted to create thoughtful, intentional films while still doing corporate work to support themselves. They had a diverse creative team with artists from around the world, Lehmann said, who all believed in the message of the film.
The artists were able to recognize themselves in the story of O Pioneer, Lehmann said. The desire and hope to be a pioneer that has a vision, who gives back and solves problems in a sustainable way is a universal feeling, she said.
“All of these artists are seeing the same trends within their communities,” she said. “That’s the job of a filmmaker is to bring themselves to it, but also convey the stories of the participants in the film.”
Because the film was made throughout the pandemic, Lacocque said, everyone was isolated. But the production and scenes of love, legacy and hardship made everyone involved feel connected and inspired, he said.
The narrator is musician Kaïa Kater, who studied Appalachian music and has her work incorporated into the film. O Pioneer also stars Nellie Rose Gundersen Davis, Tim Hibbs and James Morley.
The film also explores indigenous roots in the United States and some of the cruelty indigenous people faced. It uses creative tools such as poetic vignettes and animation to bring the stories to life.
“The music plays a huge part in the emotions that we’re trying to capture throughout the film as well as those artistic elements,” Lacocque said.
Lacocque said they hope audiences are entertained and see themselves in the film. Lehmann said she hopes the film challenges Oak Parkers to understand more about life and hardship in rural America. She also said she hopes the film will bring awareness to struggles others face and help people recognize what they can do for their community.
“The community [Oak Park] embraces art really readily,” Lehmann said.
The film has won numerous awards, including Cinequest Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary, Sylvia Award for Best Documentary at Rome International Film Festival, and the Jack Spadaro Award from the Appalachian Studies Association.
More screenings of O Pioneer will be available throughout the summer in other states. A full list can be found online. In a few months, Lehmann said, they hope it will be available on a streaming service.