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Austin filmmaker Kat Candler is 31, got married in May and might just be ready to move on from making movies about her adolescence.

But before she takes that leap, she's circulating her latest film, "Jumping Off Bridges," and scouting locations for her next one - about tweens - that will begin production soon.

"Jumping Off Bridges" - Candler's examination of suicide and its aftereffects - debuts in Albuquerque tonight and Saturday at the Southwest Film Center at the University of New Mexico. And Candler says New Mexico is on the list of possibilities as the site for her next shoot, "Brain Brawl."

Her first feature, "Cicadas" in 2000, was a coming-of-age story about young misfits.

"I'm sort of pigeonholed as someone who writes about teens," Candler said by phone from Austin. "I'm not really sure if I'm stuck in my adolescence. . . . Maybe it's because I find my 20s and 30s a little boring."

"Bridges" celebrates the idea of innocent teens hurtling through a rite of passage.

"In adolescence, everything is so huge and heightened," Candler said. "And it's all so romantic."

The teens spend lazy days jumping off bridges, but their fun is interrupted when one boy's mother commits suicide. It presents a challenge to his father and friends, who don't know how to behave after the tragedy.

The film is being presented this weekend by the Agora Crisis Center at the University of New Mexico. Candler realized early on that audiences were having strong reactions to the topic, and she has been working with suicide-prevention groups to spread the word.

Producer Stacy Schoolfield will attend the Albuquerque screenings and discuss the film with audiences. Candler said Schoolfield also will meet with the state film board to inquire about making Candler's third film here.

Jeremy Jaramillo, a spokesman for Agora at UNM, said the screenings are an appropriate capper to Suicide Prevention Week.

"This will be a great discussion piece on the issue of suicide prevention," Jaramillo said.

He said the movie realistically shows how friends and family struggle to cope with the effects of suicide.

Agora also will prepare some Hollywood-style dress-up glitz for tonight's 7 o'clock show.

The cast is made up mostly of newcomers and Austin-area actors, but it does have one big name. Michael Emerson, who stars as Henry Gale on TV's "Lost" and won an Emmy in 2001 for his work on "The Practice," plays the father who struggles to deal with his wife's suicide.

Candler befriended Emerson 16 years ago when they both lived in Jacksonville, Fla. One of her teen moments was working in the props department during Emerson's run in "Twelfth Night."

Candler said her trilogy of adolescent stories should come to an end soon. She's working on a script that features mostly grown-ups.