ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2023--
Mercury Films, a digital cinema production company, today announced the Kansas film festival debut of Penitentia, a feature film written and directed by Chris Lawing, at the upcoming Tallgrass Film Festival.
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Attorneys Ale Villacaño and Marvin Weissman confront prison officials in feature film Penitentia. The character of Weissman is inspired by Jim Lawing, a prominent Wichita attorney. Chris Lawing, Jim's son, wrote and directed Penitentia to honor his father. (Photo: Business Wire)
In Penitentia, young attorney, Ale Villacaño, takes a pro bono prison rights case and gets quickly drawn into a criminal web and corporate negligence. The character of Ale’s mentor was inspired by Jim Lawing, a prominent Wichita attorney. Jim was a member of the national board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and an active leader in the ACLU of Kansas. To recognize his career as a civil rights warrior, the ACLU of Kansas created the Jim Lawing Award in 2016 to honor defenders of the Constitution.
“Penitentia is an intensely personal film for me. When my father died, I decided would make a film in his memory, to honor the things he fought for, the clients and causes he dedicated fifty years of his life as a lawyer to,” said writer/director Chris Lawing. “The same guiding light that drove my father into the civil rights movement, politics and courtrooms across Kansas drives the character Marvin Weissman in Penitentia and inspires and guides the young attorney, Ale Villacaño.”
Featuring Glenn Stanton ( Walking Dead ) as Ale Villacaño, Rusty Schwimmer ( Twister ) as Shelly Wolf and Natasha Coppola-Shalom ( Last Call ) as Shareen Robinson, filming for Penitentia took place throughout Wichita, Kansas.
Also playing at Tallgrass Film Festival is Liberty, Lawing’s short film crime thriller. Liberty is the story of a disgraced journalist who flees to a small midwestern town to rebuild her life, only to find deadly corruption pursuing her at every turn. Set in the rural Midwest, Liberty features Jim Beaver ( Deadwood, Supernatural ) and Dale Soules ( Orange Is the New Black ).
Penitentia and Liberty will play at the Orpheum Theatre on Friday, October 6 at 7 pm as the Friday night gala. For tickets to the Tallgrass Film Festival, visit https://tff23.eventive.org/passes/buy. For more information about Penitentia, visit https://www.penitentia.com.
ABOUT MERCURY FILMS
Mercury Films is a high-touch, high-care digital cinema production company. Our mission is to make films that inspire people. For more information, go to mercury-films.com
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230912701545/en/
CONTACT: For Media Inquiries:Angie Lawing
Angie.lawing@mercury-films.com
415-505-3570
KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA KANSAS MISSOURI
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ENTERTAINMENT COMMUNICATIONS FILM & MOTION PICTURES GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT LEGAL SOCIAL ACTIVISM
SOURCE: Mercury Films
Copyright Business Wire 2023.
PUB: 09/12/2023 12:13 PM/DISC: 09/12/2023 12:13 PM
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230912701545/en
