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Sydney Freeland | |
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| Born | October 10, 1980 Gallup, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Nationality | Navajo Nation, American |
| Education | Academy of Art University, San Francisco |
| Occupation(s) | Director Screenwriter |
| Known for | Rez Ball (2024), Drunktown's Finest |
Sydney Freeland (born October 29, 1980) is a Native American filmmaker. She is a citizen of the Navajo Nation.
She wrote and directed the film Drunktown's Finest (2014), which garnered numerous acclaims after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. [1] Her second film, Deidra & Laney Rob a Train , debuted at Sundance and was released on Netflix in 2017; [2] her third, Rez Ball , released in 2024. [3]
Freeland was born in Gallup, New Mexico, in 1980 to a Navajo father and a Scottish mother, and she was raised on a Navajo Reservation. Freeland attended Academy of Art University in San Francisco [4] and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in computer animation and a Master of Fine Arts in film. She is a 2004 Fulbright scholar, who focused her scholarship on a field study of Indigenous peoples in Ecuador. Freeland received a 2007 Disney Scholarship and was a 2008 Disney Fellowship semifinalist. Freeland is also a 2009 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow. [4] [5]
Prior to making her first feature-length film, Drunktown's Finest, Freeland previously worked as a production assistant, as a writer and as a camera intern. [6] Freeland worked for a number of different media companies, including The Food Network, Walt Disney, Comedy Central, and National Geographic. [7] Freeland directed a six-minute short, Hoverboard, utilizing Kickstarter to help fund the short. [8] The film was inspired by Back to the Future Part II . Drunktown's Finest is her second venture into filmmaking. The 95-minute-long film [9] is a coming-of-age story about the complex issues surrounding identity and the struggles faced by Native American people. [9] [10] The film's name is inspired by a controversial 20/20 segment on ABC News, which branded the town of Gallup, New Mexico as "Drunk Town, USA", after the increase of instances of alcoholism on the border of the Navajo Nation. [11] Freeland wrote and directed Drunktown's Finest as a way to combat negative stereotypes of her home community. [9] Freeland, who is herself a transgender woman, also directed a digital series about queer and trans women called Her Story . [12] The series was nominated for the newly created Emmy Award category of Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama. [13]
In 2014 Freeland was named a United States Artists (USA) Fellow. [14]
On March 19, 2022, Freeland joined as a director for the upcoming superhero streaming series Echo for Disney+. [15] In 2022, she was included in the Fast Company Queer 50 list. [16]
| Award | Year | Project | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland Independent Film Festivals | 2014 | Drunktown's Finest | Narrative Feature - Honorable Mention [20] | Won |
| Heartland Film Festivals | 2014 | Drunktown's Finest | Narrative Feature [21] | Won |
| L.A. Outfest | 2014 | Drunktown's Finest | Outstanding American Narrative Feature [22] | Won |
| HBO Outstanding First Narrative Feature [22] | Won | |||
| Albuquerque Film & Media Experience | 2014 | Drunktown's Finest | Best of New Mexico [23] | Won |
| American Indian Film Festival | 2014 | Drunktown's Finest | Best Film [24] | Won |
| Best Supporting Actress [24] | Won | |||
| Best Actor [25] | Nominated | |||
| Best Director [25] | Nominated | |||
| Best Actress [25] | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor [25] | Nominated | |||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2016 | Her Story | Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series [26] | Nominated |
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