Two big winners out of Sundance 2018 have secured distribution: Reed Morano’s post-apocalyptic drama “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Shirkers,” Sandi Tan’s documentary about the bizarre circumstances surrounding the making of her first film. Momentum Pictures acquired U.S. rights to the former and Netflix snagged worldwide rights to the latter, Deadline reports.
Starring Elle Fanning and Peter Dinklage, “I Think We’re Alone” centers on a misanthropic man who’s finally at peace now that the rest of humankind is extinct — or so he thinks. A talkative teenager shows up and turns his world upside town.
“I felt like it could be a very personal, subjective, psychological, and emotional examination of life in a post-apocalyptic world,” Morano told us. “It’s not about why the human population has been wiped out: it’s a story about how you would feel if that were to happen. It’s about what human connection means to someone who never actually connected to people when they were around,” the “Meadowland” helmer explained. “I wanted to do a character study of two very fundamentally different people who are coping with the loss of humanity in very distinct ways and the effect they inevitably have on one another.”
The pic received a Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at Sundance.
“Reed is an incredible storyteller,” said Ian Goggins, SVP Content at Momentum. “Her vision left an indelible mark on ‘I Think We’re Alone Now,’ which brings an extraordinarily thought provoking film about human connection to life. We’re thrilled to work alongside her, the producers, and cast on this very special movie that is a labor of love for all involved.”
Morano just won an Emmy and DGA Award for directing the pilot of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” making her the first woman to take home both honors. The “Frozen River” cinematographer will resume shooting on her next project, spy thriller “The Rhythm Section,” in the coming months. Production is temporarily suspended because the film’s star, Blake Lively, suffered an injury on set. Morano also has an untitled drama starring Diane Lane and Jeff Bridges on the way.
“Shirkers” won the Directing Award in World Cinema Documentary at Sundance. The doc investigates what happened to Tan’s former collaborator and mentor, a film teacher she made a 16 mm film with. After they shot the project, “he vanished with all 70 cans of the footage — 700 minutes worth — leaving our dreams in tatters,” Tan told us. She hopes that seeing “Shirkers” inspires audiences “to rediscover their lost frenzies and forgotten appetites, to want to just go out and make stuff — totally DIY, fearless, free — without worrying about success or failure or if people think you’re uncool or weird. Try! Live! Love!”
“I’ve always dreamed of sharing my stranger-than-fiction film ‘Shirkers’ with the widest audience possible, so am thrilled for Netflix to help tell this story to new generations of iconoclastic, creative people around the world,” Tan said in a statement. “I hope the true story of my youthful misadventures will inspire people to turn their crazy dreams into reality.”
“‘Shirkers’ speaks to a part of us that rarely get expressed — that bold spirit of making your own art regardless of the challenges,” Netflix VP of Original Documentary Programming Lisa Nishimura added. “Sandi Tan has an exquisite, hypnotic story to tell, one that stretches from teenage rebellion to a kind of personal homecoming that all audiences can relate to.”
