'Hellion,' 'Fourplay' and More Lone Star Films at Sundance

Kat Candler (Jumping Off Bridges, Cicadas) is a familiar face in the Austin film community -- whether as a lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin or as seen above mingling along with filmmakers at local screenings and film festivals, such as Carla L. Jackson and Kelvin Z. Phillips of A Swingin' Trio. I met Kat during SXSW Film in 2006, introduced by Lisa McWilliams of Mobile Film School. I was struck by the passion and creativity of both women. Candler was kind enough to give me a screener of her feature Jumping Off Bridges, an emotionally moving story of the impact of a parent's suicide on a young teenager.

Candler's new short film Hellion will premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, with multiple screenings prior to the narrative feature My Best Day. Candler has proved that she works well with young actors, and Hellion is no exception as she takes on three young male actors who play hellraising brothers. Shot entirely in Georgetown, Texas, last summer, the film focuses on seven-year-old Petey who must cope with life at the mercy of his troublemaker brothers -- until their dad returns and hell really breaks loose.

Hellion is produced by Kelly Williams, and stars Jonny Mars (The Happy Poet, Wuss), Deke Garner, Tommy Hohl and Arthur Dale. Dallas-area filmmaked David Lowery edited the short.

Two other Texas-related filmmakers will also screen their short films at Sundance. One is former Austinite Kyle Henry, who like Candler teaches college film courses. I also met Kyle Henry at SXSW 2006, at the Paramount Theatre for The Cassidy Kids SXSW 2006 premiere. Henry edited that feature as well as my two favorite SXSW 2005 selections -- Troop 1500 and A Light in the East. Most recently, he's edited Heather Courtney's doc Where Soldiers Come From.

Henry has stepped behind the camera to direct a series of short films about sexual intimacy, aptly named Fourplay. Fourplay: Tampa made its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival, and will have its U.S. premiere at Sundance. The subject of Tampa is Louis (Jose Villareal), who looks for satisfaction in a public restroom at the mall but is plaqued with self-doubt. While dealing with his paranoia and humilation, he imagines a more satisfying sexual salvation. Fourplay: Tampa was written by Carlos Trevino, who scripted two other Fourplay shorts.

Houston filmmaker and 2011 Texas Film Production Fund (TFPF) grant recipient Kelly Sears has shown several experimental animated films at Austin Film Festival over the years. Her film Once It Started It Could Not End Otherwise is screening at Sundance in the U.S. Animated Shorts category. This animated horror film was constructed from the candid photos and handwritten messages of discarded high school yearbooks. As an unknown force seeps into the walls of the school, the student body is consumed one extra curricular activity at a time, mirroring other disasters in the outside world.

Congratulations to all the Texas filmmakers accepted into Sundance Film Festival 2012 so far. Check out the trailer for Hellion below.

[Photo credit: Debbie Cerda, available for use with attribution]