Sister Wife crew gets royal treatment at Sundance
 With Sundance behind them, the makers of 'Sister Wife' look ahead
 
By Greg Marshall, Of the Record
Park Record - Park City, Utah
Sister Wive crew

"Sister Wife" has made the cut at another prestigious film festival.

Jill Orschel and Alexandra Fuller, both residents of Park City, will screen their 10-minute documentary about a polygamist woman at South by Southwest, one of the most selective festivals in the West.

South by Southwest runs from March 13 until the 21 in Austin, Texas.

"Sister Wife" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Although the documentary is brief, it made a splash with audiences and critics. The film features DoriAnn, a 41-year-old member of the Fundamentalist Mormon Church, bathing and responding to questions about being married to her sister and husband.

Orschel, the film's director, captured 25 of hours of footage with DoriAnn, but decided in the spring of 2008 to complete the project in time for Sundance's September deadline. That meant shelving the idea of a 90-minute documentary in favor of an intimate, if brief, glimpse into DoriAnn's psyche. Orschel and Fuller don't have any immediate plans to expand the film, but said they would like to do so given the chance. DoriAnn, for her part, has expressed interest in continuing to work with the filmmakers. For now, Orschel and Fuller plan to enjoy the festival circuit. Besides South by Southwest, they are waiting to hear from a handful of other festivals. "We're just trying to stay open about it," Orschel said. "Some people think that the shorts are a steppingstone or a calling card. Everyone has been assuming that we will turn it into a feature. If this is all it is, I'm happy with that."

Establishing trust and making DoriAnn feel safe were key components to making "Sister Wife," and one reason it took Orschel nearly three years to complete the project. She started visiting DoriAnn in 2006, and invited Fuller, a freelance writer and nascent documentary filmmaker, to join forces on the project. The result is an evenhanded and unsensationalized examination of DoriAnn's beliefs. "Although she reveals a lot, it's on her terms," Orschel said.

"Sister Wife" played six times during Sundance, including a special screening for locals at the Park City Library. The film was paired with "Glass House," a world documentary about women in Iran. After the lights went up at the second screening at Prospector, Orschel and Fuller were waiting in the lobby to answer questions. (Shorts at Sundance aren't given formal question-and-answer sessions if they are shown before a feature.)

Fuller didn't know what to expect, but she soon found herself swept up answering questions. "Eight people came up to me," she said. "One woman was still in tears." Fuller had anticipated Sundance for months, she said, but she didn't allow herself to imagine how audiences might react. The film became a popular topic of conversation, and a variety of people atheists, lesbians and polygamist wives voiced their support for the project. "I was so proud that people were moved by this story I had been a part of," Fuller said. "They real got a lot out of what DoriAnn had to say."

During the screenings, audiences sat with rapt attention as DoriAnn's story unfolded. "Everyone is so suspended," Orschel recalled, "you can hear gasps." It wasn't until the last screening of the film that Orschel allowed herself to laugh at one of "Sister Wife's" early endearing moments, when DoriAnn describes the tense scene following DoriAnn's wedding.

The most nerve-wracking moment for Orschel came at the penultimate screening, at the Holiday Cinemark in Park City. DoriAnn arrived with six of her 12 children. The makers of "Glass House" agreed to let DoriAnn, Orschel and Fuller field questions after the film. "We tried hard to keep our own opinions out of the film, but we didn't know what kinds of questions people would ask," Fuller said. "It's a really touchy subject."

Thankfully, Fuller said, audiences were respectful to DoriAnn.

Orschel's family flew into Utah for the festival, and they were among the proudest people in the audience. Orschel's sister, Jodi Gibbons, didn't come to the Sundance Resort screening with any preconceived notions of what "Sister Wife" would be. "I was startled at how intimate it was," she said. "I thought it was brave of Jill and DoriAnn to give such an honest perspective." Gibbons left the theater, she said, feeling connected to both her sister and the sister wife. "I was proud to be a woman," she said.

Gibbons added that she was proud of Park City. "It seemed like the whole town was really behind them," she said. "It felt like a really local effort."

Orschel, whose film credits about 50 people, including Rich Wyman for scoring and his wife, Lisa Needham, for singing in it, praised Sundance for making filmmakers feel appreciated. "We were treated like royalty," she said.
 
ParkRecord.com
Originally published February 6, 2009
 
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