An interview with Sarah Kernochan (appearing at the Cleveland Cinematheque March 23rd)

[Filmmaker Sarah Kernochan will answer questions following screenings of her films IMPROMPTU at 5:30 pm and MARJOE at 8:30 pm on Saturday March 23rd at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Interview by Bob Ignizio

At the age of 24 Sarah Kernochan co-produced and directed MARJOE, a film about evangelist (and later B-movie actor) Marjoe Gortner. Released in 1972, the film went on to win the “Best Documentary Feature” Oscar in 1973 for Sarah and her filmmaking partner Howard Smith. She then went on to release two albums on RCA records as a singer-songwriter, and in 1977 her novel Dry Hustle was published.

After a little more than a decade away from movie making, Sarah wrote her first screenplay for the 1986 hit film 9 1/2 WEEKS, and from there went on to write or co-write several more films, including the critically acclaimed SOMMERSBY (co-written with Nicholas Meyer and adapted from the 1982 film THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE) and the hit thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH? (co-written with Clark Gregg). In 2002 she won her second Oscar, this one in the “Best Documentary Short” category, for Thoth, about the life of New York-based street performer S. K. Thoth. More recently in 2011, Sarah's second novel Jane Was Here was published. And those are just some of the highlights of what can only be described as a varied and interesting career.

Sarah Kernochan will be at the Cleveland Cinematheque on Saturday March 23rd for screenings of IMPROMPTU, a film she wrote the screenplay for that was directed by her husband James Lapine, at 5:30 pm followed by MARJOE at 8:30 pm. Sarah will answer questions after both films. In the meantime, I had the opportunity to ask Sarah a few questions of my own via email, and she was kind enough to answer.

Marjoe (March 23rd at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[MARJOE screens Saturday March 23rd at 8:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.


The disillusionism-ridden post-Vietnam/Watergate era of the mid-1970s may not be fondly remembered by many people - oh, mainly recreational-drug connoisseurs and individuals who tell me that, yes, there actually were real job positions open in Cleveland back then (probably just smuggling and selling recreational drugs, though).

But the atmosphere of questioning cynicism did inspire a brief, shining period of grownup-level cinema (before the advent of STAR WARS and the summer-blockbuster syndrome came along and returned mainstream movies to the comic-book-level media they've pretty much occupied since). The legendary films that came out of that fluke period include household names such as M*A*S*H, CHINATOWN, KLUTE, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, MEAN STREETS and THE GODFATHER...and lesser-known-but-equal productions
such as MARJOE.

Cinematheque to host two-time Oscar winning filmmaker

[Press release from the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Sarah Kernochan, a two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker, will appear in person on Saturday, March 23 at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, 11141 East Boulevard. Kernochan will answer questions after screenings of two of her movies: IMPROMPTU (1991), for which she wrote the screenplay, at 5:30 pm, and the full-length documentary MARJOE (1972),  which she co-directed with Howard Smith, at 8:30 pm. Admission to either film is $12, Cinematheque members $9; age 25 & under $8. One can see both movies for an additional $8.

Kernochan won her first Academy Award (for Best Documentary Feature) for MARJOE, a shocking portrait of Southern evangelist and charismatic con man Marjoe Gortner, who became a minor movie star and celebrity because of the film. Her second Oscar was for the 2002 documentary short subject “Thoth,” about a New York street musician. Kernochan is also a screenwriter (NINE ½ WEEKS and SOMMERSBY, in addition to IMPROMPTU), novelist, playwright, and singer-songwriter with two albums for RCA. She is married to Tony Award-winning director James Lapine, a frequent collaborator with Stephen Sondheim. Her website is www.sarahkernochan.com