Julian Higgins and Shaye Ogbonna crafted a modern western with God’s Country that puts Thandiwe Newton in the spotlight as a woman going through grief with escalating conflicts that started with hunters trespassing on her property.

The film is dramatic that showed the challenges of a human spirit to the breaking point in the end.

The film also stars Jefferson White, Tanaya Beatty, Kai Lennox, Jeremy Bobb, and Joris Jarsky. Julian Higgins directed the movie that he wrote with Shaye Ogbonna.

Here is the Sundance film festival description of God’s Country:

Sandra (Thandiwe Newton) is very tired. It’s 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’s a confrontation with two hunters trespassing on her property that ultimately tests Sandra’s self-restraint, pushing her grief and mounting anger to their limits. God’s Country examines one woman’s grieving process and determination to be taken seriously amid her refusal to surrender to the confines of society.

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LRM Online’s Gig Patta talked with director/writer Julian Higgins and writerShaye Ogbonna. We talked about developing the modern western story along with a very complex character of Sandra in the film.

Julian Higgins has numerous praised short films that were screened globally that included a gold medal Student Academy Award, two Student Emmy Awards, and the grand prize for Canon and Ron Howard’s Project Imaginat10n contest. His short film Winter Light was a top 10 finalist for the Academy Award. He directed several episodes of the series Guidance.

Shaye Ogbonna wrote the 2017’s crime comedy Lowlife about the lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a luchador when a crime goes awry. He wrote several episodes of the television series Boomerang Kids and numerous short films.

God’s Country is showcased at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Watch the exclusive interview with Julian Higgins and Shaye Ogbonna below. Let us know what you think of the interview.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive, Sundance 2022