A new independent feature film set for release in January 2022 shot many of its main scenes in Athens and Limestone County. “No Man’s Law,” a movie produced, written, directed and starring Richard Douglas Jensen will had its red-carpet premiere this past weekend in Huntsville with all the stars of the film in attendance, including Emmy award-winning actress and co-star, Natalia Bilbao.

“No Man’s Law” is described as “a drama about a suicidal, disgraced former border patrol agent who seeks redemption when he rescues a lost migrant girl and vows to return her to her parents in North Alabama, where they work as undocumented farm laborers. The problem is transporting illegal migrants is against federal law and a manhunt ensues. The ex-patrolman races against time to return the girl to her parents before he is arrested and she is deported. The movie tackles the thorny issue of human rights and US border policy.”

Kelly Reno, who starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-nominated The Black Stallion, Broadway actress Emma Hayley, Michael V. Jordan, Luna Clara Jensen and Musetta Feldman round out the cast.

Jensen and the film crew kept the filming “under the radar.” He added, “We shot the film from September 2020 through April 5, 2021, and flying actors in and out were complicated by COVID-19 travel restrictions.”

Although much of the setting for the film is in rural Texas, many locations in and around Limestone County were used as Jensen felt that many areas were “perfect.” Elkmont quickly became a favorite location during filming.

“The people were wonderful and it is such a historically quaint town,” he said. “Some of the scenes shot in Elkmont are just beautiful. There isn’t a set designer in Hollywood that could do better than the real beauty Elkmont provided.”

One of the most pivotal scenes was shot at Eagle’s Diner in Athens. The scene was shot on a Sunday, a day the diner would typically be closed.

“The folks at Eagle’s Diner were great,” Jensen said. “They let us come in and take over. They reached out to their regular customers who came up on that Sunday and they became the extras in the film. The diner owners even cooked for everyone. The scene was perfect and everyone had so much fun.”

Other locations moviegoers can expect to see in the film are Tractor Supply in Athens, areas of Ardmore, Grassland Ranch on Airport Road, Belle Mina and The Athens Square.

“We specifically added a scene where we rode around The Square and the Athens Historic District in with Stan Smith and his horse carriage,” he said.

“No Man’s Law” has already been released to the global film circuit and won numerous awards. A press release from Poverty Row Pictures, LLC, states, “The film won Best Independent Film at the prestigious SRFA Film Awards in Cannes, France and won Best Picture at the famous Bollywood International Film Festival in India, to name a few. The movie is a smash hit in India, where more than a dozen film festivals have been packed at each showing. The film has won over 50 awards in India alone.”

The movie is scheduled to show at the Princess Theater in Decatur on Jan. 20. Additional theater showings are currently being negotiated as well as opportunities to see the film on streaming services.