This week on BEHIND THE LENS is my exclusive interview with writer/director/costume designer/producer and actor Colin Henning as he talks about his feature directorial debut, the beautifully moody and metaphoric APPALACHIAN DOG. Not only am I enchanted by this sultry, post-WWII, Southern Gothic delight, but by Colin himself who is already one of my favorite filmmakers of the next generation. He is articulate and thoughtful both in discussing the film and with the film itself. Every frame shows Colin’s care, thought, and purpose in the production and his performance.
Written & Directed by Colin Henning, APPALACHIAN DOG stars, among others, Georgia Morgan, Hayleigh Hart Franklin, Brooke Elizabeth, Colin Henning, and Aaron J Stewart and was shot on location in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and, as you will see on watching the film, in the dead of winter.
APPALACHIAN DOG is a Southern Gothic tale about husband and wife, Marion and Teddy, and Marion’s friends Peggie, Cate, and Andrew. It’s post-war 1946 and Teddy has just returned after 5 years in the war. A tailor by trade, suffering from PTSD and poor eyesight, Teddy is unable to return to his work and must rely on Marion to support them. Marion, a seamstress who worked with Teddy before the war, has honed her skills and built up the tailoring business in his absence, bringing on her friend Peggie as her assistant and fellow seamstress.
With Teddy’s return, Marion believes that everything can return to exactly what it was before Teddy went to war. But life has moved on. Although she doesn’t want to admit it, Marion has moved on as an independent woman with new hopes, dreams, and interests while Teddy must look for another kind of work due to his trauma and a broken pair of glasses (See the film and you’ll understand the significance and true meaning of the broken glasses.)
Struggling to navigate their tense reunion and build a future, be it together or apart, Teddy’s return impacts not only Marion but Peggie and their friend Cate along with Cate’s husband Andrew who also returned from the war a different man. What will it take for each to confront the truth that it’s not only the world and life that has changed, they have as well?
In this extended exclusive conversation, COLIN HENNING and I dig deep into this moody, metaphoric film and its character study exploration, with the Appalachians very much as one of the main characters. As you’ll hear, the strength of APPALACHIAN DOG lies in its location, Aidan Macaluso’s exquisite cinematography, and Chad Hylton’s magnificent sound design, which immerses viewers in the claustrophobic, isolated setting. By the way, Chad also served as the film’s editor. Emphasizing the importance of character development and the region’s traditions and Colin’s insistence on authenticity, vintage costume design – which Colin also handled for the film – is a big part of our discussion as it informs each character, economic status, cultural placement, time and place, while also speaking metaphorically to the unfolding tension among our group of four.
Going beyond the production elements of the film, Colin also talks about wearing so many hats and how he maintained an emotional separation between his roles, including as a main actor, while staying true to the story’s meaning. APPALACHIAN DOG is also the feature debut of Colin and Chad’s company and what a debut it is!
So, take a listen as writer/director/costume designer/producer/actor COLIN HENNING talks about his feature directorial debut, APPALACHIAN DOG.
APPALACHIAN DOG is available now On Demand on Prime Video, Tubi and several other streaming platforms as well.
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