{"id":159295,"date":"2022-01-27T00:32:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T05:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=159295"},"modified":"2022-01-27T00:45:52","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T05:45:52","slug":"sundance-2022-review-gods-country-starring-thandiwe-newton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/sundance-2022-review-gods-country-starring-thandiwe-newton\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundance 2022 Review: \u201cGod\u2019s Country\u201d Starring Thandiwe Newton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There’s a tone in Julian Higgins\u2019<\/strong> feature debut, \u201cGod\u2019s Country,\u201d<\/strong> that succinctly captures the essence of the film’s narrative in a way that alters how and what we think about survival. It\u2019s dark, heavy, delicate, honest and extreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandra (Thandiwe Newton<\/strong>) is very tired. It\u2019s been years of trying (and failing) to please her recently deceased mother, while also navigating the challenging politics and power dynamics at the college where she teaches. And then there is the racism, sexism, and toxic masculinity she encounters wherever she goes. But it\u2019s a confrontation with two hunters trespassing on her property that ultimately tests Sandra\u2019s self-restraint, pushing her grief and mounting anger to their limits. God\u2019s Country examines one woman\u2019s grieving process and determination to be taken seriously amid her refusal to surrender to the confines of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod\u2019s Country\u201d is based on a short story (Winter Light) by bestselling Montana author, James Lee Burke. In his version, the main character is an older white man. In \u201cGod\u2019s Country,\u201d the POV perspective gets flipped when the main character is changed to a black woman in her 40s \u2014 living in western Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandra (named after Sandra Bland) experiences a myriad of emotions but doesn\u2019t do a lot of talking, instead, she expresses most of how and what she feels through action, movement, body language, eyes, and facial expressions. This, along with Higgin\u2019s use of Montana\u2019s sparsely populated landscape and snow-capped mountains, inform and lift the visual narrative to an authentic height. Newton delivers a noteworthy performance as Sandra \u2014 a brave, admirable, poised and bold character that she embodies elegantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty in \u201cGod\u2019s Country\u201d juxtaposed against the ugliness of the antagonists is poetic and symbolic of the world we live in today; and silence, which is used as a powerful and nuanced communicative tool in the film, creates a pivotal space for this connection. What transpires in \u201cGod\u2019s Country\u201d is an unforeseen emotional experience that calls into question one\u2019s moral code and what we think about our ethics. Co-written by Shaye Ogbonna<\/strong> and Higgins, the modern day western <\/strong>packs enormous grit and gusto\u2014 making it a stand-out film at this year\u2019s Sundance<\/a> festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEET THE ARTIST<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\u201cGod\u2019s<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Julian Higgins is a Los Angeles\u2013based writer and director. His short films have screened around the globe and won dozens of prizes, including the gold medal Student Academy Award, two Student Emmy Awards, and the grand prize for Canon and Ron Howard\u2019s Project Imaginat10n contest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His most recent short, Winter Light, was a top 10 finalist for the Academy Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CREDITS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n