Iris is old. Jenna is young. They arrive from opposite ends of life at a crossroads. Alone and aware of her physical decline, Iris is planning to end her life on her own terms when she meets Jenna, an accidental success who really just wants ordinary happiness but can’t seem to find it. Set in a small, island community, the story of Iris and Jenna is about how isolation can foster unlikely connections and about how these connections are what make life worth living.
Alternate Endings is a feature film scheduled for production late summer of 2015. Written and directed by Anne de Marcken, it is her first feature-length project since the award-winning and groundbreaking Group came out in 2002. She is again teaming up with Marilyn Freeman to tell the story, and their production company Wovie, Inc. will produce.
Alternate Endings is about two women – one old, one young – and the way life can begin and end when you least expect it. The movie is a happy accident. Having secured the perfect location for a different project that is still in development (keep an eye out for The Warmest Season in 2016-17), de Marcken decided to push ahead and take advantage of the opportunity by writing another script that could be developed quickly.
It is all part of her determination to make movies that are by and about women. After an extended hiatus during which she focused on her own writing and also taught writing and media at The Evergreen State College, de Marcken looked up and was shocked to discover that little has changed for women in film. They are still under-represented and still narrowly portrayed, they are still underpaid, and they are still more often found behind desks than cameras…on the telephone instead of on set. She doesn’t think she can change the world, but de Marcken does believe that as a woman filmmaker, it is in her power to make a difference by simply doing what she does with full commitment; women directors are so uncommon that even one more in the field shifts the balance.