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Connor Cook
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Jeremy Rourke
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Susan Metzger
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Can the creation of a fantasy erase the reality of a dark past?
Snowland is a feature-length documentary by director/producer Jill Orschel about Cora Lee Witt, a woman who created a fantasy realm to escape her dark past as a child bride in a secretive, polygamous sect.
Cora Lee was arranged into a plural marriage at 14-years-old in the Short Creek polygamous group, now known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Cora became a mother of 12 children and was often responsible for her sister-wife's nine children.
When Cora courageously spoke out about her husband’s abuse, she was shunned by her church and forced out of her home, but she grew to believe in herself and process her past by creating a fantasy land she called Snowland. Cora’s Snowland, developed over the thirty years after leaving her church, is made up of drawings, stories, characters, and costume designs that allowed her to reframe her past, process her trauma, and reclaim her identity as a woman, mother, and creative individual.
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Our Director
Director/Producer, Jill Orschel, has followed Cora Lee Witt for over nine years, building trust with Cora, her family, and her community. She has filmed 180 hours of footage over 98 shooting days, capturing Cora’s experiences and journey. The feature-length documentary showcases Cora’s creative process as she explores her fantasy world, Snowland, under the moniker C. Raven. She also reveals intimate details about her earlier life and examines her relationships with family and friends.