An anthology following the residents of a small town and the lake that binds them together. | dG1fMzB1V1FsWHZaN0U
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Hi, my name is Sierra Faulkner. I'm the writer and director of Sunfish and Other Stories
00:11on Green Lake, which is premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic
00:17Competition. Sunfish is an anthology film following the residents of a small town in
00:23the lake that binds them together. The film meanders between residents seeking respite,
00:27adventure, and solace in the lake, each attending to their own goals and challenges while sharing
00:32a connection to place and overlapping spheres of influence. The film is set in the titular
00:37Green Lake, Michigan, which is where I grew up and spent summers as a child swimming,
00:41sailing, and swinging in hammocks. We shot the film entirely on location with scenes
00:45in my family's cottage and on my grandpa's old Sunfish sailboat. I've described Sunfish
00:50as a personal work of autobiography, but the film isn't autobiographical in the traditional
00:54sense. Rather than transcribing the events of my life, I'm concerned with locating a
00:59specificity of place, community ethos, and ecological memory, with each chapter capturing
01:04a different piece of the Green Lake whole. Some elements of place, like the old rope
01:08hammock, the Sunfish sailboat, and the sounds of wind chimes and loon calls, could be simply
01:13incorporated into the mise-en-scene and soundscape of the film, while other more thematic, idea-based
01:18lived elements of place, like the deafening boredom, the sudden need to believe in something,
01:23and the gravitational pull that the lake has on its residents required careful weaving
01:27throughout the narrative plotting and character arcs to be fully realized. Put all together,
01:32Sunfish is an invitation to experience what it feels like to live and grow in small-town
01:37Green Lake, Michigan, and I hope you feel that when you watch our film. Thank you so much!