REUNION
Live Action Short (2024)
Reunion follows life-long friends finding their way to their 41st high school reunion. As the two women navigate their former school building, both reckon with feelings of grief as they care for one another and the shrinking town they still love.
The film is co-written and directed by Lindsey Martin and Sam Dodd. Drawing on their different disciplinary backgrounds (Martin is a filmmaker, Dodd an architectural historian), the two have crafted this story from their commitments to Appalachian community building and feminist, socially-engaged storytelling.
Reunion stars Shelley Delaney and Merri Biechler. Shelley has had a wide-ranging career as a professional theater actor (over 75 productions), director (over 30 full-length plays), new-play dramaturg, and educator/acting teacher. She’s acted in a handful of films and directed the short film Truck Fishing in America. Shelley led Ohio University’s acting programs until December of 2020, and is a member of Actors Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA and the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Merri is the Director of the School of Theater, Associate Professor of Instruction, playwright, actor, and educator. She’s the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and a Boomerang Fund for Artists award and has written and directed numerous award winning plays including Tammy Faye’s Final Audition, An Appalachian Christmas Carol, Occupation, and Real Girls Can’t Win and guest-starred on episodes of Judging Amy, E.R., and Murphy Brown. She appeared in Tantrum Theater’s production of The Cake.
The film was shot completely on location at the former Rome-Caanan School (now Federal Valley Resource Center, FVRC), in Stewart, Ohio. While the story deals with themes of loss, its storyline showcases an asset-driven attention to care, mutual aid, and love shown between friends, neighbors, and communities.
Reunion was supported by The Film/Video Studio Residency at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts Professional Development grant and Experiential Learning Stewardship grant.