What: “The Yoofo Club” Where: Hoyt Sherman Theater in Des Moines When: Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Cost: $5

There have been movies made in Iowa. There have been movies made with Iowans in them. But has there ever been a movie made by Iowans, starring Iowans and filmed in Iowa? Not until now.

“The Yoofo Club,” an independent, low-budget film that has been in the works for close to three years is finally finished — and it premieres this weekend at the Hoyt Sherman Theater in Des Moines.

Spirit in the sky

Written and directed by former Iowa State student James Serpento, “The Yoofo Club” takes place in a rustic Iowa dive bar in the middle of nowhere called Bernadette’s Place.

Frank Townsend, the bar owner, watches over a group of perplexed drunks as he awaits the return of a flying saucer that he believes captured his precious wife, Bernadette, some 10 years before.

“Right around the time I graduated from ISU, I saw an article about some New Yorkers who say they saw lights in the sky,” Serpento remembers. “At the time, New York was really not doing too well, and it was interesting to see that some people in the city still believed and had hope.”

Along with the possible reappearance of his wife, Frank learns that his bar has been tabbed as a “bad influence” on the community and will be shut down the next day.

“The Yoofo Club” dives deep into the clashing personalities of the bar regulars and its owner and uncovers the true sensibility that makes the characters who they really are.

One of the characters in the film has trouble pronouncing UFO and it always comes out as “yoofo;” hence the name.

Urinal experiences

When work began on the film over two and a half years ago, Serpento was preparing himself for the long road ahead.

The actors didn’t begin shooting until two summers ago, when they came and did all of the acting in very little time.

“There were some voice-overs and things that had to be done, but the actual filming was only a couple months,” says Patrick Gouran, an ISU associate professor of theater and one of the stars of the movie.

The filming was done in a bar that was about to be remodeled, which proved to be the time constraint for the filming.

That meant getting work done was a speedy process requiring long hours and dedication.

“Twelve hours was a light day for us,” Serpento says.

While filming, there always seemed to be something that caused little bumps in the road, such as spontaneous urinals that would flush while filming.

“We were trying to film a scene outside one night, and in a nearby alley, there were two cats mating,” Serpento explains. “It stopped for a while and then started back up again. Then I heard this weird rumbling sound, so I had to search it down.

“It was a big truck just sitting there idling. I was about to ring this guy’s neck when I went and asked him why he was just sitting there idling. He said he was watching the cats.”

A misfit without tenure

The always colorful Gouran got involved with “The Yoofo Club” after teaching Serpento in theater classes.

The two of them joined forces to work on a smaller movie project in the past.

Gouran’s “Yoofo” character, Dr. George Drummond, has some things in common with the real Gouran and some other qualities that were quite a stretch for Gouran’s acting.

“Are you ready for this,” Gouran laughs. “I play an alcoholic, homosexual theater professor that just got denied tenure.”

Like any great actor, Gouran approached this film with his own idea of what the movie is about and what it means to him.

“It’s about hope; it’s about dreams; it’s about facing reality,” Gouran says. “Every one of these people in this bar is a misfit of some kind. They don’t fit into the mainstream of things. The all have a flaw or flaws of some kind, but they seemed to have banded together to support one another and live the best they can.”

After working together in the past, Serpento felt it was a must to have Gouran act in his movie.

“Even after all of the theater things I have been involved with through all of my schooling and being in L.A. and New York,” Serpento says. “I always find myself returning to the knowledge that I learned from Patrick.”

Lookout Sundance

“The Yoofo Club” became one of the most honored projects in the history of the Iowa Motion Picture Association. It took home 14 awards at the IMPA’s Showcase Iowa event including four Awards of Excellence (the association’s top honor).

Those who received the award were Melissa Albright for acting, Serpento for the screenplay, Steve Faust for lighting and Robin Jons for original musical score.

“It was really nice,” Serpento says sincerely. “Not a lot of people have seen it, so it was nice to get support from those who have, especially in the IMPA.”

Among the actors who received other awards for “The Yoofo Club” was Gouran, who was honored with the Award of Achievement.

Half the battle

The movie was funded by Serpento and producer Kimberly Busbee along with private investors. Busbee, after working for so long on “The Yoofo Club,” finds herself still putting in long days in preparation for the public premiere.

“We’re very proud,” she says. “We’ve worked on this movie for so long, and it feels good to be sharing it with more of the world and receiving the validation that the people involved with it deserve.”

Though all of the work for making the film is finished, Serpento knows that he has only fought half the battle.

“At this point, we are only two-thirds done with the film,” he says. “Now we have to find people who want to buy it and put it out. There are companies in L.A., New York and Chicago that I will be showing it to.”

Yoofo Lucinda

Not only does “The Yoofo Club” have an all-Iowan cast and crew, but many Iowa musicians are featured on the soundtrack — including Ames’ own The Nadas and The Bone People.

“We were contacted about it a long time ago,” Nadas frontman Mike Butterworth says. “At first they were going to use ‘Dancing Lucinda,’ but now I think they used ‘New Start.’ We were happy to do it.”

Other musicians featured on the soundtrack include Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, Suzzy Roche and Andy Schneider of 6240.

The soundtrack and movie poster will also be available at the shows.

Creatures

Serpento will soon head to Los Angeles where he is scheduled to direct on stage, but he hopes to do more work with Iowa films. He encourages people to check out “The Yoofo Club.”

“I think people will have appreciation of the creatures in this film,” Serpento says. “They have a lot of humor and heart.”

Gouran, who will be attending Friday’s screening, has his opinion on who he thinks will like this film.

“They would have to go for things in terms of text,” Gouran says. “It’s not academic; I don’t mean to make it sound like that. But it’s not the type of film that says, ‘Let’s feel good.’ It’s for the type of person who likes an in-depth look at character. It’s character-based not situation-based.”