Director Sierra Falconer, whose debut feature premieres next week at the Sundance Film Festival, has signed an agency deal with WME.
The UCLA grad’s “Sunfish (and other stories on Green Lake)” won at the 41st annual U.S. Dramatic Competition by Confab, the Utah film company founded by Robert Redford. The film weaves together four interconnected stories set over the course of a summer on an idyllic lake in northern Michigan.
“I spend my summers at Green Lake in rural northern Michigan, and from the beginning I knew my first film had to be a portrait of this special place,” Falconer told Variety, adding that her film “captures small but meaningful moments of connection, framed by a shared sense of belonging.” ”
Similar Stories
Narrative threads in Sunfish include a young girl connecting with her grandparents through sailing, and two sisters enjoying their final days together in a bed and breakfast. The festival described the film as a “heartfelt portrait of transformation, self-discovery and community.” The cast includes Maren Hurry (She Said), Jim Kaplan (Watchmen), Carson Liotta (Blackbird), Dominic Bogart (Fear the Walking Dead), Stanley Kellogg (Faith Under Fire) ) and Emily Hall (“The Spoils”).
Popular in Variety
Joining another vote of confidence in up-and-coming Falconer is British filmmaker Joanna Hogg, who comes on board as executive producer of “Sunfish.” Hogg is a veteran of the global film festival circuit, having directed films such as “The Memento,” “The Everlasting Daughter” and “Archipelago.”
Hogg said she was “blown away” by Falconer’s film, calling it “sensitive characterization and a beautiful story [that] touched me deeply.”
