Strasbourg International Film Festival
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Jane's Paradise
Jane's Paradise

Title of project: Jane's Paradise
Length of Film: 80 minutes
Director: Dee Wills
Producer: Dee Wills
Writer: Dee Wills
(any other key cast and crew you would like to mention): well, I did everything...

Date of Completion: November 2008, final 'final cut' (small adjustments) was made January 2009
Country of Production: The Netherlands
Country of Filming: The Netherlands
Language of Film: English and Dutch (English subtitles)



Film Trivia:
Shot entirely in Dee Wills apartment, save for the opening scene at the beach and the scene in the elevator.

Only help Dee Wills had making the movie was her mother's. She executes the pan in the opening shot and throws popcorn in 'The Hippie Song' sequence (while keeping a lamp out of frame).

Dee Wills' mother has a small cameo, driving the car, at the end of the film.

Majority of the footage was shot in two weeks, during which Dee Wills also had to go to work. She worked in catering at the restaurant on a military base.

Post-production took a total of six to seven weeks, spread over the course of three months. This includes re-shooting scenes and production of new material.

All events in the film actually took place, either in reality or Wills' mind. This is what made her decide to market it as a docu-drama.



Jane's Paradise was the third feature film screenplay Dee Wills finished writing, the first to make it to the screen (in an altered version).

Original screenplay included a grand musical scene at the beach; Crane shots and a lot of extra's. Dee Wills solved this by green screening herself in her living room and builing a small scale 'set' of a beach. Alien-clothes pins with cotton hair were used as extra's.

All vocals in the film are by Dee Wills, including the 'alien' voices on 'The Hippie Song'.

The close up home video footage is actually the first footage Dee Wills ever shot. She did so when she was attending fashion academy.

Premiere Status: World Premiere

Jane's Paradise

Notes from Filmmaker):
The title origins in 2003, after I had confined myself to a social isolation, I dreamt of making a film loosely based on my life and my perception of life, given my imaginative nature. The lead-character's name was Jane and she dreamt of singing in a band.

(... ) My final go at writing an autobiographical film was gonna have to cut like surgery.

I thought of a title, often where I begin when writing. I recalled 'Jane's Paradise', one I had always been very fond of, though very little of the original story remained. Jane Doe popped into my head. Because I had a hard time writing about myself, use my own name on paper, I figured the right approach would be to discover myself as if I were a character. A nameless stranger. A Jane Doe. And my struggle is my paradise. Making the imaginative and the real worlds merge. On hindsight it only makes sense that I made the film all by myself. In all my loneliness and solitude, I was always too scared and too proud to ask for help.

This film is a statement about fighting, falling, failing, struggling and hurting, but dreaming, hoping, believing and eventually succeeding. I've finally found the way to tell people what I was going through and can only hope it may strengthen those who find themselves in the same unable way. It's not the film I saw when I wrote the screenplay, but I made it.

In the end 'Jane's Paradise' is what 'Jane's Paradise' is;
A movie about one girl, made by just that girl.

Film Website:
Dee Will's My Space
Dee Will's YouTube

Notable Festivals: Strasbourg International is the very first

Filmmaker Note: Film to me is a way of sharing and it excites me so much that I now finally get to. Can't wait to meet you all!





Strasbourg Film Festival



*Schedule, dates, locations and events subject to change without notice.
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