Season 1 Episode 2
On this episode of All Things Grinnell, it’s a Saints Rest Special! We talk with Noga Ashkenazi ’09, who directed the movie Saints Rest, filmed and set in the iconic Grinnell coffee house, about how she fell in love with Grinnell and the challenges and joys of making the movie, a musical drama which has garnered recognition at various film festivals around the country. Ashkenazi came to Grinnell as an international student from Tel Aviv, Israel, unprepared for the cold winters, and unsure what awaited her. Over her four years, she found a new home here in Grinnell, and after making a documentary about her experience tutoring inmates through the Grinnell Prison Program, she decided to make a narrative film set here in Grinnell. Saints Rest was shot entirely in Grinnell during the summer of 2016. Many Grinnellians, including students and alumni, contributed to producing the movie. Read more about the movie on the alumni website.
Then, we talk with Saints Rest's founder and former owner Jeff Phelps '71, and the current owner, Sam Cox, about the origins of Saints Rest, how the coffee shop has become a home for so many in the Grinnell community, and what they both thought of the movie. Jeff and Sam discuss how Saints has changed over the years while maintaining its mission and serving as a connection and meeting place between the College and the town of Grinnell.
Visit the Saints Rest movie website to get news about the movie. It will be available on digital streaming services early in 2019.
If you haven't seen it, here is the movie trailer:
