The five- minute heart-racing mini comedic thriller short film Wichita by creative duo Sergine Dumais (director) and Bo Price (writer/producer) continues its festival tour at the Austin Film Festival, Hollyshorts, Festival du Cinéma International Rouyn-Noranda and many more. Wichita was recently awarded the honorable mention at the LA FEMME Film Festival in Los Angeles.
The quirky short sheds light on modern infidelity, with a twist, and stars Quebec actress Maxim Roy (Shadowhunters, October Faction) along with Jeremy Sisto (FBI, Six Feet Under).
Wichita tells the story of a modern woman, Sara, who receives an unexpected request from her husband while in the arms of her lover. Sara only has a few minutes to race home before she gets busted. To stall for time, Sara asks endless questions about Wichita, KS. What’s Cowtown like? And Kirstie Alley’s house? What about Pizza Hut? Didn’t that start there too? In this crazy and humorous race-against-the-clock, we see how fast a woman will run to save her marriage.
“Wichita is a story about betrayal,” director Sergine Dumais says. “And the agony of fighting for love – especially if you are fighting for love in all the ‘wrong’ ways,” she adds.
The film’s premise was inspired by writer Bo Price’s childhood in Wichita, KS. “When I was a kid, Pizza Hut was king, Barry Sanders won the Heisman, and Kirstie Alley landed ‘Cheers’. I wanted to lionize these Local Landmarks,” he recalls.
Sergine Dumais added a French-Canadian flavor. She hails from Montreal, and began her career performing in and directing Quebec musical theater before moving to Los Angeles to direct the French language dubs of over 20 Hollywood features.
For Wichita, her first short film, Dumais landed her dream cast of Jeremy Sisto and fellow Quebecer Maxim Roy. She describes Sisto’s talent as “out of this world” and Roy’s as “a force of nature”.
The film also has a Québécois look and sound. Dumais recruited Montreal-based Serge Desrosiers as cinematographer, and for music she chose a cult-classic by Quebec’s Jean Leloup.
French-Canadian director, Sergine Dumais is best known for her work in Quebec musical theater and as a voice actress and director in Los Angeles. A graduate of AMDA in New York, she currently lives in Los Angeles, where she has directed the French language dubs of over 20 feature films as well as lending her own voice to many Hollywood stars, including Diane Keaton and Salma Hayek. Wichita is her first film.