"Children of Invention," a feature-length independent film, filled the viewing room of the Smithgall Arts Center in Gainesville last Thursday night.

The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival after being made at lightning fast speed - less than six months after director Tze Chun wrote the script.

"He's always been an overachiever," assistant director Sheila Dvorak said to the audience after the screening. "For him, I think it was right on schedule, but to anyone else, it was a bit of a shocker."

Dvorak attended in order to take part in a Q&A with the audience led by Gainesville State College faculty advisers and members of the college's film club.

"Children of Invention," the first feature film Chun and Dvorak made after shooting 10 short films together, is loosely based on Chun's childhood, Dvorak said.

The film tells a tale of two inventive Asian-American children and their working- class mother as they try to recapture the American dream after losing their house due to a get-rich-quick pyramid scheme.

The filmmakers are also gaining recognition because of their do-it-yourself distribution style.

They produced DVDs for the movie on their own and toured the country, attending over 40 film festivals where they won an impressive 17 awards.

Their success with self-distribution has led to multiple theatrical releases around the country, and the film is now available online from major retailers.

The next film in the series, "Reporter," is a documentary about a newsman in the Congo that will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at Gainesville State College's Continuing Education Building.