By BRITTANY RAY

For aspiring directors and screenwriters, the Sundance Film Festival is the place to be discovered and launch a career in the film industry - which is exactly what BYU film student Jared Hess is doing with his film "Napoleon Dynamite" that will debut at the festival.

Sundance is generally considered the top film festival in the United States, and according to BYU Film Professor Tom Russell, it is very difficult to get a film accepted without a distribution deal in place.

"I'd imagine this is probably the first time a student film maker (he hasn't even graduated yet) has ever been accepted into the Sundance Film Festival," Russell said.

But this is not Hess' first successful venture with film festivals. Last year, Hess and another BYU film student, Andrew Black, took two of the final 12 spots at Slamdance, another festival for independent filmmakers held in Park City. With 1,800 submissions from all over the world last year, Slamdance is considered one of the top ten festivals in the country.

"Peluca," the short film Hess submitted to Slamdance, opened the doors for his feature length film "Napoleon Dynamite." Producers at last year's festival saw "Peluca" and lent their support to Hess in creating a feature film based on some of the characters from the short.

"Everyone submits their work to Sundance and hopes to get in," Hess said. "It's the place to be."

Hess' film was one of 2,485 feature submissions to this year's festival according to Patrick Hubbley, manager of media relations for the Sundance Institute. His was also one of 125 accepted by the programmers who view all the submissions and pick the best films to be shown during the festival.

Hess got the name for his film from an old Italian man he met one day on the streets of Chicago.

"He had the best name I've ever heard of in my life," Hess said. "Napoleon Dynamite. I decided then that it would be the title of my first feature film."

"Napoleon Dynamite" is about the average awkward teenager trying to fit in at his high school. Actually named Napoleon Dynamite, the main character lives with his Grandma and his thirty-year-old unemployed brother. Grandma takes off, and Uncle Rico comes to take look after the brothers. Napoleon is left to learn to impress girls and help his new best friend Pedro win the election for Student Body President against the "popular" candidate.

"Many of the characters in the film are partly based on my brothers and people I grew up with," Hess said. "I wanted to tell the story of the awkward kid that sat next to you in math, who you never spoke to."

Hess directed this film and co-wrote the screenplay with his wife Jerusha, also a student at BYU, who doubled as the costume designer.

"His stuff is very quirky and funny, and he and his wife Jerusha are too humble to know how talented they are," Russell said. "These aren't a couple of 'Mormon Comedy' film makers. Jared and Jerusha are legit."

Keep your eyes peeled for more from Jared Hess -- he has another comedy feature film and a television series in the works.



Copyright Brigham Young University 20 Jan 2004