Navajo writer/director Sydney Freeland began the journey to create Drunktown’s Finest in 2005, when she decided to take up the task of crafting an on-screen story that would accurately represent the variety of lifestyles present on the reservation she called home. Inspired by films such as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros, Sydney chose to create characters that reflected three dissimilar cultures found in her backyard – the macho, the LGBT, and the religious. Mentored by Legend Group Studios’ Ben Caswell, Sydney submitted an early version of the Drunktown script to Bird Runningwater with the Sundance Native Lab in 2009. When she was accepted into the Sundance Director’s Lab in 2010, Sydney shared the script with Robert Redford, who responded well to the material and, in early 2011, signed on as Executive Producer of the film.

 

The three storylines present in Drunktown were written and rewritten over the course of six years. When Sundance gave the script a thumbs-up in the spring of 2013, Sydney knew it was time to start shooting. Producer Chad Burris procured the necessary funding, and production began in July.

 

Drunktown’s Finest was shot on an intense fifteen-day schedule. After only six weeks of post-production, a working cut was submitted to Utah’s Sundance Film Festival. When the production ran out of funds to complete the editing process, they launched a rigorous Kickstarter campaign and in 30 days achieved their goal of $30,000.00 – all that was necessary to finalize the film.

 

Drunktown was accepted to Sundance in December of 2013 and premiered at the festival in January. Robert Redford, as well as the majority of the cast and crew, were in attendance. The film has screened at over twenty festivals since its 2014 world premiere, including the prestigious Sundance London Film and Music Festival. The critical response has been largely positive both at home and abroad, and Sydney anticipates that the future is bright for her debut film.