The Unknown Country

Sarasota Film Festival 2023

Narrative Feature

The Unknown Country starts when someone is lost, and something is found. A last minute invitation to her cousin Lainey’s wedding prompts Tana (Lily Gladstone) to pack up her grandmother’s Cadillac and journey from Minneapolis to Spearfish, South Dakota. This is just the beginning of Tana’s largely solitary quest – and a unique, captivating, heartwarming road movie. From the Midwest to the Texas-Mexico border, Tana navigates the complex, post-2016 election social climate, and a natural landscape that is increasingly surreal. Along the way, she bonds with non-actors who are unknown to her yet intrinsically familiar. These real people share the stories that bind them to each other and to the landscape that they have become a part of. At times at ease, and at times on edge on her journey as a woman traveling alone through this unfamiliar landscape, Tana endures the highs and lows of prolonged aimlessness. Her openness to unanticipated connection leads her to Isaac (Raymond Lee) who connects the paths Tana and her grandmother have carved.

Details

Country:

United States
Language:

English
Runtime:

85 minutes
Year:

2022

Credits

Director:

Morrisa Maltz
Screenwriter:

Lily Gladstone, Morrisa Maltz, Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux
Producer:

Katherine Harper, Laura Heberton, Thomas Heitkamp, Morrisa Maltz, Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux, Vanara Tain
Executive Producer:

Miranda Bailey, Rachel Crouch, Ty Gordon, Brenda Haynes, Gill Holland, Adam Koppel, Matthew C. Mills, Veronica Nickel, Rodes Phire, Sharon Reinschmiedt, Mark Shlomchik, Benjamin Speiser, Natasha Warner, Natalie Whalen
Cast:

Lily Gladstone, Raymond Lee, Richard Ray Whitman
Cinematographer:

Andrew Hajek
Editor:

Nathan Berkowitz, Laura Colwell, Selinda Zhou
Music:

Samuel Jones, Alexis Marsh