Jude Rawlins, writer/director with the Marshalltown-based Bella Luna Productions, will see his latest movie “Isolation” make its world debut at the Orpheum Theater Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Following the 62-minute film will be a Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by T-R editor Robert Maharry.

“At its simplest, ‘Isolation’ is a film about a young woman called Annie who apparently finds the world suffocating. She refuses to participate in society, preferring her own company. She occupies herself reading books and writing poetry, steals what she needs, and is at her wit’s end with unwanted male attention,” Rawlins explained.

The film was made outside of Bella Luna Productions, and is an Electric Films Production, (his original UK production company that now has an LLC in America too).

It was financed with a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Iowa Economic Development Authority through Iowa Arts Council.

Rawlins noted it would be distributed in the United States by the New American Cinema Group, based in New York City, and in Europe by The Film Dimension in London.

Many of his films have been partially shot in Marshalltown, but “Isolation” is an exception, having mainly been shot in Johnston and Des Moines, with one scene filmed in Cedar Rapids.

He points out that his next film, “Three Witches” will see about 80% of it filmed in Marshalltown.

He said themes and inspirations that went into shooting “Isolation” are complex.

“Someone once wrote me a letter in which they said that they believed that ‘quintessential loneliness was a defeatable property.’ That statement has stuck with me for over thirty years, not because I have any opinion on its accuracy, but because I have never felt lonely, not once ever in my life,” Rawlins said. “I think that my creativity has always kept me company, especially during the darkest times, and I think that because I am not afraid of my own company, I am not really afraid of anyone. In the film, Annie walks the city streets alone without fear. She feeds herself, makes coffee, does the laundry. Sometimes she plays games with herself. As long as she has her books and can write her poetry she really has everything she needs and wants. And yet still the world, especially men, feel the need and or desire to encroach on her, apparently unable to compute that she has no interest in them.”

He went on to say that the flick “breaks every rule of cinema” in an attempt to draw the audience into Annie’s inner world. He compares his techniques to his first film “Albion Rising.”

“But a key inspiration came to me during the making of my last film ‘Mania,’ wherein I allowed the camera to linger on the main character for long periods of time even when she wasn’t doing the talking. It is a simple but effective way of saying to the audience that they should be concentrating on this character regardless of what is taking place around her,” he said. “‘Isolation’ takes this to the extreme. The character of Annie is in every single scene and the camera never ever cuts away from her, but rather follows her like an invisible witness. All of my films are about the human condition, which essentially means they are either about love or death. Narrative films use story, dialogue and character to explore their themes. ‘Isolation’ does not do this, and yet I still think of it as a narrative film.”

He added that the film strives to make viewers aware of every moment that passes, keeping the person comfortably (or uncomfortably) rooted in the present.

“That is one of the reasons why it is only an hour long, so that the feeling might be invigorating rather than torturous,” he noted. “The cinephiles will probably detect the influences of Chantal Akerman and Andrei Tarkovsky. Chantal, whom I knew personally, in particular is present in the DNA of ‘Isolation,’ at least technically. She was the filmmaker who showed us more than any other how and why to shoot entire scenes in a single camera take. Chantal understood, as did Tarkovsky, that one must feel time in order to understand its full weight. Because in our three dimensional linear experience, time is all we have.”

Emily Kincaid, whom Rawlins has worked with several times, plays Annie.

“We work together a lot and have developed quite a shorthand because I trust her completely to bring whatever character I give her to life,” he said.

Rawlins said he is pleased to have his film screened at the Orpheum, because it’s where Jean Seberg found her love of film.

The Orpheum, owned by the Marshalltown Community School District, can be rented for film screenings and events.

“I have worked with Jude in the past and he has expressed to me how much the Orpheum means to him and Marshalltown, as it holds a lot of memories of movie goers as well as Jean Seberg. So showing this film was a no-brainer to me,” said Auditorium Manager Jose Ramirez. “I do a bit of everything: schedule booking, set up if needing a special set up, run tech if needed, and I also manage the high school auditorium while running the Orpheum.”

Grant Gale will be in charge of running the film for the premiere.

Rawlins will next turn his attention to “Three Witches” starring an all-female cast made up of Kincaid, Rebecca Haroldson and Lisa Naig. It will be a co-production of Bella Luna and Electric Films. He describes the endeavor as black comedy of English Folk Horror meets Spaghetti Western.

To learn more about Rawlins and his projects, visit bellalunaproductions.com.