Krisha
The feature-length debut by Trey Edward Shults is made with the participation of his family and partially inspired by actual events. The eponymous character is played by the 26-year-old director's real-life aunt, actress Krisha Fairchild, while the director plays her son. Over a mere nine days in their Texas home, Shults produced a suffocating and dramatic portrait of a woman returning to visit the family she abandoned years before. The visit becomes painful for both sides; while Krisha spent years fighting her demons she only seemingly overcame her addictions. It makes for an intimate and unnerving character study (Justin Chang, "Variety") that evokes work by John Cassavetes, played out between truth and fiction, built on extreme emotions, both brutal and exceedingly sensitive to its characters. The film is the expanded version of Shults's short that won the Special Jury Prize at the 2104 South by Southwest indie film fest. The feature-length version Krisha took top honors at the 2015 festival edition and also garnered accolades when it screened as part of Critics Week in Cannes.
awards
South by Southwest FF 2015 – Audience Award, Grand Jury Award for the Best Narration Feature; Nashville FF 2015 – Best Actress (Krisha Fairchild); Taormina IFF 2015 – The Best Feature Film
Trey Edward Shults
(b. 1988, Houston) He studied Economics at the University of Texas, which he quickly abandoned in favor of his dream to direct films. He began in the business by interning with DOP Paul Atkins on The Tree of Life (2011) and working in the camera department on Terrence Malick's yet unfinished Voyage of Time. In 2014, Shults made the short Krisha,whichscreened at South by Southwest and garnered the Special Jury Award for Cinematography. He soon began work on the film's expanded feature-length version, which went on to claim that festival's Grand Jury Prize.
Filmography
2010 Mother and Son (short)
2011 Two to One (short)
2014 Krisha (short)
2015 Krisha
