Movie Star

Film, Fashion and Art from around the world showcased at Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts November 4th-5th in Star’s Hometown

Actress, Activist, Icon Jean Seberg.

She was the toast of Paris and an international film star. She was part of the French New Wave and starred in the iconic film Breathless influencing film history and fashion with her short-cropped hairstyle and gamine beauty. To this day she makes the list of the most beautiful women in the world and inspires art, music and haute couture. All of these magical virtues that made Jean Seberg who she was are celebrated this year in her beloved hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa at the IVCCD Orpheum Theater Center, November 4^th-5^th at the Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts.  The annual event draws fans, artists, film and fashion buffs, Hollywood history aficionados, family and friends from across the country and around the world.

“I think the new name of our festival reflects our commitment to honoring Jean’s legacy across many disciplines,” said Nancy Adams, curator of the Jean Seberg Collection at the Orpheum Theater Center.  “Clearly, she first registered on the collective radar through her acting, but in her life she came to be known for her celebration of and influence in many other fields.”

The Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts opens November 4th with a free exhibition of student-produced films.

The Festival opens Friday, Nov. 4, at 6:30 p.m. showcasing student-produced films and an award ceremony at the Orpheum where Seberg’s first film, Saint Joan, premiered in 1957.  Jean Seberg championed first-time directors and filmmakers, often launching their film careers. Friday evening’s film screenings and award ceremony are free to the public.

Saturday, November 5^th the festival will showcase the Seberg style with a fashion show presented by Iowa State University design students at 1:30 p.m. in the Orpheum’s Blackbox Theater. Admission is $6.

Sean Garrison and Jean Seberg starred in "Moment to Moment".

Two of Seberg’s films will screen at the Orpheum on Saturday: Moment to Moment at 11:00 a.m. and Who’s Got the Black Box? at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $6/pp per show. 

A free art exhibit featuring Jean Seberg-inspired works from around the world will be on display during the festival, as well as other Seberg memorabilia from the Orpheum’s vast collection. 

Visitors are also encouraged to take the self-guided Jean Seberg Legacy Tour to places that were part of her life growing up in Marshalltown, Iowa. Copies of the Legacy map are available in the lobby of the Orpheum Theatre Center.

Iowa Governor Branstad signs a proclamation honoring Jean Seberg.

The Festival follows the recent signing of a proclamation by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declaring October 21 Jean Seberg Day. 

“So many years after her passing, one is as likely to read about her cinematic legacy as to see her referenced in a fashion magazine, or the subject of an art exhibition,” Adams said.  “I’m excited about the number of participants this year, and the fact that we are seeing and highlighting the growing awareness of ‘the next generation’ to the magic that was, and is Jean Seberg.”

For more information about the Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts contact Tammy Losing, Festival Coordinator, at Orpheum Theater Center 641-844-5921 or find information online at the www.OrpheumCenter.com.

Iowa Gov. Branstad Proclaims October 21st "Jean Seberg Day" in Her home State

Marshalltown native will also be remembered during Saturday's "Hollywood Backstories" event at the State Historical Museum

Sixty years ago today Marshalltown teenager Jean Seberg won a worldwide talent search fro the titled role in the movie Saint Joan and became an overnight star.  Today, Gov. Terry E. Branstad proclaimed Jean Seberg Day in Iowa to honor the late Iowan's remarkable life and career.

While Seberg's role in Saint Joan (1957) made her a star, her performance in French director Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960) launched her to fame as an international style icon.  With contemporaries such as Audrey Hepburn and Mia Farrow, Seberg popularized the image of the New Wave ingenue (characterized by a pixie haircut, French striped jersey shirt and black capri pants). Seberg starred in 34 feature films in Hollywood and Europe, including Lilith, Paint Your Wagon opposite Clint Eastwood, and Airport.

Iowans can learn more about Seberg's life (1938-1979) as an actress, activist and fashion icon during a free screening of the documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg as part of "Hollywood Backstories: Remembering Jean Seberg" at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the State Historical Museum of Iowa, 600 E. Locust St. in Des Moines.

