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The new issue of FILMMAKER Magazine hits stands this week, and in it you'll find their annual picks for the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. A few of these faces might look familiar to SpoutBlog readers: Billy the Kid director Jennifer Vendetti made the cut, as did Craig Zobel, the mastermind behind Sundance/SXSW hit The Great World of Sound. But the list also serves as a kind of early warning signal for a number of previously under-the-radar projects that I simply can't wait to get a look at.

First and foremost among them is Prodigal Sons. On the surface, it's a personal documentary in which filmmaker Kim Reed journeys back to her hometown for her father's funeral, and documents her subsequent attempt to repair a fractured relationship with her adopted brother. But it's also got a couple of great, additional hooks. To quote from the story: "Reed is a transsexual, and her trip back home was her first as a woman. And, while making the film, Reed and her brother Marc discovered that he was the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth."

Orson Welles' fans have a tendency to be a bit obsessive, especially when it comes to Welles' tempestuous relationship with Hayworth (um, Jack White?), so news of a surviving Welles/Hayworth descendant is bound, in some circles, to be a really big deal. I did some digging on this, and found this message board thread on WellesNet, dated October 2004, about the death of Marc's biological mother, Rebecca Welles. A poster by the name of Christopher notes that "it's a great comfort for the dwindling family of Orson Welles to know that Rebecca had a son and that he and his children will carry on the line... it is so wonderful to know that the looks, the genes and maybe even the genius of Orson Welles will continue." According to the FILMMAKER story, Reed's film includes footage shot in "Croatia, where she filmed Marc 'inheriting his legacy' in a meeting with Oja Kodar, Welles’s ex."

If this sounds half as exciting to you as it does to me, you can check out an extended synopsis of Prodigal Sons at the film's website. The producers are also soliciting donations and looking for volunteers to help push the film through post-production.