LANE 1974: Post-film Q&A w/ Director SJ Chiro & Sophia Mitri Schloss

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
34th Annual Olympia Film Festival presents:
LANE 1974
Post-film Q&A w/ director SJ Chiro & star Sophia Mitri Schloss
4:30pm doors / 5:00pm film
$12 general admission / $9 OFS members & students / $5 Kids

Based on Clane Hayward’s memoir The Hypocrisy of Disco, Lane 1974 tells a true coming of age survival story. It’s 1974. 13-year-old Lane (Sophia Mitri Schloss) lives on a beautiful Northern California commune, wild and free, until her mother, a rebel and iconoclast, alienates their small group from the security and safety of the community land. They begin moving from one unlikely situation to another, leaving normal life far behind. Scrounging for food and hitch-hiking, while her mother cadges cash and begs favors, Lane and her siblings rely on one another in an increasingly desolate and isolated emotional landscape. After a series of dangerous events, Lane must decide how to survive.  Dir. SJ Chiro / 2017 / US / 80 mins

Director: SJ Chiro

SJ Chiro graduated from Bennington College with a degree in theater and French literature. She spent much of her early career as an actor and director in Seattle’s theater scene. Her 2006 debut short film Little Red Riding Hood garnered awards for Best Live Action Short at Children’s Film Festival Seattle and Best Cinematography at the San Francisco Women’s Film Festival. Her next film, Third Day’s Child, premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival 2008 and screened at the Science Fiction & FantasyShort Film Festival, One Reel Festival of Shorts, and Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, among others. Next, her short film Howard From Ohio was awarded a special jury prize at SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) 2011, best short film at Seattle’s Local Sightings Film Festival 2011, as well as the Director’s Award at the Boston Underground Film Festival. Her short film The Epiphany, based on a short story by Jonathan Lethem, was made for the Fly Film Challenge, SIFF 2011. This film marked the first collaboration with producer Mel Eslyn. In 2011 a tribute to Jørgen Leth’s The Perfect Human, was commissioned by Seattle’s The Project Room. Most recently a collaboration with Charles Mudede, The Third Wheel, premiered at SIFF in 2013. LANE 1974, Chiro’s first feature film, draws on her own experience as a child of revolutionary thinkers who retreated to a communal life in Northern California in the 1970s.

Born in Seattle, Sophia was described from a young age as a gifted actor with an old soul. Numerous passions include Cuban music, piano, guitar, and singing in addition to math, reading, programming, writing, painting, and soccer. Favorite inspirations include The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Mark Twain, Malala, and Emma Watson. After shooting Lane 1974, Sophia went on to a leading role in Amazon’s The Kicks. Previous roles include the starring role of Isabel in NBC’s pilot Isabel, alongside Marcia Gay Harden and Kevin Nealon, and guest star stints on Portlandia, The Librarians, and Grimm. She most recently starred in the title role of Sadie in Megan Griffiths’ upcoming feature Sadie with Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks, and Tony Hale.