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18th-century ship in Sweden that was used for one of the scenes. That ship often comes up in discussions about the movie. It is a significant musical and visual sequence depicting Mother Ann and her followers traveling to America— a montage of scenes showing the characters singing and moving in various weather conditions on a New England-bound ship, highlighting their spiritual and physical journey. They reached back out towards the end of summer and said they wanted more footage at Hancock, including a few exterior shots of people walking past buildings. They also wanted to film a scene with the Shakers coming to Massachusetts and New York for the first time. Holland’ s team had to find spaces without any electric poles, signage, or any modern elements, so the film crew was taken to Richmond, Pittsfield, and West Stockbridge. It’ s hard not to draw parallels between the Shakers and the team behind The Testament of Ann Lee. Making the movie took a lot of dedication. Everyone on the set— and in the village— jumped in willingly when needed.
A talkback was held at the Woodstock Film Festival in Upstate New York after the screening of The Testament of Ann Lee. On stage were, from left, choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall, director / co-writer Mona Fastvold, star Amanda Seyfried, and film festival founding director Meira Blaustein.( Woodstock Film Festival)
It took the vision of Fastvold to steer this ship. Her passion was infectious.“ The whole story of this movie is that the cast was the crew and the crew was the cast,” says Fastvold.“ If you knew me, you were in the movie. When we came up there and we were shooting, and I said,‘ Does anybody want to come and be in the movie?’ They were very excited and happy to join in. It was kind of wonderful for them to all of a sudden see the costumes and see our people be brought into the space and have that experience, as well. It’ s feeling that connection to the real history and wanting to be really respectful of it. It was wonderful to be able to bring in all of their interpreters.” That included an oval box maker, basketmaker, blacksmith, weaver, and woodsmith. Seyfried describes the filming at Hancock Shaker Village as“ a real fellowship.” One day, Fastvold gave a 12-hour notice needing more extras for one scene. There were some extras from Boston, but more were needed, and they were working on a tight budget. A few of the staff stepped in as extras, as well as Holland and her parents, the curator, more interpreters, and a few other friends that they called. They were wardrobed and situated in the crowd for one of the big scenes.“ That was one of the most memorable times for me, because you could see Mona and Amanda in action, and you saw what it
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