Understanding the History of Denim through Filmmaking
From 2021 through 2025, Lisa Channer, associate professor of Theatre Arts & Dance, created a series of films called The Denim Trilogy of Films. These short films, considered feminist westerns, were centered around the Wild West and Gold Rush in America and stemmed from Channer’s research into the history of denim jeans. Her work led her to receive the Imagine Fund Annual Faculty Award.
What is exciting about this project?
The “Denim Films” came from a new play created with playwright Savannah Reich. It was set to premiere under my direction in 2020, when the COVID pandemic made that impossible. Savannah (now an assistant professor at Drexel College) and I pivoted to turn the original play into several connected short films. This forced me to learn the art of filmmaking, meet experts in the field, and complete a massive research project that was begun before COVID-19, albeit in a new way. I learned a great deal about filmmaking and the art of collaboration beyond the traditions of theatre, which has been my career. While they are different modalities, I found much overlap in terms of working with actors.
What has this award allowed you to do?
Film allowed me to feature facial expressions and vocal shifts in new ways. The art of editing was much more nuanced than I expected, particularly as the short films are comedies and the timing is essential to get right. I worked with some fantastic film craftspeople and learned that the film community of Minnesota is a rich one. My understanding of the history of denim has been enhanced greatly as the research led to profound new ways of thinking about the Gold Rush era in terms of gender roles and myths about independence and freedom that form the core of our American identity.
What have you learned while creating the films?
I learned that film is fast! We shot each film over two or three days, which is a big shift from the minimum five weeks of rehearsal it takes to stage a play. I learned that post-production for films is slow!
There is a robust film festival network that is a great deal of fun to be part of. I've really enjoyed traveling the country to see my films and network with other filmmakers at various festivals. I have been super proud when the films we made have won awards. I really enjoy filmmaking as another means of communicating my research and ideas.
Some of the challenges revolved around locations. Unlike in the theatre, unless you are working on a studio stage, you need real places to shoot films. My producers and I visited over a dozen potential sites across the state. It was exhausting because each one "could" work, but it was worth it to stick it out and find the exact right choices. As a transplant, it allowed me to see more of Minnesota, and that was beautiful.
How has your project made a difference in your career and the world?
Our finished films have been accepted at over two dozen film festivals and have been award winners at seven. I'm particularly proud that they have been in several Minnesota festivals, including Duluth, Twin Cities, MSPIFF, Ely, and Square Lake. They have been featured by Film North.
What partnerships has this award helped you develop and nurture?
Savannah Reich, with whom I partnered on all the denim shorts, and I had a paper and presentation accepted titled "Tender Cowboys and The Road Not Taken; Generating an Alternate American Old West in the Denim Trilogy" for the 2025 ASTR (Association of Theatre Research) Conference in Denver this November. During the conference, we will share our full process, from research to final products. I look forward to this chance to reflect on the path we took and how it's added to the canon of feminist films and the discourse about the era we call the wild west.
I have become an avid supporter of Film North and keep in touch with my new friends and colleagues in the robust Minnesota film community. I was particularly proud to have the films premiere at the Minneapolis St Paul Film Festival (MSPIFF). I've come to learn that the film acting talent in Minnesota is incredible.
What's next?
I hope to continue my work in theatre and film stemming from my long-standing research into feminist stories, histories, and processes of making work. This past spring, I was an IAS faculty fellow at UMN. During that time, I worked to consolidate a personal story into research for a new film/theatre hybrid project titled "Eileen in '60," for which my previous denim film experience is invaluable. While that is still in the research stage, I'm also engaged in current research involving the stories of Ukrainian immigrants in Minnesota. I am working with writer Andrei Kureichik and co-director Vladimir Rovinsky to collect interviews and craft a new play about them called "An Ocean Away" set to premiere under my co-direction in October–November 2025. The work on “An Ocean Away” production has led to my increased use of multimedia in my theatrical work. I'm more comfortable now with film on stage than I had been previously as a director.
I'm so grateful for this award and the support it offered me during the five years after COVID-19 when my research, by necessity, took a new path into filmmaking. I learned more about films and filmmaking in those few years than I had in a lifetime.
This story was edited by Avery Vrieze, an undergraduate student in CLA.
