







Jeano (2020)
15 minutes
Commisioned by Anna & Elizabeth and Smithsonian Folkways.
This short film is a visual and sonic exploration of an American folk song.
Circling around two figures -- a New England housewife, the wisher -- and a character in a mythical waiting space who collects all the wishes -- the film considers the potential power in the wishes of those left behind at home when others are off at war. It is an imaginative exploration into how we engage with the dreams of the past, and the thresholds that bridge time and space.
"Jeano and Jeanette" was sung in 1941 by Margaret Shipman in her kitchen in Lee, MA. In 2018, the duo Anna and Elizabeth found the recording of Margaret's singing and made a new arrangement of the song for their own record. Interpreting the song through a different medium, this film deconstructs that same source material that has been passed across generations, meditating on its contents, and communicating its meaning in a new way.
Directed by Peter Coccoma
Conceived in Collaboration with Anna Roberts-Gevalt
Director of Photography Alex Munro
Gaffer John Ward
Operator Drew English
AC Lucas Hrabal
Set Michael Hili
Edit Peter Coccoma
Color by Andrew Francis at Technicolor
Music by Anna & Elizabeth
Additional Music and Sound Design by Peter Coccoma and Anna Roberts-Gevalt
Sound Mix by Zubin Hensler
Made with support from Smithsonian Folkways.