Filmmaker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan appeared at a January 22 screening in San Diego of her outstanding new biographical documentary on Edward de Vere (17th Earl of Oxford), Nothing Is Truer Than Truth (see update here). The documentary focuses on de Vere’s travels in Europe during 1575–76, especially in Venice, Verona, Padua, and other northern Italian cities, and connects the works of Shakespeare to Oxford’s intimate experience of Italian art, theatre, and culture.
The film also explores the intriguing mystery of Oxford’s (and “Shakespeare’s”) sexuality. It features renowned Shakespeare scholars, actors, and directors, including Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Mark Rylance (recent Academy Award Winner for Bridge of Spies), Tina Packer, Diane Paulus, Roger Stritmatter, and many others. A trailer for the film is available here.
Eagan-Donovan is a Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship member and former Second Vice President of the Fellowship. The SOF is deeply grateful to the staff of San Diego’s Central Public Library for graciously hosting this free public showing as part of SDPL’s “Picture This” film series. Special thanks to Marc Chery, Supervisor of the Humanities Section, which sponsored the film, and Robert Surratt, Library Assistant in the Art, Music, and Recreation Section.
Eagan-Donovan dedicated the screening to Gareth Howell, founder of the Shakespeare Authorship Studies group in Washington D.C., a generous mentor and patron of the film.
SOF Secretary Bryan H. Wildenthal, who teaches at Thomas Jefferson School of Law just a block north of SDPL, introduced Eagan-Donovan and joined her for a lively Q&A afterward. More than 60 people turned out on a Monday evening, including associate producer Vicki Oleskey and patron John Gowans, who traveled from Los Angeles. Many of those in attendance stayed on to ask thoughtful questions.
Eagan-Donovan’s debut feature, All Kindsa Girls (2006), screened at festivals and theatres in London, Toronto, and the U.S., was short-listed for the PBS series POV, and is featured in Paul Sherman’s book Big Screen Boston. She has served on the Boards of Directors of the SOF, Women in Film & Video New England, and The Next Door Theater, studied Shakespeare and poetry at Goddard College, and earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Lesley University (Boston). She has published several articles about Shakespeare, screenwriting, and film, and teaches writing, literature, and filmmaking at several universities in the Boston area, where she lives.
[published Jan. 26, 2018, updated 2021]
