Saarens Productions and Fire Hall Theater announce an evening of literature and film to be presented on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Fire Hall Theater in Grand Forks, N.D.

Author, DeeJay Arens, will be signing copies of his debut novel, “The View from a Rusty Train Car” at 6:30 p.m.

“No one talks about what happens when you fall in love with the boy next door -- not when you’re the boy living beside the boy next door.” Jared and Luke are neighbors, friends, and gay. They are struggling with who they are because they can’t be what everyone else wants them and expects them to be. They deal with issues like prom dates and ‘straight camps’ in a way that has never been explored before. Together, they find refuge in an abandoned rusty train car. This is a coming-of-age story that is unlike any you have read before and one you will never forget.

Arens’ debut novel was released from Writers AMuse Me Publishing in August and has been nominated for three literary awards; The Independent Book Publishers Award (IPPY), the Eric Hoffer Award, and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

At 7 p.m., there will be a screening of Saarens Productions’ premiere full-length feature film entitled “Slip Away.” The film was written by DeeJay Arens and directed by Steve Saari.

The story of “Slip Away” concerns the troubled reunion of a son and his father after fifteen years of estrangement. The son, Jason, played by scriptwriter and producer DeeJay Arens, was thrown out of his family home by his father when he came out to his mother on her deathbed. Jason chose not to communicate with his father and his two sisters after his exile from home until an invitation from his father’s second wife sets the stage for an emotional and heartbreaking homecoming.

The cast features local and regional actors including: DeeJay Arens (Bemidji, MN); Sarah Einerson (Bemidji, MN); Dixie Evans (Grand Forks, ND); Darleen Quanrud (Bemidji, MN); Julie Quanrud (Bemidji, MN); Bob Seidel (Grand Forks, ND); Rob Thomas (Minneapolis, MN – formerly of Bemidji); Robert Turner (Grand Forks, ND); and Ruth Turner (Grand Forks, ND).

“Slip Away” was filmed in Bemidji during the summer and fall of 2011 and spring of 2012.

Proceeds from the film showing will benefit the Fire Hall Theater.