Sydney Freeland
| Sydney Freeland | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 29, 1980 Gallup, New Mexico, United States |
| Education | Academy of Art University, San Francisco |
| Occupation | Director Screenwriter |
| Known for | Drunktown's Finest |
| Home town | Los Angeles, California |
Sydney Freeland (born 1980) is a Navajo filmmaker. She wrote and directed the short film Hoverboard (2012) and Drunktown's Finest (2014), which garnered numerous acclaims after premiering at Sundance.
Freeland was born in Gallup, New Mexico, USA in 1980, to a Navajo father and a Scottish mother. She was raised on a Navajo reservation, and her hometown, Gallup, was dubbed “Drunktown.” Freeland attended Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is a 2004 Fulbright scholar, focusing her scholarship on a field study of indigenous peoples in Ecuador. She has a Master of Fine Arts in film, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in computer animation. Freeland is a 2007 Disney Scholarship recipient and a 2008 Disney Fellowship semifinalist. Freeland is also a 2009 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow.
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. Freeland worked in a number of areas, including; The Food Network, Walt Disney, Comedy Central, and National Geographic. Freeland directed a six-minute short, Hoverboard, utilizing Kickstarter to help fund the short. 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 is a coming-of-age story about the complex issues surrounding identity and the struggles faced by Native American people. 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. Freeland wrote, directed Drunktown's Finest as means to combat the negative stereotype of her home community. Freeland, who is herself a transgender woman, also directed a digital series about queer and trans women called Her Story. The series was nominated for the newly-created Emmy Award category of Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama.
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