Director Sierra Falconer, whose debut feature will premiere next week at the Sundance Film Festival, has signed for representation at WME.
The UCLA grad’s “Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)” was selected for the U.S. dramatic competition at the 41st edition of the Utah cinema confab founded by Robert Redford. The film weaves together four interconnected tales unfolding over one summer around an idyllic lake in Northern Michigan.
“I grew up spending summers on Green Lake in rural, northern Michigan, and from the start, I knew my first film had to be a portrait of this special place,” Falconer tells Variety, adding that her film “captures small but significant moments of connection, framed by a shared sense of belonging.”
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Narrative threads in “Sunfish” include a young girl bonding with her grandparents through sailing and two sisters savoring their last days running a bed-and-breakfast together. The festival bills the film as a “heartfelt portrait of change, self-discovery and community.” The ensemble cast features Maren Heary (“She Said”), Jim Kaplan (“The Holdovers”), Karsen Liotta (“Black Bird”), Dominic Bogart (“Fear the Walking Dead”), Tenley Kellogg (“Faith Under Fire”) and Emily Hall (“Loot”).
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In another vote of confidence for up-and-comer Falconer, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg has come on board “Sunfish” as an executive producer. Hogg is a global festival veteran, having directed films including “The Souvenir” duology “The Eternal Daughter” and “Archipelago.”
Hogg says that she was “knocked out” by Falconer’s film, calling it a “sensitive characterization and beautiful storytelling [which] touched me deeply.”
