Press
Interviews
“Freeland is a beautifully made debut feature about a generation of Californians who are being left behind by progress. Mario Furloni and Kate McLean’s feature debut benefits for giving its characters the air to breathe. This is enhanced by Furloni’s beautiful cinematography.”
“Fairchild’s central performance is the hook that pulls you into a mindset of nostalgia for a world gone by, putting you in direct emotional contact with a depressing disconnect from the more interconnected society that exists beyond Devi’s compound.”
“Krisha Fairchild Shines as a Marijuana Maven in the Exclusive Trailer for Freeland”
“a terrifically-crafted character drama that showcases Fairchild as a performer to be reckoned with”, “FREELAND is awarded with being this week's "Chosen One."
“Furloni and McLean allow these relationships to develop naturally, evincing a masterful grasp of storytelling that’s subtle and rich in innuendo.”
- Slant
“Dark Star Pictures Buys SXSW Pot-Farming Drama ‘Freeland’”
- Deadline
“Freeland tackles, in a very laid-back yet ominous series of events, the co-opting of underground economies by wealthy elites and governments, the total obliteration of the lifestyle nurtured by Devi and her old running buddy, Ray (Craven), frothing-at-the-mouth capitalism, and the emerging communicative and emotional gaps opening between herself and Josh, who’s open to going legal.”
“Fairchild's performance is so deftly layered with ferocity and wisdom, heartache and desperation, that it suggests whole realms beyond the screenplay's understated yet trenchant dialogue.”
“Freeland” builds from its humble start to a wrenching conclusion, and eventually coalesces into a poignant, understated character study about the destructive collision of nostalgia and regret — a stoner midlife-crisis drama that fully belongs to the era of legal weed, and what happens when people get screwed by it.
“There’s a veracity to Freeland that works, and it’s matched in Fairchild’s emotional performance, one that captures the fear and depression that comes with recognizing the world may be moving on without you.”
“Beautifully photographed by Furloni, doubling as cinematographer, Freeland showcases the breathtaking redwood forests, mountains and mists of northern California’s Humboldt County, a majestic backdrop for this fall from grace. While Devi reminisces about her glory days, evoked through brief, artfully shot, archival-like flashbacks, the landscape acts like a silent, eternal witness to her troubles.”
“Dev’s desperate slow burn fuels much of the tension, with Fairchild turning in yet another career-defining performance half a decade after 2015’s Krisha. Whether it’s reflecting with Ray on what they’ve lost since their commune days in the 1970s or shooting withering stares at the new generation of harvesters and corporate players, Fairchild brings an aching vulnerability to the no-nonsense Dev.”
“A ferocious feature debut”
“Co-director and cinematographer Mario Furloni’s camera captures the landscape, sunsets, and the fog of the Pacific Northwest with a stunning eye”
“[An] introspective, succinct mood piece enriched by Fairchild’s phenomenal lead performance and the artistic vision of two compassionate filmmakers in tune with the essence of their craft”
Kate McLean and Mario Furloni’s Freeland is one of the most exceptional dramas in this year’s festival…It’s a gentle, naturalistic tragedy about a subject that’s often sensationalized, with the always-dependable and exceptional Lily Gladstone and Frank Mosley in supporting roles.
“[A] powerful drama”
“Mario Furloni and Kate McLean’s film is one with the world it is in”
“Fairchild is magnificent”
““Freeland” is an unadulterated success.”
— Variety
“Like the heroine of their film, McLean and Furloni are learning to adapt.”
“Haunting and elegiac, "Freeland" tells the heartbreaking story of a Humboldt County pot farmer whose illegal operation comes crashing into mass decriminalization. This also has another absolutely astonishing performance from Krisha Fairchild who, after this and Trey Edward Shults' 2015 masterpiece "Krisha," is becoming an astounding new voice in cinema.”
“There’s slow, true tragedy in the offing, aided by a score by William Ryan Fritch and Furloni’s cinematography that emphasizes the vastness and beauty of Devi’s rural home. Freeland is compelling, emotional viewing.”
“We were hoping to tell a kind of universal story about coping with loss and change. We made this film pre-pandemic, but I think with so much loss in the world presently, I feel that theme even more when I watch it now.” - Kate McLean, Director
“We realised that there was an opportunity for deeper emotion, and we leaned on [William Ryan Fritch, Score] to create something a little bigger than we thought we would use and a little more evocative.” - Kate McLean
— WNYC
“We tried to keep as close to the reality of that place and the reality of what’s happening to small pot growers as possible, while creating this character, a fictional character, and trying to get into her mindset and into her feelings as she experiences this turmoil. “ - Mario Furloni
“That was a very happy accident that we got these incredible, very experienced people who were working around us and they basically just let us tuck the actors in around their table and we shot the scene. And I love that quality that they brought to it where we’re in the middle of their routine and we were living in their world a little bit as we did this and they ended up kind of getting into the process of filming, enjoying the dialogue and laughing at the jokes. Someone even improvised her own dialogue in response and put herself in the scene, which was really fun, so not all of it is in the film, but that feeling of it infused the scene in a really good way.” - Kate McLean
“There’s a lot of moments in Freeland because of the nature of the textures, Will has several tracks or several stems in his music that you turn it on and it’s just like an ambience, which very much goes with it’s sound. So you can start things and it grows into the cue and it’s a really beautiful way of going from something that is without any music into quite a score, but you don’t realize when you sink into the music. It feels very natural.” - Peter Albrechtsen
“It’s an absolutely brilliant and beautifully-made character drama that I can’t urge people enough to try to seek out", “a real gem”.