THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY
Bay Area Premiere
SPIRIT | MIND THE GAP | US CINEMA
US 2022, 85 min, Morrisa Maltz
October 10 – CAFILM FREE MEMBER SCREENING
Morrisa Maltz’s staggering second feature is a thousand things at once. It’s an ode to the mysteries of the American Midwest, a joyous meditation on modern Native American life, a seamless amalgam of fiction and documentary, and an unflinching reflection on grief. Reeling from a loved one’s recent death, Tana (Lily Gladstone), a young Native woman, embarks on a solo road trip from Minnesota to the Texas-Mexico border. Along the way, the fictional Tana interacts with real, delightfully idiosyncratic figures, making for a Nomadland-style documentary-feature hybrid, full of tactile, stranger-than-fiction touches. The characters, the ubiquitous looming mountains, the striking neon-bathed rest stops and motel rooms, all are expressed with an overwhelming feeling of humanity. The Unknown Country is a breathtaking and deeply personal account of growth amidst an uplifting search for one’s place in the world. —Aurora Amidon
INVITED GUESTS: writer-director Morrisa Maltz, writer-actor Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux, actor Lily Gladstone, writer-editor Vanara Taing
