Night’s Still Young

A new short film entitled Night’s Still Young – which celebrates the beauty in life while simultaneously delving into the dark stuff – is coming to Eau Claire. Prolific Chippewa Valley author and UW-Eau Claire English professor B.J. Hollars teamed up with his brother, Brooklyn-based Brian J. Hollars, to create the film. B.J. wrote and co-produced, while Brian directed, co-produced, and served as director of photography. The film, which runs just under 15 minutes, is set in Louisiana and focuses on Kate (Shanna Vincent), a terminally ill woman who decides to host a 26th birthday party for herself. Surrounded by close friends, Kate looks back on and celebrates life, both past and present. The guests are unaware the get-together also functions as Kate’s farewell party. Kate plans to end her own life the morning after the event – with the support of her brother Austin (Adam Henslee) and closest lifelong friend Jeanie (Nadiyah Skyy Taylor) – instead of letting her disease take the reins. The film’s world premiere took place in May at the ninth annual NYC Independent Film Festival, and it was screened at the NYCIndie Film Fest and selected for the the New Hope Film Festival. The film’s Midwest premiere will take place from 3-4pm Thursday, July 5, at Woodland Theater in UW-Eau Claire’s Davies Center. The free event, sponsored by NOTA, will include a screening of the film and the opportunity to hear what the film’s production process was like from B.J. and Brian themselves.