See Bonnie Steiger's interview with Dina Ciraulo about Opal. How did Dina find this once notorious character? What motivated Opal to stray from her original path as a naturalist and become a journal writer and possibly hoax perpetrator? We'll get Dina's perspective on Opal and the strange, long life she led.
An actual historic figure though mostly forgotten, Opal Whiteley's life began in the Oregon woods where she frolicked among the giant redwoods and the tiny insects and butterflies. Opal, a self-taught naturalist, not only played in the forest, but truly appreciated and contemplated the wonders of nature around her and the importance it played in the spiritual lives of people. As a child, Opal kept journals about the beauty and wonder of nature and her life experiences. These naive and refreshing reflections on the world around her made her famous in her adult life when published in a national magazine.
Dina Ciraulo, writer director of 'Opal' follows this extraordinary woman's life from children to her entrance into college, no small feat for any woman in the early 20th Century, especially on a partial scholarship, through her efforts to get her book on her observations of nature published, to her fame as contributing writer for the Atlantic Monthly for her serialized retelling of her childhood journals, to her fall from fame and grace due to questions about the veracity of her journals, her background and perhaps her very sanity.
View the trailer.
Opal
Writer/Director: Dina Ciraulo
Cast: Nayeli Adorador-Knudsen, George Maguire, Carrie Paff, Gabriel Marin, Ben Beecroft, Keven Rolston
Time: 79 min.
Playing in the Mill Valley Film Festival at the Rafael on October 9, 3:30 pm; October 12, 7 pm; October 16, 6 pm
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