Family Portrait (feature drama, 75 minutes, 4K, DCP, color, sound)
A “period piece” hearkening back to a time of very recent memory, Kerr’s enigmatic and disquieting directorial debut takes place one summer day on a sprawling, idyllic estate in Texas. A large family gathers to take a group picture, only for the matriarch to disappear and the rest of the clan to seemingly scatter to the wind, leaving daughter Katy (Deragh Campbell) to try to salvage the gathering in a world where reality is increasingly untrustworthy. A subtly modulated work that gets under the viewer’s skin by way of ominous sound design and masterfully orchestrated Steadicam cinematography, creating an unforgettable atmosphere of ambient anxiety. (Courtesy of Metrograph)
Theatrical Runs: Metrograph, Now Instant Image Hall, Austin Film Society, MDFF Selects at TIFF Lightbox, and the Gene Siskel Film Center
World Premiere: Locarno Film Festival
Awards: Locarno Boccalino d'Oro for Best Director 2023, Nueve Horizontes Best Director Award Black Canvas Film Festival 2023, Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Artistic Contribution (Sound, Camera, Production Design) at Hainan Island IFF, FIDLab AirFrance Prize 2022, Austin Film Society Feature Film Grant 2022, US in Progress 2022 New Horizons Award
Festivals: Chicago International Film Festival, El Gouna Film Festival, Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival, American Film Festival, Houston Cinema Arts Festival, Black Canvas Film Festival, Fest de Films de Femmes, D’A Film Festival Barcelona, Al Este International Film Festival, Unknown Pleasures Berlin, Hainan Island International Film Festival, Debut22 Film Festival, Festival Regards Satellites, France UNDERDOX, Germany, PriGobal International Film Festival Kosovo, Festival Internacional de Cine Al Este, Peru
Distribution: Metrograph At Home Summer 2024, Currently on VOD
Director and Writer: Lucy Kerr
Additional Writers: Karlis Bergs and Rob RIce
Producer: NSF, Megan Pickrell
Director of Photography: Lidia Nikonova
Editor: Karlis Bergs
Directorial Advisor: Rob Rice
Sound Design: Andrew Siedenburg and Nikolay Antonov
Featuring: Deragh Campbell, Chris Galust, Rachel Alig, Katie Folger, Robert Salas, Silvana Jakich, Veronica Cinibulk, Ed Hattaway, Vanessa Cetodal, Christian Huey, Les Weiler, David McGuff, Miriam Spumpkin, and Luke, Gray, Rhett, and Magnolia Picarazzi