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Movie shot at DePauw to premiere at Indy Film Fest
“King Rat” -- a feature film that was shot on and around the DePauw University campus -- will have its world premiere this month at the 14th annual Indy Film Fest in Indianapolis.
The movie festival will take place July 13-23 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA).
The international competition celebrates “films and the people who make them (and) seeks to create a shared experience around film.”
Movies chosen by the festival represent nearly 40 nations around the world.
“King Rat” -- written and directed by Henry Johnston, a 2014 DePauw graduate, and produced by Alex Thompson of the DPU Class of 2012 -- and was is one of eight entries in the U.S. Feature Film Competition, dubbed the “American Spectrum Features.”
According to the film festival website, “King Rat” is scheduled for two screenings at the IMA, 4000 Michigan Rd. (main entrance is a block north of the intersection of 38th Street and Michigan Road on the west side of the street) -- 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 18 in The Toby (Tobias Theatre) and at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22 at DeBoest Lecture Hall.
The film stars Julian Hester, Bradley Grant Smith and Burt Young (whose previous credits include the role of Paulie in the 1976 Oscar winner “Rocky”) and includes contributions from DePauw students, alumni, faculty and staff members.
The movie was shot during the spring and summer of 2015 on campus, which is called Asbury University in the film, a play on DePauw’s original name.
A comedy-drama, “King Rat” examines the possibility that years after graduation -- whether it’s 10 years or 30 -- we may be stuck with the same issues we had before crossing that stage at commencement. A plot synopsis summarizes the story as “a graduating senior befriends his commencement speaker in the last few days of college.”
In April 2016, Thompson, Johnston and their director of photography, Zoe Lubeck, came to DePauw for an advanced test screening of their film.