Wednesday, April 18-----The premiere of the indie film ORPHANS, in the Independents Vision Competition here,  is definitely bittersweet for the director Ry Russo-Young. The film, about two sisters, one a teacher in a rural town and the other a writer living in the big city who reunited for a birthday party, will debut at the Festival this weekend. The director cast old friend Lily Wheelwright, someone she has known since grade school, who also shared her artistic ambitions.  But at a time when the pair should be savoring the excitement of their first film and its debut here in Sarasota, a pall hangs over any celebrations. Ms. Wheelwright died on March 22 in New York at 24, apparently of a drug overdose. Russo-Young has remastered the print, dedicating the film to her childhood friend.

The director reunited with her old friend after Ms. Wheelwright’s younger sister, Josie, auditioned for ORPHANS and then mentioned her sister to her. After the film was shot in upstate New York in 2006, Wheelwright, who was fluent in Spanish, decided to move to Barcelona. She rejoined the cast in Austin, Texas for its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival last month. After the Festival, Wheelwright returned to New York for her parents’ 25th wedding anniversary and a 60th-birthday party for her mother and had plans to return to Barcelona. Her sudden death took the tight-knit independent film community by surprise. A special screening of the film, a kind of vigil to Wheelwright’s memory, will be held April 30 at New York's IFC Center.

Sandy Mandelberger, Sarasota FF Online Dailies Editor