Actress Robin Wright’s feature film directing debut, “Land,” tells a story of trials and finding ways to overcome tragedy by escaping into nature.
Premiering at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival, the drama follows the story of Edee Holzer, played by Wright, who faces her grief by moving to the Rockies with no car, no cell phone and a limited amount of supplies. The change is fueled by wanting to erase herself and disconnect from the world that she cannot stand anymore, disregarding her own well-being for an escape.
“What this movie symbolizes is having resilience in the face of adversity,” Wright said during the introduction of the film. “It is about resilience and hope and the kindness of others.”
The film shows the main character experiencing many stages of grief and coming out stronger by the end. She accomplished a lot by herself, but the help from others was instrumental in her success and survival in the unknown territory.
Filmed in the mountains of Alberta, Canada, the cast and crew had to face unpredictable weather patterns while trying to shoot all the scenes in 29 days.
“We had maybe 24 hours of summer weather, so we had to get every scene that would have been summer in about a day,” Wright said during a question-and-answer session held after the premiere. “Then, all of a sudden, snow came … we had to shoot winter in a week, then all of it melted and we had autumn.”
Due to the time restraint, the crew didn’t have time to find an actress to play the lead, so Wright stepped in.
The plot is slow, but it contains touching moments and beautiful nature scenes that members of the crew camped in the mountains to get.
“Land” will premiere in theaters Feb. 12, 2021.
