Refocus Film Festival is celebrating film adaptation in the most Iowa City way.
The fourth annual festival will open with “Train Dreams,” a new film from the Academy Award-nominated writer-turned-director Clint Bentley. The film is based on the award-winning novella of the same name, written by Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Denis Johnson.
The annual film festival returns to downtown Iowa City Oct. 9-12. The opening night screening will take place on Thursday, Oct. 9, at the Englert Theater, featuring appearances by special guests.
“Train Dreams” is co-written by Academy Award nominees Bentley and Greg Kwedar. The film is a moving portrait of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly changing America of the early 20th Century.
The film stars Golden Globe nominee Joel Edgerton, along with Academy Award-nominees Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon and William H. Macy. “Train Dreams” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was shortly picked up by Netflix.
The opening night screening at Refocus offers attendees early access to the film before it becomes available on the streaming service on Nov. 21.
Celebrating Denis Johnson’s literary legacy
Johnson’s “Train Dreams” was first published in The Paris Review in 2002 and later released as a stand-alone book in 2011. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012.
“Adaptation can be a tricky exercise, particularly with a work as beloved as this,” said Refocus Film Festival programming director Ben Delgado in a news release. “The filmmaking team has perfectly threaded that needle, beautifully evoking the spirit of the source through cinematic grandeur.
Johnson earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where he also returned to teach. In 2017, Johnson died at the age of 67.
The “Train Dreams” adaptation is not the first time Johnson’s work has been adapted for the silver screen. His collection of short stories, “Jesus’ Son,” was made into a film of the same name in 1999, seven years after it was initially released in 1992. The most recent adaptation of Johnson’s work is the 2022 film “The Stars at Noon,” from his 1986 novel.
On opening night at the Englert, the festival will honor Johnson’s legacy by featuring an appearance by his biographer, Ted Geltner. His upcoming book about Johnson, “Flagrant, Self-Destructive Gestures,” will be released in November.
What to know about Refocus Film Festival
The four-day Refocus Film Festival will showcase dozens of films this year, running concurrently with the Iowa City Book Festival, happening from Oct. 5 to Oct.12. The event supports the nonprofit’s mission of celebrating and highlighting the art of adaptation through filmmaking.
“Refocus Film Festival is emerging as an essential stop for films with literary heritage,” said festival Executive Director Andrew Sherburne in a news release. “Even more remarkable is to be able to trace these films directly to our community year after year, as is the case with Denis Johnson and Iowa City.”
The rest of the Refocus films will be announced in September with screenings at FilmScene’s Pedmall and Chauncey locations, and programming in the downtown district. Early bird passes are available on the Refocus website.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Refocus Film Festival announces opening night film with special connection to Iowa City
Reporting by Jessica Rish, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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