Inspired By: Sydney Freeland on C.S. Lewis, Casablanca, and ‘Drunktown’s Finest’

A still from native filmmaker Sydney Freeland’s film ‘Drunktown’s Finest’

Nate von Zumwalt

Director Sydney Freeland’s tenacity to make Drunktown’s Finest was born from a misguided news story. After seeing her hometown of Gallup, New Mexico, portrayed as “Drunktown, USA,” she felt compelled to offer a corrective. Enter: Drunktown’s Finest, an unwaveringly honest drama that sheds light on the southwest’s Navajo Nation through the lenses of three disparate characters—a transgender aspiring model, a man headed off to basic training, and a Christian woman. Below, Freeland offers up some of the sources of inspiration that encouraged the making of her film, which screened last year at the Sundance Film Festival and is now making its official theatrical release.


Music: The ‘Assassination of Jesse James’ Soundtrack

“I listened to this constantly while writing Drunktown’s Finest.”

Book: ‘1491’ and ‘A People’s History of The United States’

Both of these books have changed the way I look at the world. I love when a book can do that.”

Movie: ‘Casablanca’

“The writing in this film is fantastic.”

Location: New Mexico

“My home state. Best sunsets in the universe.”

Favorite UK-Born Person: C.S. Lewis

“Without question. I didn’t have a TV until I was about 12, so I did a fair amount of reading. When I was about 8, a family friend from Switzerland sent me a boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia. I fell in love with the series and I feel like those books have been very influential on my own writing.”


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From the Archives: Revisit Robert Redford’s Words of Wisdom

To much of the world Robert Redford is Roy Hobbs, Bill McKay, Jeremiah Johnson, or invariably, The Sundance Kid. He is an artist, an activist, and a creative leader. But Robert Redford also inhabits another world, one where he’s known simply as “Bob.

From the Archives: Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford on Why He’s Always Believed in the Power of Documentary Filmmaking

The Sundance Film Festival’s longstanding commitment to documentary has been driven by the personal connection founder and president Robert Redford feels for the form. Leading up to the premiere of Chicago 10, the second doc to ever open the Festival, we talked to Redford about the past, present, and possible future of documentaries.You made an early commitment to documentary.

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