Salina director's short film is a personal take on the fentanyl crisis
The Tallgrass Film Festival selection will screen during the Kansas Shorts program on October 17 & 19.
For more than 15 years, drug addiction has marked Kelly Stanphill’s relationship with her son, who began using heroin as a teenager. She based her short film “12 Hours” on their relationship.
“(Writing the screenplay) was very fast, very cathartic,” she said.
As the title indicates, the action of the film takes place over the course of 12 hours, as Lena searches for her missing child.
Thanks to an indie waiver, the short filmed during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The timing meant a lot of actors and crew members were available and eager to work, including Leonora Pitts (“For All Mankind”), who plays Lena.
“I surrounded myself with great people, and here we are,” said Stanphill, who is enjoying her first festival run at the age of 63. She’s also finalizing the script for a feature-length version of the film.
“I've had many careers in my life. Put it this way, this is like career number 99,” she joked. “My message to all the late bloomer out there — do it.”
The filmmaker, who moved to Salina, Kansas, last year, has a “hit or miss” relationship with her son, who is now 31. Like her character Lena, Stanphill has also walked the streets searching for her child.
“I always say as long as he's alive, there's still hope. And he's here for a reason. I totally believe that.”
He just gave her a call this week, and while he knows about “12 Hours,” he hasn’t wanted to discuss it.
But audiences at film festivals have.
“Everybody has a story: My sister, my brother, my aunt, my uncle, my best friend,” Stanphill said. “It's cathartic for other people as well.”
“12 Hours” will screen at 11:15 a.m. Friday, October 17, and 11:45 a.m. Sunday, October 19 at Boulevard Theatres Old Town during the Kansas Shorts program. Single tickets are $11.53.
— Emily Christensen has been attending the Tallgrass Film Festival since year 1. She’s one of the co-founders of The SHOUT.
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