John and Leah Weinkle had the Mary Oliver poem “Wild Geese” read at their wedding. Now, their shared lifelong love for her written words has transformed into the visual and auditory with their first-ever film, “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.” 

“Wild Geese” was the first Mary Oliver poem John found when he was in a lonely period of his life, and after reading it he always gets “a little verklempt.” It was this visceral sense of emotion provoked by Oliver’s works that inspired John and Leah to make the documentary. 

The idea came to them three years ago when they discovered that there was no documentary about the best-selling poet in America. They decided to pitch the idea to the executive producer of the PBS “American Masters” series after putting together an outline, who quickly approved. 

John, a retired architect, and Leah, a retired business executive, had never made a film before — yet every step of the creation process seemed to underscore the cliche that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. 

John had a brief stint in the 1980s attempting to make films and television shows. Although it was never successful, he said that he “always had the itch.” After approval from PBS, the project became a joint production with Pie Shake Pictures, which hired director Sasha Waters. 

As executive producers, John and Leah said the process was extremely collaborative. There were no day-to-day responsibilities, but they had conceptual and creative input and oversaw the film’s general “treatment.” During the rough cuts phase, early iterations of the movie were sent to them to review and comment on, and they also provided input for musical choices. 

“It was a little bit of a miracle. Because first-time filmmakers usually can’t get to filmmakers. So this went from idea to reality very linearly and quickly,” said John. 

The film premiered at the True Falls Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri in March. Since then, the film has been featured in several other festivals, including the Boulder International Film Festival, and it won best documentary at the Miami Film Festival. 

Due to its success at film festivals, the film was picked up by a distributor for release in theaters. The film is now showing 1,000 times in 40 cities nationwide. John called this “another miracle,” noting how most documentaries don’t have a life outside film festivals. The documentary has also been reviewed in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. 

“The fact that we had no prior experience and that we manifested this really critically acclaimed film is just sort of encouragement to live your dreams,” said Leah. John said that the key to a creative spark was the simple question of “what if?” When they started this journey, they simply asked “What if there was a Mary Oliver documentary?”

John and Leah see the film’s unlikely success as a testament to Mary Oliver’s popularity and impact. Despite her Pulitzer Prize, she was a private person who spent her time in nature. Many of her poems center around appreciating the natural beauty of the world and slowing down. John called her poems “accessible” to those who don’t study literature, because it’s easy to understand but still profound and complex. “I think a lot of Mary Oliver’s poetry for a lot of people is like therapy,” said John. 

The film follows both her personal and professional life with readings from celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Stephen Colbert. 

The entirely new process reignited a desire for filmmaking in John and reaffirmed Leah’s love for learning. John is already in the early stages of making another documentary. 

“I was a business executive. So to tap into the creativity of (filmmaking) was really inspiring for me. I learned how great it is to work together with my husband,” Leah said. She added that the process has also made her view film and other creative endeavors in a new and different way. 

Ultimately, the film was a way for John and Leah to better the world through Mary Oliver’s poetry. John called it an antidote for the general state of stress and tension in society. 

For those who aren’t familiar with her work, the couple hopes that people are inspired to look into her work and start reading her poetry. For those who are familiar, they hope that the film is a new way to discover the deep emotional connection that made them fall in love with her. 

John and Leah were able to experience the impact of their documentary in person at the film festivals they attended. “We knew there was that passion and emotion connected to her, but seeing it firsthand with all these people coming up to us, crying, hugging us, it was just amazing,” said John.

The documentary will be screened at Wildhorse Cinema & Arts on Wednesday, July 22 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Off the Beaten Path will be selling copies of Mary Oliver’s books at the screening.