The documentary will be followed by a Q&A with one of its creators, the Emmy-nominated filmmaker Garry McGee; Seberg's sister, Mary Ann Shuey; and the curator of the Jean Seberg Collection at the Orpheum Theater Center in Marshalltown, Nancy Adams.  Afterward, visitors can join State Curator Leo Landis on a tour of the museum's "Hollywood in the Heartland" exhibit about Iowans and the silver screen.

Program Details

WHAT: Hollywood Backstories: Remembering Jean Seberg

WHERE: State Historical Museum, 600 E. Locust St., Des Moines

WHEN: Saturday, October 22

• 1 p.m. screening of Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg
• 2:30 p.m. Q&S led by Liz Gilman, executive producer of Produce Iowa
• 3:00 p.m. Hollywood in the Heartland exhibit tour

SUGGESTED ATTIRE: Something French--wear a beret, a striped French sailor's shirt or anything with a certain 'je ne sais quoi' and be discovered just as Jean was 60 years ago.

Hollywood Backstories is presented by Produce Iowa, the state office of media production, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.  Visit www.iowaculture.gov or call 515-281-5111 for more information.

The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and its three divisions - the Iowa Arts Council, State Historical Society of Iowa, and Produce Iowa, the state office of media production - empower Iowa to build and sustain culturally vibrant communities by connecting Iowans to the people, places and points of pride that define our state. 

The Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts is scheduled for November 4-5 at the Orpheum Theater Center in Marhsalltown.  This year's event will feature an ISU student fashion show showcasing fashions inspired by the star. For more information, visit Marshalltown Community College's website HERE.

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg is an award-winning documentary produced by Emmy-nominated filmmakers Garry McGee of McMarr, Ltd., Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. The movie was funded in part with grants from the Iowa Arts Council, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Jean Seberg Honored by Iowa Governor's Proclamation and Special Screening of "Movie Star" at State Historical Building

International film star and Marshalltown, Iowa’s own Jean Seberg will be honored in a proclamation signed by Iowa Governor Branstad at the State Capital on the morning of October 21, 2016.  Seberg’s family will be in attendance, as will Emmy-nominated filmmakers Garry McGee, and Kelly & Tammy Rundle.  Their award-winning documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg will be showcased at a special ‘Hollywood Backstories: Remembering Jean Seberg’ event at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust Street in Des Moines on October 22 at 1:00 p.m. The event is free to the public.  A Q&A will take place after the film and will be moderated by Produce Iowa's Liz Gilman with Jean's sister Mary Ann Shuey, filmmaker and Seberg biographer Garry McGee, and Nancy Adams, Jean Seberg/Orpheum Theater Collection Curator.  The event is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and Produce Iowa.

High School graduate Jean Seberg was plucked from obscurity by Otto Preminger to star in his film Saint Joan.

Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses at age 17, Marshalltown, Iowa’s Jean Seberg made her acting debut in Otto Preminger’s 1957 Saint Joan and starred in Hollywood films Lilith, Paint Your Wagon, and the blockbuster Airport, among others.  She is best known for her performance in director Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film Breathless.  Movie Star is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the famous actress and examines Seberg’s very public American and international film career, civil rights era activism, and her mysterious, untimely death in Paris in 1979.

The film features exclusive on-camera interviews with Seberg’s family, friends and film colleagues, and former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown; as well as never-before-seen private photographs, home movie footage and rare movie and behind-the-scenes film clips.

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg is an Official Selection at the LA Femme International Film Festival in Beverly Hills, California and screens at the Laemmle Music Hall Theater on October 21 at 2pm. The film also won the Iowa Motion Picture Association’s top Award of Excellence in a Documentary, the Award of Excellence from the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards in Los Angeles, and Best Documentary at the Landlocked Film Festival and the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival.

A celebration of Jean's life and legacy takes place each year in her hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa at the Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts. This year's event will be held November 4-5, 2016 at the Orpheum Theater Center, where Jean's first film, Saint Joan, premiered in 1957. The theater is located at 220 E Main St, Marshalltown.  For more information, schedule/tickets visit Jean Seberg at the O!

