The award-winning movie “Sugarhouse,” filmed in southeast Missouri, will have its regional premiere at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, at Perry Park Center, and on Friday, July 18, at 7 p.m. at Connection Point Church in Jackson.
Audience members will have the chance to meet the cast and crew during a question-and-answer session after each screening.
In an interview with the directors, Jackson filmmakers Fred Jones and Shirlee Wilson, who is also the film’s producer, discussed their previous projects and the making of “Sugarhouse,” their first feature film.
“We’ve done a lot of shorts and documentaries, but this was our first endeavor at doing a big feature,” Wilson said.
Jones explained why this was their first attempt at a feature.
“We’ve been trying to make a film for a long time, and it just wasn’t coming together,” he said. “So, Shirley and I decided we were going to write a script based on the kind of locations that we knew and try to write it in such a way that we could make it on a tight budget, and we just kind of started going for it.
“We had done this documentary on the Gihring Family Farm, which is a maple syrup farm outside of Altenburg, and that gave us the inspiration for the whole ‘Sugarhouse’ thing. The story just kind of spun off that.”
Since one of the premiere locations for the film is a church in Jackson, Jones and Wilson were asked if the film has a spiritual theme.
“There’s definitely a faith element to the story,” Jones said. “We felt like there was a market there that wasn’t being tapped into — kind of this almost indie, more lowkey faith."
Wilson interjected, saying, “It’s inspirational with subtle faith themes. The movie is not preachy, but it’s there. In fact, some people watch it, and they don’t even see it as faith, but if you’re a Christian, you see it.”
While the film was primarily shot on location in Cape and Perry counties over a span of 12 months, additional scenes were filmed in Utah and Arizona. Notable locations include the Perryville Pumpkin Patch, Kasten Masonry, and the landscapes of rural southeast Missouri.
Asked about why there were scenes shot in Utah and Arizona, Jones said, “Well, Utah is where Shirley and I met, so we have a real fondness for the state. It’s just beautiful. Shirley’s parents still live out there, so we had the idea, ‘Let’s write some scenes involving that desert landscape.”
Shirley said, “We just think it’s so beautiful and cinematic.”
Jones mentioned that he and Shirley, along with one of the actors, took a road trip to film in many beautiful locations in Utah and Arizona.
“We got some scenes that take place there, but, yeah, it’s such a beautiful landscape. They’re just gorgeous — just stunning. We shot very near the city of Moab in a place called Canyonlands National Park. That’s where some of our key scenes take place.”
“Sugarhouse” is the inspiring story of a teenage girl named Maisie who struggles to hold the family together after they are abandoned by their outlaw father. As a mysterious disorder threatens her little sister, Cricket, and her wayward brother, Finn, returns, she soon uncovers the secrets that lie within the family sugarhouse.
“Sugarhouse” explores the unbreakable bonds of family, set against the backdrop of rural Missouri. Filmed over a span of 12 months, the film captures the changing seasons of life, from the silence of winter to the hopefulness of spring.
The film features a local cast that includes Alivia Roach in the lead role of Maisie, Caleb Ebert as her brother Finn, Tess Farrar as her sister Cricket, and Darren DeLoach as Gage, their father.
After a world premiere at the St. Louis International Film Festival, “Sugarhouse” has garnered awards and nominations for Best Feature Film, Best Actress and Actor, and Best Directing. It has been an official selection in eight film festivals in the United States and Canada.
For more information, visit @SugarhouseMovie on Facebook and Instagram.
