Writer/director Berndt Mader (right) on location with stars Jon Gries and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson
Out on VOD and DVD today is the feature debut of writer/director Berndt Mader, a University of Texas alum. 5 Time Champion is a Texas-set coming-of-age story about a sexually confused science prodigy negotiating puberty and complicated relationships with his mom and grandparents.
The film world-premiered at SXSW 2011 and then toured the festival circuit, winning the Texas Filmmaker Award at the Dallas Film Festival. The Chronicle spoke with star Dana Wheeler-Nicholson during the film’s SXSW run:
“It was an impressive, beautiful script. It’s unusual to have a movie like this in our times from someone so young,” she said of Mader. “There’s no irony, no trying to be hip.”
5 Time Champion is now available on VOD and DVD. It’s also available in the Tugg library, so if your home flat-screen sounds too small to properly enjoy the Smithville-shot vistas, you might consider raising the flag for a theatrical screening.
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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...
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