Monday, June 14, 2010

The Battleship NORTH CAROLINA will host a screening of the Frank Capra classic "It Happened One Night" and University of North Carolina Wilmington professor Chip Hackler's short film on the director "Two Hours in the Dark" on Friday, June 18 at 8:30 p.m. In the event of rain, the screening will take place on Sunday, June 20. The screening is free to the public.

Capra's 1934 film "It Happened One Night" won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, who both won Oscars for the picture, the film is considered a classic of screwball comedy.

Directed by Hackler and filmed in North and South Carolina using a largely local cast and crew, "Two Hours in the Dark" begins with Capra celebrating his Oscar victories for "It Happened One Night" and depicts his subsequent depression, recovery and creative breakthrough. The film, with a 35-minute running time, is based on a story related to Hackler by the Capra family.

Hackler, an assistant professor in UNCW's Department of Film Studies, produced the film with the assistance of the Capra family. Phillip DeVona stars as Capra. The cast also features Jacquelyn Zook, Jack Landry, Keith Flippen, Peter Jurasik, Eric Paisley and Luke Sawyer. Frank Capra's grandson Jonathan Capra has a cameo as an assistant director, a role he also plays in real life.

"Two Hours in the Dark" won the Jury Award for Best Short at the Charleston International Film Festival, the Judges Choice Award at the Alabama International Film Festival, the Fiction Juried Screening Award from the University Film and Video Association (UFVA), and Best Narrative from the Light Factory 2010 Filmmakers Showcase, and it has screened at the Cucalorus Film Festival, the Breckenridge Festival of Film, the Asheville Film Festival, the East Carolina Film Festival and the Spirit Quest Film Festival. It is scheduled to be shown at the Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival.

For more information about the film, visit Two Hours in the Dark on Facebook or www.twohoursinthedark.org.

Media Contacts:
Chip Hackler, film director – hacklerc@uncw.edu
William Davis, UNCW Media Relations – 910.962.2654 or davisw@uncw.edu