Georgia Southern University to Screen “Di Passaggio” on Campus

March 18, 2009

‘Di Passaggio,” a film produced and directed by Georgia Southern student James Kicklighter, will be screened on campus March 24 at 7 p.m. at Georgia Southern University’s Russell Union Theater. The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with several members of the cast and the production team. The screening is free and open to the public.

The film, a 65-minute documentary, made its debut at the Macon Film Festival and stars four Georgia Southern University students. In addition to the screening date at Georgia Southern, the film has also been viewed at two other college campuses in Georgia.

In the film, Leslie Beard, Ansley Brackett, Matt Kines and John DiPietro embark on an international adventure to find themselves, in a journey framed by a filmmaker at odds with his own past. They’re leaving behind the comforts of their lives in the United States to spend five weeks as foreigners studying abroad throughout Italy. While some are seasoned travelers, others have never stepped out of their state lines or their country.

Together, they learn to fit into a culture far different from their own, with a strange language, diet, and travel pattern that they all have barely imagined. These four young adults, mired between the age of innocent youth and adult responsibility, are discovering a destination that Henry Miller described as “never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Kicklighter’s production company, JamesWorks Entertainment, presents ‘Di Passaggio,” based on the journals of Preston Johnson and Scott Singleton. J. Michael Moncrief of ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance” acts as the narrator. The producers are Kicklighter and Mark Ezra Stokes; the executive producer is Brian Holt. The consulting producer is Michael Cardillo and the associate producers are Jonathan Pope and Gareth Jones. The original score is by Bruce Kiesling.

Kicklighter encourages people in the area to see the film at this screening. He states, ‘If you are in the South Georgia area, this could be your only opportunity to see it.” He could not comment on future screenings as his production company is still in negotiations for future screenings and the possible sale of rights to the film.