Movie directed by NWC alum to close film festival
Thursday, March 31, 2016
A feature-length film written by Northwestern College theatre professor Jeff Barker and directed by Northwestern alum Joe Hubers, Sioux Falls, will close the Sioux Empire Film Festival. The festival runs from April 8 to 10 at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux Falls. Hubers’ film, “Of Minor Prophets,” will screen at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 10.
More than 50 films—ranging in length from 2 minutes to 85 minutes—will be shown during the three-day event. Ticket information is available on the festival website: siouxempirefilmfestival.com.
“Of Minor Prophets” stars Northwestern theatre graduates Kris Kling in the role of a church-going Iowa farmer and Cora Vander Broek as an itinerant sex worker. Their characters—and their dubious relationship—are based loosely on the biblical story of the prophet Hosea.
Hubers, son of a Reformed Church in America pastor, remembers his dad preaching about Hosea when he was a boy. “I didn’t really grasp the sermon,” he says, “but I was fascinated by it.” As he grew older, Hubers understood the themes of sacrifice, forgiveness and love present in Hosea’s marriage to a prostitute.
The founder of Passenger Productions and From Here Pictures, Hubers approached Barker about writing a script to explore those same themes. Hubers directed scenes shot in and around northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota.
“Of Minor Prophets” has been screened in both Sioux Falls and Los Angeles. It has been selected for six other film festivals, including the Amsterdam International Film Festival, the Black Hills Film Festival, and the Landlocked Film Festival, where it won Best Narrative Feature Film.
The film’s trailer and other information are available at ofminorprophets.com. The cast and crew for “Of Minor Prophets” also includes Northwestern alumni Jordan Born, Rebecca Hanson-Ryder, Ali Sondreal, Kimberlee Soo and David White.
