Feature-length movie filmed in Wichita is a homecoming for director

On a humid summer afternoon, a film crew is crammed into a two-bedroom bungalow in Wichita’s Sleepy Hollow neighborhood.

The person directing the chaos is Chris Lawing, who returned to his hometown to make “Penitentia,” his first feature-length film. It honors the legacy of his father, the late civil rights attorney Jim Lawing, who practiced law in Wichita for 50 years.

“My father impacted thousands of lives, and he took on cases because he thought they were worth fighting for,” Lawing said. “He was driven by a very strong moral compass. He believed that the law could help people, and he dedicated his life to it.

“I wanted to find some way of honoring that.”

“Penitentia” is the story of Alejandro “Ale” Villacano (Glenn Stanton), a young lawyer with an unusual past. An attorney at a top Wichita law firm, he was once imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit.

The character of Ale’s lawyer, Marvin Weissman, was inspired by Jim Lawing. The film follows Ale as he struggles to leave his past behind, even as an old friend needs his help.

The cast and crew spent 10 days in Wichita in February and then returned for a long weekend in June. The production was relatively smooth, given the “frigid nightmare” that was the first trip and unusual summer storms that threatened to disrupt filming last month, Lawing said.

Some scenes were filmed a few doors down from the house where Lawing grew up. Other Wichita locations include the bar at Georges French Bistro and the dining room at Scotch & Sirloin.

It was nostalgic to film at “the Scotch,” where Jim Lawing once shared drinks with other attorneys and members of local law enforcement. He grew close with the Issa family, which owns the restaurant.

“They were unbelievably helpful,” Lawing said. “When we were here, my son, who was a grip on the film set, talked about how we spent Thanksgiving there with grandpa.”

The Tallgrass Film Association was also a great help in connecting him with local talent, Lawing said. Many members of the crew are based in Wichita, and local cast members include Anthony Powell and Rodrick Pocowatchit.

The majority were from out of town, and they were pleasantly surprised by their experience filming in Wichita, Lawing said.

“A lot of a lot of the cast and the crew that came in from out of town developed a crush on the city,” he said.

Lawing hasn’t lived in Wichita for 30 years, so the shoot was a kind of homecoming for him. Making narrative films is another kind of homecoming. After graduating from the University of Kansas, Lawing worked as an assistant editor in Los Angeles. Before their move to St. Louis almost 20 years ago, Lawing lived in San Francisco with his wife, Angie, and their young family. He worked briefly at Pixar, but found the long hours were incompatible with raising a family.

He shifted his focus to broadcast and commercial film and started Mercury Films, a production company, with his wife. Once their youngest child turned 16, it felt like time to get back to telling stories. Lawing dusted off some old screenplays, which led to the 2017 short narrative “Greg’s Going to Rehab.”

With “Penitentia” now in post-production — with plans to show it on the 2023 film festival circuit — Lawing has started the production process for another narrative, “Liberty,” which is set in western Kansas and will be a larger film than the “micro-budget” “Penitentia.”

He hasn’t had the career of a writer-director, Lawing acknowledges.

“You look up and you’re in your 50s,” he said. “This isn’t the typical path for someone my age, especially in a business that is so challenging and competitive.”

Making a low-budget film like “Pentitentia” was an opportunity to focus on process and craft

“I just wanted to focus on making the film,” he said. “Whatever may come a bit after is all gravy.”