EngAGE was delighted to help launch the delightful documentary, STILL DREAMING, the latest award-winning feature from Hank Rogerson and Jilann Spitzmiller (SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS, HOMELAND). The film will have its public television premiere in April 2018, distributed by American Public Television (APT) to more than 225 PBS stations and on The World Channel.
Listen to Tim Carpenter’s Experience Talks interview with Hank Rogerson in 2013, just prior to the film’s completion.
A majority of stations will air the film on April 14, but check your local PBS stations and air times here.
Initial broadcast times on The World Channel are:
Saturday, April 14 at 5pm PT // 8pm ET
Saturday, April 14 at 9pm PT// April 15 at 12am ET
Monday, April 16 at 7am PT // 10am ET
Buy a DVD or watch the entire movie streaming here.
Watch the 30-second trailer:
STILL DREAMING is a wistful, honest, and frequently hilarious true story which takes place at The Lillian Booth Actor’s Home, a community for retired entertainers and their family members just outside New York City. The Home has decided to bring its residents out of retirement and stage a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the facility. Ben Steinfeld and Noah Brody, two young, acclaimed directors from NYC, are hired to make this challenge a reality in a mere six weeks. As the ensemble dives into an unpredictable but revelatory journey, the choice of play begins to resonate in unexpected and marvelous ways. Like Shakespeare’s famous woods, the retirement home is a world where the difference between dreams and reality aren’t easy for some to distinguish. Working with aging cast members who are struggling with ailments from Alzheimer’s to near-blindness, Ben and Noah find themselves in a world they don’t quite understand—one in which they and the meaning of their art are being transformed. The film follows the production as opening night approaches and as tempers flare, health concerns abound, and disaster seems imminent. But as these seasoned entertainers forge ahead, they find that creativity is a magical force of renewal.
Featured in the film are some of Broadway’s finest performers including Charlotte Fairchild (Mame, 42nd St., Damn Yankees) Aideen O’Kelly (Othello, A Life, Philadelphia Here I Come!), Bob Evans (Damn Yankees, Pajama Game, Guys & Dolls), and Joan Stein (Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows). Robert Morse (How to Succeed in Business, AMC’s Mad Men) sings the end credits song, “Even I,” with piano accompaniment by Grammy award winner Bill Cunliffe.
Hank Rogerson, the film’s co-director says, “At the Lillian Booth, we discovered a group of people who have spent their whole lives following their dreams, some wildly successful, and some hardly at all. And here they are, retired, supposedly having given it all up. But what we witnessed during the rehearsal and performance process of “Midsummer” is that the huge talent of these former entertainers is still alive and well. What we captured was a reawakening, and it was truly profound and inspiring. We hope this film will challenge everyone to rethink what aging can be – a time of enrichment and joy rather than decline.” Rogerson and Spitzmiller are multi-award winning filmmakers whose work has appeared on National PBS, Sundance Channel, BBC, Starz/Encore, Aljazeera, Canal + and around the world.
