Genre
Synopsis
Anna is an adult with a Cognitive Disability living with her mother in Midland Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister for help, but without the language to be believed, Anna is brushed aside.
Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. In this sadness, Anna sees the bigger picture and with a straightforward strength, Anna holds her own. The uncertainty for the sisters’ future independence remains but they are now a team against all odds.
Bio
Liz Sargent is a Korean-American adoptee whose award-winning work explores themes of adoption, disability, and family. As a writer-director, she incorporates her background as a choreographer into visual storytelling that channels complex human emotions that are an extension of her experience as the middle child of eleven and recognizes her intersectional identity.
Her film TAKE ME HOME won the Julia S. Gouw Fellowship with CAPE and Janet Yang Productions, a Reel Sisters Fellowship, Asian Women Giving Circle grant and raised 30K on Kickstarter. Festivals: Sundance Santa Barbara IFF, SXSW, with Academy Qualifying wins at LAAPFF Golden Reel Best Short & deadCenter Film Festival Special Grand Jury Best Film. It’s available as part of the Sundance Shorts Theatrical Tour, on Delta In-Flight entertainment and was available online at Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Pick & Omeleto during its 2024 Oscar campaign. The feature script is a winner of the SFFILM Rainin grant and is currently in development.
The short film STRANGERS’ REUNION about an adoptee reunion was one of five films chosen by Ritz-Carlton and Hearst to be made with mentorship by Mike Figgis and production by RSA Hong Kong. The film was released online, worldwide in 6 languages and won Best Director at Diversity in Cannes and Best Screenplay at Brand FF London.
Liz incorporates her background as a choreographer trained at North Carolina School of the Arts into her commercial and experimental work.
Screening History
Sundance Film Festival 2023
SXSW Film Festival 2023
Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2023
Florida Film Festival 2023
Mill Valley Film Festival 2023
Awards History
Julia S Gouw Fellowship with Janet Yang Productions & CAPE 2022
Chicago International Children’s Film Festival 2023- Winner Special 2nd Place Best Short
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2023 - Golden Reel Best Short Winner
deadCenter Film Festival 2023 - Special Jury Best Short Winner
Credits
Executive Producer - Janet Yang Productions
Actor - Jeena Yi