Hallmark Hall of Fame can always be counted upon for telling aspiring, uplifting stories that vividly illustrate family values, and its latest movie– the first original film of the 2015 season – is no exception.
“Away and Back” is set in the verdant countryside of Washington State and tells the story of a 10-year-old girl who becomes enamored with a family of trumpeter swans making their home in a pond near her family farm, where she lives with two older brothers and her widowed father.
The feature-length film stars Jason Lee and Minka Kelly and was premiered at the iPic Theater in Westwood Tuesday night for the cast and crew and Hallmark Channel friends and family, who celebrated with a pre-reception at Tanzy restaurant before heading into the screening.
In attendance were the film stars Lee, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, who plays Frankie Peterson, Connor Paton and Jaren Lewison, who portray her brothers and director Jeff Bleckner.
Executive producers Brent Shields and Frank Konigsberg, writers Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer, executives Brad Moore (President, Hallmark Hall of Fame) and Bill Abbott (President and CEO, Crown Media Holdings) were also on hand for the festivities.
Before settling in for the film and opening remarks from Moore, guests found plush white swans on the luxurious, reclining orange leather theater seats along with a soft throw blanket.
The movie’s plot revolves around the widowed Lee and his three children, who are still mourning the death of their mother a year before.
As the story progresses, the family encounters a wildlife biologist (Kelly) whose mission is tracking trumpeter swans. The initial interactions – especially between the two adults – are rocky, but as the swans’ survival is called into question, the relationships transform in a new direction.
Adventure, humor, romance, it’s all here in this poignant story, beautifully filmed.
(“Away and Back” premieres Sunday, January 25 at 8/7c on the Hallmark Channel USA.)
