BY JASON MORGAN EDWARDS
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Award-winning Diné filmmaker, Sydney Freeland (Water Edge and Two Who Came Upon the Water Clans), is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. After a brilliant run by her first feature-length film, Drunk town’s Finest in 2014, she returns to debut her most recent work, Deidra & Laney Rob A Train. She was awarded a United States Artists Ford Fellowship for Media Arts in 2014. And, this current offering is a product of that fellowship.
“This will be my sixth time going to the Festival. My second time with a film. The screenwriter’s name is Shelby Farrell. It’s a dark comedy,” said Freeland. “Kind of like a Raising Arizona or Juno.”
The storyline follows two teen-aged sisters as they take up robbing trains to bail their mom out of jail. The film features Ashleigh Murray as Deidra, and Rachel Crow as Laney. The Sundance Institute describes the film as a “zany lemons-to-lemonade romp through kids facing tough times. Fiercely spirited, buoyantly flips the script on a world that keeps kids living across the tracks down on their luck.”
Freeland credits her success at Sundance with Drunk town as a career booster. Her past success is how she got attached to her current film.
“One of the good things about showing at Sundance is it gives you an elevated platform. I was able to sign with a manager,” said Freeland, “He sent me a couple of scripts. One the scripts he sent me was Deidra & Laney Rob A Train. I instantly fell in love with it.”
Freeland saw a few parallels between her life and that of the characters. “I grew up next to train tracks in Gallup, New Mexico,” she said. “The characters in this film grew up next to train tracks. I could instantly relate [to] the characters and their story and the people in the community.”
She met with Farrell to discuss the script and found that their visions for the film lined up great. The two women pitched their ideas to a few different studios. And, ultimately wound up signing with Netflix. She relates.
“Netflix financed the film. We shot it this past summer in Utah,” said Freeland. “Now, we’re fortunate enough to be accepted into the Sundance Film Festival.”
This directorial role differed from Freeland’s past work with Drunk town where she was the writer and director. It is a much different perspective lending her vision to someone else’s concept.
“With Drunk town, I knew my material. I knew who those characters were,” said Freeland. “With this, it was a great experience. You’re bringing your vision to the film. But, then you also have another person, who has his or her own thoughts and ideas. It’s like having two brains working on the same story.”
It wasn’t a huge obstacle because the two found so much common ground. Like, they have the same tastes in humor and tone and theme. Laughingly, Freeland says, “I would describe her as a smarter version