The director of the popular film Junebug, Phil Morrison, along with production designer and BU graduate, David Doernberg, joined 50 students and film enthusiasts Friday night for a screening of the duo’s film and a question and answer session in the College of Arts and Sciences building,as the latest installment in Boston University’s Cinematheque series.
Morrison said he never felt much pressure to direct a feature film. Graduating from college in 1989 with Robert De Niro, he took his time and directed television and Sonic Youth videos later on in the 1990s. His first feature film, Junebug, was released 16 years after his graduation.
BU Cinematheque Coordinator Gerald Peary, a Boston Phoenix movie critic, spoke of Morrison’s accomplishments highly.
“I first met Phil when Junebug was shown at the Provincetown Film Festival in the summer, way before it was released in theaters,” the film and television professor said. “He was a great communicator, a good speaker and a really charming guy.”
Following the movie, Morrison and Doernberg discussed editing, set design, casting, responses to Junebug and their feelings on the film industry.
“I don’t want to influence your vision of the movie, so let’s watch it first and we’ll talk about whatever you want to talk,” Morrison said prior to the showing.
Junebug, Morrison’s first wide-release film, was released last August to widespread praise. It quickly became an indie favorite, earning a place among many critics’ top 10 lists for 2005.
The film takes place in Morrison’s hometown of Winston Salem, N.C., and details the story of Madeleine, an urban Chicago-native, who visits North Carolina to woo an eccentric artist to her art gallery and to visit her new husband family.
“It was good to see the movie, and then hear what the film-makers had to say about it,” College of Communication 2003 graduate Katie Passanisi said.
Amy Adams’s performance of Ashley, an insatiably friendly North Caroliner infatuated with her new sister-in-law Madeleine, drew pointed responses from the audience.
Adams’s performance garnered a bevy of awards and nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and earned Morrison a trip to the Academy Awards ceremony last month.
Adams lost the award to actress Rachel Weisz .
Junebug cost about $1 million to make and took more than 10 years from the moment Morrison and writer Angus MacLachlan decided to make it a movie to the time shooting started.
Doernberg, a COM 1989 graduate, reflected on his days at BU.
“I didn’t start out looking to do production design, as COM wasn’t really known for that in those days,” he said. “I definitely had an interest in film. It was the passion for films and filmmaking the professors had that really inspired me. That’s what I took away from BU.”
