| Austin Keeps Producing Features |
| Written by Carlisha Bell | |
UT alums graduate from shorts, to full-length. The latest in a line of University of Texas filmmakers cranking out independent feature debuts is the dramatic-thriller Strings, co-directed by UT alums Mark Dennis and Benjamin Foster. The film was one of many potential follow-up projects to Dennis and Foster's 2007 time-travel short, "The Alternate." After calculating how much work went into their 22-minute short film, Dennis, 26, and Foster, 24, opted to take it to the next level with a full-length film about a troubled pianist (Billy) who is forced to undergo facial reconstructive surgery and leave the life he knows behind.
Years later, he re-enters his old life as the piano teacher to the daughter he never had the chance to meet. In his efforts to conceal his identity, and stay alive long enough to connect with his daughter, Billy must face the reality of a life gone awry and an insatiable yearning for redemption. But who will ultimately pay the price when Billy risks everything to tie up loose ends? Trains, planes, bars, bullets, action and romance, Strings has something for everyone. It promises to be the sort of film that snatches you in the first second of the first scene and leaves you wanting more as the final credits roll.  |