Bright, intense, and the apple of her mother's eye, 14-year-old Meredith has passionately embraced Christianity after attending a revival with her best friend. On an unusually warm Thanksgiving afternoon Meredith will test her new identity on an unsuspecting clan of family members. Her goal is simple, her obstacles many. Can a girl maintain a religious vow of silence around a family of agnostic talkers? Her Mother defines the vow of silence as a "passing phase" and nothing to fret over, but Meredith's cousins remain confused, her Socialist Great-Uncle outraged. The host of the Thanksgiving feast is aloof Aunt Jane, who has a secret past of her own and sees something worthy in Meredith's determination.

Thomas Southerland Jr. - Writer/Director
Born and raised in Central Kentucky, Thom graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BA in English in 1995. With the valued help of friends and family he wrote and directed six short films of various lengths and quality before heading west in 2000 to attend the American Film Institute as a Directing Fellow. In 2001 he was awarded a full academic scholarship in Directing from the AFI. Also, the short script he wrote for "Fourteen" won the Bridges/Larson Production award for 2001. "Fourteen" marks his first venture into 35mm production. Upon graduation (December 2002) Thom plans on moving back to the open farm land of Central Kentucky to restore his soul, work on a collection of short stories, and wrangle funding for 65 South, his first feature film. He'd like to find a job as well.