WAPAKONETA, Ohio (WLIO) — A Botkins native returned to the area this week to premiere his first feature film before a hometown audience.
Friends and family gathered at the Wapa Theater in Wapakoneta Wednesday night for the premiere of “You Are Here,” written by and starring Jack Kennedy. The film was directed by his wife, Claire Rose Kennedy.
The passion project is based on an experience Kennedy had when he left Los Angeles for New York and experienced car trouble in a small town along the way.
The movie follows a writer whose journey is interrupted when he becomes stranded in a small town and encounters a cast of unique characters. Among them is a mechanic inspired by Kennedy’s uncle from Botkins, a role Kennedy portrays in the film.
For Kennedy, bringing the film to his hometown audience was one of the highlights of the movie’s nationwide screening tour.
“This is a dream come true. I've been at this for 30 years trying to make this film reality. And It's just, I don't know. and to do it in my hometown with my family and my bunch of my cousins and people I haven't seen in a long time. To me this we're doing, 3-month 25 city tour, and this is the thing I've been looking forward to right here,” says Jack Kennedy, “You Are Here” actor and writer.
Claire Rose Kennedy said the community support on display at the premiere reflected many of the themes explored in the film.
“So much of this film is about community and I have to say that coming here to his hometown and seeing everybody who's really shown up for him, his family, but also his friends, like there's just a beautiful sense of community that's really like mirrors what's happening in the film,” says Claire Rose Kennedy, “You Are Here” director.
The film’s cross-country screening tour continues Sunday in Cleveland. More information about the movie and upcoming tour stops is available at www.youareherethemovie.com.
