Sydney Freeland

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Sydney Freeland (born October 10, 1980 in Gallup , New Mexico ) is an American film director and screenwriter . She was best known for her first feature film Drunktown's Finest , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2014 and received nominations and awards at several other renowned film festivals, including the Outfest and the Heartland Film Festival . Her second film Deidra and Laney - Theft on Rails also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has been available on Netflix since March 2017 .

Life

Freeland was born in Gallup, New Mexico, to a Navajo father and a Scottish mother. She grew up on a Navajo reservation in the city and studied at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco , which she graduated with a master's degree in film studies and a bachelor's degree in computer animation . In 2004 she also received a scholarship from the Fulbright program , her scholarship work was a field study on the situation of indigenous people in Ecuador . At about the same time, Freeland also began her gender reassignment program . In 2007 she received another scholarship, the Disney Scholarship for Students, which enables an internship at a Walt Disney World Resort , and was a semi-finalist for a Disney Fellowship for young screenwriters the following year . In 2009 she was finally awarded a scholarship from the Sundance Institute , whose Native Lab supports young filmmakers with indigenous roots.

Career

At the beginning of her career, Freeland worked as a production and camera assistant as well as a screenwriter. She worked in these areas for the television networks Food Network , Disney Channel , Comedy Central and National Geographic, among others . In 2012, she funded her six-minute short film Hoverboard , which she wrote and was inspired by Back to the Future II , through a Kickstarter campaign . Two years later she directed her first feature film, Drunktown's Finest , the screenplay of which she also wrote. The coming-of-age film is about three young people who dream of escaping the harsh everyday life of an Indian reservation and grappling with their personal identity. The title derives from a controversial segment of the ABC news show 20/20 that referred to Freeland's hometown of Gallup as Drunktown, USA , due to the increased incidence of alcoholism on the Navajo reservation border . According to Freeland, she wanted to fight negative stereotypes in her home community with her film . After its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014, Drunktown's Finest was received positively by critics and received, among other things, nominations and awards at the Outfest and the Heartland Film Festival .

In 2016, Freeland, who is herself transgender, staged the six episodes of the web series Her Story , which is about the personal and professional everyday life of two transgender women embodied by Jen Richards and Angelica Ross who live in Los Angeles . The series was nominated for an Emmy for Best Short Series - Comedy or Drama . The following year, Freeland directed the thriller - dramedy Deidra and Laney - Theft on rails with Ashleigh Murray in the title role. It is about two sisters who want to pay their mother's bail by robbing trains in order not to end up in foster families . The production premiered on January 23, 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival , where Freeland won the audience award Best of Next! was nominated, and was released worldwide on Netflix on March 17th .

Filmography

  • 2008: The Migration (short film)
  • 2012: Hoverboard (short film, also screenplay and production)
  • 2014: Drunktown's Finest (also screenplay)
  • 2016: Her Story (web series, 6 episodes)
  • 2017: Deidra and Laney - theft on rails ( Deidra & Laney Rob a Train )
  • 2018: Heathers (TV series, episode 1x04)
  • 2018-2019: Grey's Anatomy (TV series, 2 episodes)
  • 2019: Station 19 (TV series, episode 2x09)
  • 2019: Chambers (TV series, episode 1x06)
  • 2019: Stadtgeschichten ( Tales of the City , TV series, episode 1x09)
  • 2019: Fear the Walking Dead (TV series, episode 5x14)
  • 2019: Impulse (TV series, episode 2x05)
  • 2019: Emergence (TV series, episode 1x06)
  • 2020: Nancy Drew (TV series, episode 1x10)

Awards and nominations (selection)

  • 2014: Nomination in the feature film category at the Heartland Film Festival (together with Chad Burris and Mateo Frazier ), for Drunktown's Finest
  • 2014: Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for the first feature film at Outfest (together with Chad Burris and Mateo Frazier), for Drunktown's Finest
  • 2014: Nomination for an audience award in the Best of Next category! at the Sundance Film Festival , for Drunktown's Finest
  • 2017: Nomination for an audience award in the Best of Next category! at Sundance Film Festival , for Deidra & Laney Rob a Train

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Sundance Institute Names 2009 Native Filmmaking Fellows Four Native Filmmakers To Receive Ford Foundation Fellowships film: Attend Sundance Lab On Home Lands Of Mescalero Apache Tribe, Receive Year-Round Support And Mentoring. In: Sundance Institute. May 12, 2009, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b David Graver: 'Drunktown's Finest' Director Sydney Freeland On Growing Up Navajo and Trans. In: Vice . February 22, 2015, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Alison Pierce: 'Drunktown's Finest' Director Paints a Dynamic Picture From Navajo Roots. In: Academy Art News. December 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Alex Ferrari: IFH 133: Sydney Freeland: Working with Netflix & Maintaining Creative Freedom. In: Indie Film Hustle. January 27, 2017, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  5. ^ Sydney Freeland: Hoverboard. In: Kickstarter.com . October 8, 2013, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Lauren Wissot: Director Sydney Freeland Discusses Drunktown's Finest. In: Filmmaker Magazine. January 23, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Jay Meehan: "Drunktown" a personal matter. In: Park Record. January 18, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Karley Sciortino: Why You Should See Drunktown's Finest This Weekend. In: Vogue . February 19, 2015, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  9. ↑ John DeFore: Drunktown's Finest: Sundance Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter . January 22, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Geoff Berkshire: Sundance Film Review: 'Drunktown's Finest'. In: Variety . January 29, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Martin Tsai: Review: 'Drunktown's Finest' a didactic look at Navajo life. In: Los Angeles Times . February 26, 2015, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Steve Pond: 'Drunktown's Finest,' 'The Circle' Win Top Outfest Awards. In: The Wrap. July 20, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  13. ↑ 2014 Heartland Film Festival Announces Grand Prize Winners, Awards Over $ 115,000 to Independent Filmmakers. In: Heartland Film. October 18, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  14. ^ Jude Dry: 8 Exciting Trans and Gender Nonconforming Filmmakers Shaking Up Hollywood. In: IndieWire. July 14, 2017, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Teresa Jusino: Interview: Her Story Director Sydney Freeland on Trans People Telling Trans Stories. In: The Mary Sue. September 9, 2015, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Mari Brighe: The Emmy-Nominated Trans Web Series Her Story Could Change Everything. In: The Advocate . July 31, 2016, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Guy Lodge: Film Review: 'Deidra & Laney Rob a Train'. In: Variety. March 16, 2017, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Sheri Linden: 'Deidra & Laney Rob a Train': Film Review | Sundance 2017. In: The Hollywood Reporter. February 1, 2017, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  19. ^ Adrian Gomez: NM-made film premieres at Sundance. In: Albuquerque Journal. January 19, 2014, accessed March 8, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Freeland, Sydney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Gallup , New Mexico , United States