Lost Nation (2022)
Photo by student set photographer Yannis Makridis.
Photo by student set photographer Nick Kern.
Photo by student set photographer Yannis Makridis.
​Written and Directed by Jay Craven
Produced by Elena Greenlee
Cinematograpy by Ines Gowland
Production Design by Ana Novacic
Costumes by Jevyn Nelms​
Edited by Patrick Kennedy
​Starring
Eva Ndachi as Lucy Terry Prince
Kevin Ryan as Ethan Allen
Matt Orduna as Abijah Prince
Rob Campbell as John Noyes
Now touring in Vermont!
​
Lost Nation follows the parallel and intersecting journeys of impulsive, larger-than-life land speculator and Vermont founding father, Ethan Allen, and Lucy Terry Prince — a groundbreaking poet and justice advocate who was among the first free, Black settlers to Vermont. During the mid-to-late 18th Century, Vermont was hotly contested territory and Ethan Allen led recently settled poor farmers, to fight off feudal New York land barons who claimed their land. During this same period, Lucy and her husband Abijah Prince moved to the growing rural town of Guilford - the epicenter of Yorker resistance to Vermont rule. In addition to the struggles all small family farmers faced on this unstable northern frontier, the Princes had to protect their family and property against racist harassment from nearby neighbor, John Noyes, which they fought on multiple fronts - including all the way to the highest court in the fledgling Republic of Vermont.
Behind-the-Scenes
Video footage and editing courtesy of Semester Cinema Documentary & Editing students.