Noëlle
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Noëlle is a 2007 dramedy film written, produced, and directed by David Wall who also stars as Father Jonathan Keene, a Catholic priest who comes to a small American fishing village in the Christmas season to shut down a dying parish, only to experience a personal transformation as he encounters the eccentric townspeople.
Shot on location in Cape Cod, Noëlle was originally produced under the title Mrs. Worthington's Party by Volo Films (David Wall's production banner) and won two awards at the 2006 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival for Best Director and Best American Indie 1st Runner Up. The film was picked up for commercial distribution by Gener8Xion Entertainment and was released in theaters on December 7, 2007.
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[edit] Synopsis
Father Jonathan Keene comes to a small fishing village a week before Christmas to shut down a dying parish. But when he encounters the lives of the people who populate this village, Keene undergoes a transformation of the heart, which culminates with a revelation of Keene's secret past at the town's legendary Mrs. Worthington's Christmas Party.
[edit] Cast
David Wall stars as Father Jonathan Keene, a "hit man" for the Catholic Church whose job is to shut down parishes that are no longer deemed viable. Noëlle is Wall's second film that he has directed and the first in which he has starred both in front of and behind the camera.
Kerry Wall plays Marjorie Worthington, the town's librarian. Kerry Wall is David Wall's wife. Kerry has worked as an actress for ten years.
Sean Patrick Brennan plays Father Simeon Joyce, the pastor of the dying parish that Keene has come to shut down. Brennan resides in Cape Cod where he is a carpenter, house-painter and musician.
Curt Dewitz plays Seth Harrod, a sly, cunning man who's looking out only for his own interests. Dewitz is currently executive producing and co-producing a new feature film as well as a new TV series.
[edit] Production
Writer-producer-director-actor David Wall drew inspiration for Noëlle when he was living in Cape Cod where an annual Christmas party was held at an "old whaling captain's house" that was "down the street" from Wall's home where people from varying socio-economic-religious backgrounds gathered, "celebrating one thing -- Christmas."
Noëlle was filmed on 35mm film and features the cinematography of Beecher Cotton who "does justice to the stark beauty of the Cape."
Noëlle features some Cape Cod landmarks such as the Cape Cod Hospital, the Sandwich Boardwalk, an East Dennis library, the beaches of Dennis Port, a church in Yarmouth Port, and a restaurant on Route 28 in West Dennis.
[edit] Release
Noëlle was released in theaters nation-wide on 203 screens on December 7, 2007 by Gener8Xion Entertainment. The release strategy involved targeting Gener8Xion's audiences in major markets across the country with the film being screened in the best performing theaters from Gener8Xion's previous theatrical released film One Night with the King.
[edit] Trivia
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- Noëlle marks the first time Kerry Wall has co-starred with her husband David Wall.
- David and Kerry Wall came close to sharing the screen on a husband-and-wife TV series in the 1980s, but David didn't land the role while Kerry did. Kerry ended up sharing the screen with Brad Pitt.
- Stryper frontman Michael Sweet plays a supporting role in the film, portrayed as one of the three "Tree Kings," and his wife Kyle worked as its makeup artist.
- Bob, one of the characters from the film, is played by Stephen Russell, who also plays Luther Norris in the 2008 romantic comedy film Chatham, which is also shot on location at Cape Cod.
- While the film's script called for a snow-covered village, Cape Cod "doesn't often get tons of snow," so the film's producers called family and friends to ask them to pray for snow. That year the snow fall in the Cape was a 50-year record high.
