Grange Hall lands Jay Craven’s ‘Lost Nation’ Revolutionary War action drama, March 1-2
February 24, 2025 | By Waterbury Roundabout Years in the making, Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven’s latest feature film, “Lost Nation,” has been on a tour around the region since last summer and its next stop is Waterbury’s Grange Hall Cultural Center next weekend.
Movie poster courtesy of Kingdom County Productions
The Revolutionary War action-drama tells a fictionalized story featuring two very real historical figures – Vermont founding-father icon Ethan Allen and Lucy Terry Prince, believed to be the nation’s first African American poet who found freedom from slavery in Vermont.
The veteran director will be in attendance, introducing the film and leading Q&A sessions following the screenings scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, March 1, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 2. Given the limited capacity at the Grange Hall, advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended. ($15 online at sevendaystickets.com)
Set during the infancy of the Republic of Vermont, “Lost Nation” casts as Ethan Allen Irish actor Kevin Ryan (of BBC America’s “Copper” series and the Irish comedy-drama series “Harry Wild”). The rebel schemer leads resistance to New Yorker land claims, launches an ill-fated attack on British forces in Montreal, and leads invasions by his Green Mountain Boys into Yorker strongholds of Guilford and Brattleboro. At every turn, Allen navigates thorny entanglements with allies, enemies, and family.
The film’s parallel and intersecting story features Kenyan actress Eva Ndachi (of the film “Beautifully Broken”) as Lucy Terry Prince, whose poem titiled “Bars Fight” about the 1746 Deerfield Massacre is the first known work of African American literature. Enslaved in Western Massachusetts at the age of 3 for 30 years, Terry moved and settled with her family on a Guilford homestead carved out of the forest by her husband, formerly enslaved frontier transport operator, Abijah Prince.
Allen and the Princes found themselves caught up in turbulent times that threatened their prospects for the land and freedom they sought. Like Allen, Lucy Prince upset the status quo in her assertive use of early Vermont’s legal and political systems to defend her family in the face of pressure and threats.
Kevin Ryan as Ethan Allen (left) with John Noyes played by Rob Campbell. Courtesy photo
Others in the story include: Prince family antagonist, aspiring Guilford politician John Noyes, played by Rob Campbell (of “The Crucible,” “Ethan Frome,” “The Unforgiven”); British intelligence chief and former Green Mountain Boy co-founder Justus Sherwood is played by Barry Del Sherman (of “There Will Be Blood,” “American Beauty”), and Lucy Prince’s daughter Drucilla is played by young actress and Spelman College student, Karma Bridges, daughter of rapper and film star Ludacris. Rounding out the cast are Vermont actors Rusty DeWees and Ariel Zevon, playing Guilford Yorker leader, Asa Locke, and Ethan Allen’s wife, Mary Brownson Allen, respectively.
Acclaimed singer, composer, and Julliard-trained violinist Mazz Swift composed and conducted the “Lost Nation” score. Swift plays lead violin in Yo Yo Ma and Rhiannon Giddens’ Silk Road Ensemble and has performed at Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Swift has composed and/or played with Vernon Reid, James “Blood” Ulmer, Whitney Houston, DJ Logic, Kanye West – and the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra, among others.
Craven tells of how he was first drawn to the Ethan Allen story in 1974. After breaking his right arm in a logging accident, he spent winter afternoons at the Vermont Historical Society research room, scrawling handwritten notes on yellow legal pads. Now 50 years later he’s taking this long-imagined but film on the road.
“With ‘Lost Nation,’ we took what we learned from historical research to build a sometimes-surprising story,” Craven said.
And while his research turned up a scarcity of information about early Vermont women and people of color, it produced plentiful details of the turbulence, strife and dramatic action during late 18th century-Vermont, from whippings and land confiscations to fires set to settle political scores, and Ethan Allen’s two invasions of southeastern Vermont towns. “The Wild West had nothing on what happened in Vermont during this time,” Craven said.
Eva Ndachi as Lucy Terry Prince in 'Lost Nation.' Courtesy photo
“There’s a lot of known history about the Allens – though no images of what Ethan looked like. There is also plenty that is not known. Some new research has been put forward by historians only recently that enriches and complicates Allen’s story. For the Princes, less is known, but court and town records reveal plenty of drama.”
Craven said he sought to “capture an indelible moment that shows the complexity and power of an early version of the American dream – and the promise of the American Revolution.” In that spirit, “Lost Nation” considers the life and actions of larger-than-life rascal and pioneer Ethan Allen and less well-known early Black Vermonters. “In doing this, we reflect on actor Tom Hanks’ recent call for history-based fiction films that map our cultural DNA, reflect who we really are, and help determine what is our full history – including the history of Black people that has too often been left out,” Craven suggested.
Filming “Lost Nation” presented a multitude of challenges as it was filmed on more than three dozen Vermont and Massachusetts locations, included battle scenes, and contains 43 speaking parts for characters such as Seth Warner, Ira Allen, Thomas Chittenden, Ethan’s wives Mary and Frances as well as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and New York Governor George Clinton.
“One fun fact: Boston patriot Samuel Adams is played in the film by his direct descendent, Samuel Adams,” Craven shared.
Financing the project required extensive grassroots fundraising, including a $100,000 Kickstarter campaign and a significant benefit concert by Jackson Browne in 2022 in Burlington.
“Lost Nation” is Craven’s 10th feature film. His work has shown at Sundance, Lincoln Center, The Smithsonian, La Cinémathèque Française, Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela, Constitutional Court of Johannesburg, and more than 500 cities and towns across the U.S. and 53 countries. Among his many awards Craven has received the Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the 2023 Herb Lockwood Prize, a Golden Gate Award, three regional Emmys, the Producers Guild of America’s NOVA Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces citation.
His 1993 film, “Where the Rivers Flow North” was a finalist for Critics Week at the Cannes International Film Festival.
“Lost Nation” was produced through Kingdom County Productions’ Semester Cinema program where professionals mentor and collaborate with 45 students from 10 colleges, to create a feature film for national release. The film was co-produced by Upper Valley Vermont resident Elena Greenlee, who also co-wrote the screenplay.
See previous reporting on “Lost Nation” in VTDigger and Seven Days as well as a piece by Craven in the Times Argus on Feb. 22 and a review by Times Argus arts writer Jim Lowe.
Waterbury radio and podcast host David Goodman recorded an interview with Craven last summer about the film on The Vermont Conversation.
For more information about the Waterbury screenings at the Grange Hall next weekend, call 802-244-4168 or email grangehallcc@gmail.com.
More screening dates (including New Haven, Newport and North Hero) are listed online at kingdomcounty.org/lostnation.