Dylanheads- hold on to your hats. On April 11, local theater Amherst Cinema hosted a screening of “Stepping Into the Unknown,” a film composed of clips from several Bob Dylan performances, created by the Bob Dylan Center director, Steven Jenkins. The film, an homage to Dylan’s career and artistry, has been going on a screening tour, with Jenkins on the road to hold a Q&A. The Amherst Wire sat down with Jenkins for an exclusive interview on the film, Jenkins’ role at the Bob Dylan Center, and the legacy of Bob Dylan’s art.
Opened in May of 2022, the Bob Dylan Center is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the house of Bob Dylan’s archive. Dylan chose Tulsa for archives’ personal home because of the “casual hum of the heartland that [he feels] here,” according to Jenkins. Jenkins took on the role as director, and his skills from working at non-profits over the last 30 years as well as his love for Bob Dylan’s music made him a perfect candidate for the job.
Even though he has the experience to back it up, Jenkins’ daily role as director is far from straightforward. If he isn’t taking members on tours of the center, or planning an event that is coming up years in advance, he’s figuring out who to call to fix the front door or just looking around to make sure that everything is running smoothly.
“I like the level of activity that verges on the impossible and can occasionally be chaotic, but that’s part of what makes it exciting, is that it’s so varied,” Jenkins’ remarked about his role as director.
Some days, Jenkins’ is even meeting with other rock legends at the center. “So it’s looking ahead, and then it’s just that every day, you know, oh, we just got a call that Bruce Springsteen is in town, and he would like a tour of the center. Then, so, well, you drop everything and give Bruce Springsteen a tour of the center,” Jenkins’ shared.
Alongside his role as director for the Bob Dylan Center, Jenkins’ took on his own sort of role as curator of the “Stepping Into the Unknown” film.
“I use curator lightly in this case, because you sort of can’t go wrong. I mean, the clips speak for themselves.”
Jenkins used archived clips to piece together a one hour film in the chronological order of Dylan’s career, ranging from a solo acoustic performance to his electric era and the famous “Judas!” moment in 1966, when Dylan dared to play electric guitar live on stage, which many fans saw as a betrayal to the folk rock movement at the time.
“There are so many Dylan’s- I think of him in the plural- that this at least sheds light on, you know, a dozen or so of Bob Dylan and various guys, his musical genres, persona, styles, and also I find them interesting,” Jenkins commented.
Some of the clips showed classic Bob Dylan moments, like the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, but some clips were uncovered by Jenkins when he was digging through the archives during the creation of the film. “So we have access to this material… Some of which were known to exist, others which have come as a total surprise to us as we’ve gone through the archival materials. And this program this afternoon will show some of that, but I just started to piece together in chronological order, because that just seemed to make the most sense.”
Jenkins also teased that more of these collective films could be coming the audience’s way. “So all in thus far, I’ve put together three different one hour programs, so who knows, if this goes well today, and the folks at the theater you know want to bring me back in a year or two, I can show some of the other films.”
Bob Dylan playing at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in 2023. (Rolling Stone)
These on-the-road screenings of the film started around two years ago at the Jacob Burns Film Center in New York. The film center invited Jenkins out to show the film and answer some audience questions.
“And I thought, ‘oh, that’s interesting,’ because for the first time, we can take something from Tulsa… and share some of that with another audience, and also encourage people to come to Tulsa,” Jenkins noted about the first screening.
“Encourage” is an understatement. Jenkins remarked that the center has seen visitors “come from all 50 states” and “up to 45 different countries in the last year or so.”
Jenkins shared that the drop of the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, had a similar effect on the Bob Dylan Center. The center curated a display, designed around elements of the film, like the actual outfits and items used by Bob Dylan, as well as some of the recreated items used for the film, like a letter from Johnny Cash, juxtaposed with the real thing.
“So a lot of visitors came in to see that. And I think the film really has been a point of entry into the Dylan world for perhaps younger visitors and listeners in particular,” Jenkins shared.
From these screenings, Jenkins has seen a wide variety of audience reactions, ranging from audience members singing along to stoic appreciation of Dylan’s artistry. Jenkins has also gotten a mixed bag of questions from the audience as well.
“They range all over, you know, ‘do you talk to Bob every day?’ to, you know, ‘why Tulsa?” to “in that one clip, is he playing a Fender Stratocaster, or is that a Fender Telecast?’ you know, some really specific… musicians nerding out on that stuff, which is, which is fun too.”
The Amherst Cinema’s screening of “Stepping Into the Unknown” had some chuckles from the audience at times, but most of the viewers watched in an awe-filled silence. The audience also produced a wide variety of questions for Jenkins to answer, ranging from archival materials on hand to some of Dylan’s creative choices throughout his career.
Contrary to what some may believe, Jenkins has only ever met Bob Dylan once- completely unrelated to the Bob Dylan Center. Jenkins was at a Bob Dylan concert in San Francisco when he was introduced to Dylan backstage.
“And I got the same experience that I hear… a lot of people told me a similar thing, like, ‘oh yeah, I found myself in that situation too…’ And so I just, you know, tried not to totally fanboy out and just say, ‘Hello, nice to meet you.’ And I mean, it was about that simple,” Jenkins recalled about the interaction.
Jenkins actually spends a lot of time communicating with Dylan’s manager rather than Dylan himself. While Dylan has not yet been to the center itself, he had a part in choosing Tulsa as the location, and made a statement about the center’s opening.
“He knows the materials are here in a big building in Tulsa, and we’re doing our thing. Better that he’s looking at tomorrow night’s show, the next song, the next painting, as opposed to the past,” Jenkins remarked.
Jenkins shared that out of the films that have been made about Dylan, his favorite is I’m Not There, directed by Todd Haynes. “Haynes’ decision to create a half dozen characters that each embody some aspect of Dylan’s ethos or personality, I thought, was such a smart way of doing it.”
As for films in which Dylan played a role, one of Jenkins’ favorites is Masked and Anonymous, directed by Larry Charles and written by Bob Dylan. “So [Charles] and Dylan collaborated on this very unusual narrative feature film called Masked and Anonymous. Dylan wrote the script. He plays a character named Jack Fate.”
Dylan performing a song titled “Cold Irons Bound” in the Jack Fate costume is one of Jenkins’ favorite clips included in the “Stepping Into the Unknown” film.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Amherst Cinema’s screening of “Stepping Into the Unknown” was a completely packed house. The event sold out, and not a seat was open in the room.
Following the screening was a performance by local band, Frozen Corn, who played some Bob Dylan songs to wrap up the event.
To find upcoming Amherst Cinema screenings, check out amherstcinema.org. If you ever find yourself in Tulsa, Oklahoma and you want to see a piece of music history, check out the Bob Dylan Center.