Next month, Columbia will play host to a short film directed by Jenna Snow Grant, who chose the town as her primary filming location.
Grant, an Adair native studying motion pictures at Belmont University in Nashville, is required to write and direct a 15-minute short film to serve as her senior project. Grant’s film is titled “The Crow” (no relation to the 1994 Brandon Lee film) and is centered on bringing awareness to the struggles that domestic violence victims face.
“I’ve been working on it since last November, so over a year now… It’s a pretty tough and dark film. We deal with a lot of serious topics like self-harm, substance abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and trauma, and how that kind of manifests later on in life when you don’t really deal with it or reconcile with the things that have happened to you. It is a romantic tragedy… it’s pretty sad,” Grant stated.”
Inspiration for “The Crow” ranges from sci-fi body horror movies like “The Substance” to gritty, realistic portrayals of drug addiction and class divides such as “Parasite” and “Requiem for a Dream.” Some of these movies are stylistic inspiration (“The Substance,” Grant says, has unique camera work she wants to emulate) while others drive the inner turmoil of her film’s protagonist,
Grant wanted the film to be set in a smaller town than the Nashville she has grown accustomed to. Columbia became the perfect choice both for its scenery and the ability to give back to her hometown. For the shoot, she plans on staying at Holmes Bend Marina’s cabins and having catering done by local businesses.
“I’m bringing about 25 to 26 people including my actors,” Grant explained. “I think it’s a really good full-circle moment to end my journey at Belmont here and pay homage to the place I grew up in.”
Shooting in a smaller town also makes it more relatable to those who live in areas like Adair and may know people struggling with many of the things that Grant’s characters are.
“I want the audience to be aware people really live life like this. I feel films today don’t really portray realistic views of some of these different tropes and ideas. So I’m taking a lot of different cliches like, ‘You can save her,’ or, ‘You can save him,’ and shattering them because that doesn’t really happen in real life,” she said.
To support Grant’s film, Mayor Pam Hoots and Police Chief Evan Burton met with her last Friday to discuss what they could do to ensure she gets access to the locations that she needs. Chief Burton said he would help shut down part of a street so the crew could film when the movie is being shot in January and February of 2025.
Mayor Hoots became interested in holding a premiere for “The Crow” in Columbia next summer as part of a possible new film festival for local filmmakers to showcase their work to the community.
“I love the idea—the first Columbia Film Festival,” Mayor Hoots said, who has already begun inviting guest speakers and filmmakers for a tentative June date. “I think it’s going to turn out really great.”
By Kenley Godby
kenley@adairvoice.com
