Drunktown's Finest

Sydney Freeland has written and directed an incredible film in Drunktown's Finest. Set in a small native American town, Freeland carefully and cinematically weaves viewers in and out of the lives of three young people who are all struggling with the confinement of small town life in a Native American territory.

While the backdrop of the film might be decidedly niche given its Native American setting, the message to Drunktown's Finest is ultimately broad and very relatable to anyone who has ever undergone the struggle of trying to break free from the roots of a small town in order to find a better life for their family or find out who they really are. On the flip side, the film also relates to that person who is searching for his or her roots and wanting to know where they came from.

The writing and directing show us that Sydney Freeland is a true emerging talent. Her cinematic eye combined with her delicate and moving story telling ability draws you into the film from the first frame and never lets you go!

The character development is spot on and the acting is superb from the three lead characters right down to those who deliver just a single line. All in all, Drunktown's Finest is a film that grabs your heart, takes you on a fascinating ride and ultimately leaves you simply feeling good about being alive. How often can we say that after leaving the theater these days? If you like a good movie that stays with you long after the film is over....then you will LOVE Drunktown's Finest.

"Drunktown's Finest" is a film that just recently debuted at Sundance and will soon have a wider release. It's by a new director, Sydney Freeland, and it's an amazing debut effort--mostly because the emphasis is on the acting! It seems that the executive producer, Robert Redford, made an excellent choice in having Freeland helm this story.

The film is set on a Navajo reservation. Although Ms. Freeland's biography on IMDb is scant, I did some research and found out that she actually grew up on one of these reservations herself and that is why this story seems so personal and unlike any other film I've seen on Native Americans. "Drunktown's Finest" consists of a story about three people who are struggling with their identity and their stories eventually intertwine during the course of the film.

There is a young lady who has grown up off the reservation, as she was adopted at a young age and was brought up on the other side of the country by white parents. She is struggling to reconcile her adoptive parents religion and values with her own biology and a need to learn more about her people. Another is a very angry and self- destructive young man who plans on joining the military as his way off the reservation and to a more stable life. The last is the most unusual, as it's about someone who is transgender and leads a very promiscuous and directionless life. It's also unusual because the filmmakers were actually able to find an actual transgender Navajo (Carmen Moore) to act this part.

The film is very unusual in that it manages to tell a compelling story because the focus is on the acting and the characters. Freeland does an excellent job of allowing these actors to act and not embellish the tale with special effects, wild plot devices and the like. It's all about the acting in this film. It's also important that it really doesn't matter much what you think about LGBT issues, American Indian culture or any of the issues brought up in this film. Sure I didn't like or necessarily agree with everything I saw in the film but the movie did NOT attempt to preach at the audience or give you the answers. Some might dislike this vagueness as well as the ending where everything isn't tied up neatly into a nice little package. I see it as just an opportunity to expose you to another way of life and a people who are most likely different from the people in your own life. This is a story that is never dull and I really look forward to seeing more from these folks.

We contributed to a Kickstarter campaign to help get this movie finished, so last week a DVD of it came in the mail. We were very pleasantly surprised. Three intertwining stories of young people coming of age, nicely handled. The thing that struck me so strongly is that the characters are so American and so Navajo at the same time. They are finding their places as adults, and also along the continuum of acculturation.

Although alcohol plays a pretty big part in this movie, I dislike the title, which belongs to a much grittier and more knowing movie. While bad things are done by and to the characters, the overall mood is almost sweet.

I found DRUNKTOWNS FINEST DVD at the Window Rock flea market and purchased it from Ms. Freeland. I was impressed by the involvement of Robert Redford as the executive producer. I didn't know what to expect and asked Ms. Freeland if this was another genre type of movie about modern Navajos, e.g. TURQUOISE ROSE. After watching the opening of DF movie I found it to be what I expected. What the movie doesn't touch on is the violence and death experienced by young Navajo transgender male and/or females. There are many unsolved beatings and murders of transgender male/females on the Navajo rez and in the border towns and it seems like no one cares to follow up. In closing, it's not your average genre type of movie about modern Navajos.

'DRUNKTOWN'S FINEST': Three Stars (Out of Five)

Low budget indie drama flick about three troubled Native American youths, living on an Indian reservation, who struggle to build new lives for themselves. The film was written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Sydney Freeland and stars a trio of newcomers; Jeremiah Bitsui, Carmen Moore and Morningstar Angeline. The movie premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was later picked up, for release, by the Sundance Film Channel. I found it's mini budget to be very showing at times but I also found the film to be a well-intentioned, and somewhat insightful, character study.

The story revolves around three very different young Native Americans, all living on the same Indian reservation. Sickboy (Bitsui) is a young father-to-be, who's had a decent amount of trouble with the law and excessive alcohol consumption. He's joining the military so he can provide for his family, through an honest living for once. Felixia (Moore) is a transvestite who makes a living selling his body. He desperately wants to leave town and start a modeling career. Nizhoni (Angeline) is an adopted Christian girl, who spends most of her time doing community service and wants nothing more than to learn who her real parents are.

The movie obviously has a lot of heart and seems to be a realistic telling of what life is like for troubled youths, living with a scarce amount of resources, on an Indian reservation. If the filmmaker (Freeland) had more resources himself, I'm sure this could have been a much better movie. As it is, the acting is very weak, sometimes painfully bad, and the script could have used at least a few more rewrites. It's hard not to be at least somewhat impressed with the good intentions of Freeland and the cast and crew, though.

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