The Hollywood Backstories series is presented by Produce Iowa-State Office of Media Production, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg was funded in part with grants from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Iowa Arts Council. The Historical Society of Marshall County served as the fiscal sponsor for the documentary project.  Garry McGee is the author of “Jean Seberg: Breathless” and co-author of “Neutralized: The FBI vs Jean Seberg” and “The Films of Jean Seberg”. He received a Regional Emmy® nomination for writing the documentary The Last Wright.  Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films received a Regional Emmy® nomination for their documentaries River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT) and Country School: One Room – One Nation.

"Movie Star" Screens at Beverly Hills Laemmle Theater for LA Femme International Film Festival

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg is an Official Selection at the LA Femme International Film Festival (LAFIFF) in Beverly Hills, California and will screen at the Laemmle Music Hall Theater, 9035 Wilshire Blvd. on Friday, October 21 at 2:00 p.m.  The film produced by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Garry McGee of McMarr, Ltd. is among 100 films selected at the reputable film festival.

“We are honored that Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg is among so many great films featured at LAFIFF,” said co-producer Tammy Rundle. “We are looking forward to sharing Jean’s story with a new audience in Beverly Hills.”

Seventeen-year-old Jean Seberg tries out for Saint Jean.

Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses at age 17, Marshalltown, Iowa’s Jean Seberg made her acting debut in Otto Preminger’s 1957 Saint Joan and starred in Hollywood films Lilith, Paint Your Wagon, and the blockbuster Airport, among others.  She is best known for her performance in director Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film Breathless.  Movie Star is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the famous actress and examines Seberg’s very public American and international film career, civil rights era activism, and her mysterious, untimely death in Paris in 1979.

Actress/Activist/Icon Jean Seberg.

The film features exclusive on-camera interviews with Seberg’s family, friends and film colleagues, and former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown; as well as never-before-seen private photographs, home movie footage and rare movie and behind-the-scenes film clips.

LAFIFF is a four-day festival that screens more than 100 films and hosts special screenings, seminars, and networking mixers. The 2016 festival is the 12th season launching October 20-23, 2016 at the Laemmle Theatres in Beverly Hills on Wilshire Blvd. with amazing seminars sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, WGA West, The Governor's Office of Film and Entertainment State of Florida, and Columbia College Hollywood. Go to www.lafemme.org to purchase Tickets. The festival culminates Sunday night, October 23 with an Awards Show honoring and celebrating Female Hollywood Entertainment Professionals and Celebrities.

The 12th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival is sponsored by CBS Entertainment Diversity, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), and Comcast NBC Universal are leading the key sponsors for this year's festival. The festival will take place from October 20- 23 at the Laemmle Theatres in Beverly Hills.

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg was funded in part with grants from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Iowa Arts Council. The Historical Society of Marshall County served as the fiscal sponsor for the documentary project. In addition to being an Official Selection at the LAFIFF, the film won the Iowa Motion Picture Association’s top Award of Excellence in a Documentary, the Award of Excellence from the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards in Los Angeles, and Best Documentary at the Landlocked Film Festival and the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle received a Regional Emmy® nomination for their documentaries River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT) and Country School: One Room – One Nation. Garry McGee is the author of “Jean Seberg: Breathless” and co-author of “Neutralized: The FBI vs Jean Seberg” and “The Films of Jean Seberg”. He received a Regional Emmy® nomination for writing the documentary The Last Wright.

Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts takes place Nov. 4-5 in Marshalltown, IA.
All are welcome! (Photo courtesy Marshalltown Times-Republican)

A celebration of Jean's life and legacy takes place each year in her hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa at the Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts. This year's event will be held November 4-5, 2016 at the Orpheum Theater Center, where Jean's first film Saint Joan premiered in 1957. The theater is located at 220 E Main St, Marshalltown.  For more information, schedule and tickets visit Jean Seberg at the O!