Opal Whiteley’s journey into fame’s spotlight was faster than most. After her journal was published in Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1920, the University alumnus soon became a national figure. Her life will be told for the first time tonight during a one-time screening of “Opal” at the Bijou Art Cinemas.
The screening will be the first time “Opal” has played in the state of Oregon. Dina Ciraulo, who wrote and directed the film, rented the Bijou for the debut. She, as well as her two producers, Rachel Benson and Jason Cohen, will attend the screening.
“I’ve always wanted to screen (the film) in Oregon. It’s Opal’s home state, and it’s an ideal place because that’s where she grew up,” Ciraulo said.
Ciraulo’s movie, which began preproduction more than 10 years ago and was completed this last summer, tells the story of one of Lane County’s most famous figures. Opal Whiteley’s story is defined by amazing natural ability, national fame and later tragedy.
Whiteley, who grew up in logging towns around Cottage Grove, was thrust into the national spotlight after agreeing to publish her childhood diary in Atlantic Monthly. She later turned the journal into the book “The Story of Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart.”
The former University student ultimately became famous for her claims that she was adopted and that her biological father was Prince Henri of Orleans.
Whiteley became a larger national figure when the journal’s authenticity was questioned. She had a successful writing career amid the controversy, but her time was cut short when she suffered a head injury during the bombing of London. Whiteley spent the remainder of her life in a psychiatric hospital as a result.
Ciraulo, a film productions professor at City College of San Francisco, read some of Whiteley’s writing and was instantly intrigued by her life.
“I was blown away by the story and this person’s life that seemed really connected to nature, but also because of all of these tragic things that happened to her,” Ciraulo said. “I felt like I started seeing a film in my head.”
Although Whiteley’s life was well-documented, finding a story that would actually work for the film was somewhat complicated.
“The more research I did, I realized there was controversy around this person,” Ciraulo said. “Every time I thought I had the story down, there’d be a new book that would come out a year later.”
After getting a firm understanding of the story, Ciraulo and the production team she assembled started filming the movie in 2005.
They financed the film independently on a low budget, and it took nearly five years to shoot and edit the film.
“When we ran out of people we could go to, I basically put it on my credit card,” Ciraulo said. “I’d spend a little bit, then go to work and pay off my credit card bill; charge a little bit more, go to work and pay off my credit card bill.”
Since its release, “Opal” has been received well in its limited viewings. The film was selected to participate in the No Borders section of the Independent Feature Project, as well as the Cannes Producers Network, and also received the Robin Eickman Screenwriting Award. Ciraulo plans to screen the film at the Palm Beach International Film Festival and the San Francisco Women’s Film Festival.
Ciraulo isn’t the first person to document the life of Whiteley. Her life, and the controversy surrounding it, were analyzed critically by Benjamin Hoff in 1986. Multiple productions of a theater version, “The Story of Opal,” have also been produced around the country.
Ciraulo’s “Opal” hopes to further document and shed new light on the icon.
“She’s a controversial figure, but she was doing this at a time when women didn’t have the right to vote,” Ciraulo said. “She was really blazing her own trail, and it’s definitely worth investigating her history to see what her life was about.”
[email protected]
‘Opal’ movie screening
Thursday, March 10, 7 p.m.
Bijou Art Cinemas, 492 E. 13th Ave.
$5 for students, $7 for adults