‘Jazzy’ Trailer: Morrisa Maltz Follows ‘The Unknown Country’ with a Dreamlike Coming of Age Saga
Writer/director Morrisa Maltz may be known now thanks to her breakout feature “The Unknown Country” but the acclaimed filmmaker is clearly just getting started.
The “Unknown Country” quasi-sequel “Jazzy,” Maltz ‘s follow-up to her award-winning film, now puts Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreux’s titular character in the lead. Jazzy and her real life best friend Syriah Foolhead Means both play fictionalized versions of themselves as they experience the joys and heartbreaks of childhood friendships as two Indigenous girls growing up in South Dakota.
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“The Unknown Country” stars Lily Gladstone and Raymond Lee both reprise their respective roles in supporting parts. The film was acquired by Vertical for the North American and UK/IRE distribution rights.
“Jazzy” premiered at Tribeca, where IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote in her review that Maltz has crafted an “intoxicating” coming of age story.
“Maltz steeps us in Jazzy and Syriah’s world instantly, transporting us to the playgrounds and school buses where so many of the small dramas — all of which the filmmaker treats with care and respect — that frame their childhood experiences will take place,” the review reads. “And while the energy of this world is intoxicating, much of it bolstered by a zippy soundtrack that runs the gamut, we see small pains taking shape, too. […] While some in Hollywood may be turning against stories they feel are somehow too personal (looking at you, Pixar), this incredibly specific moment in Jazzy and Syriah’s friendship is more relatable and more affecting than reams of depersonalized studio stories. We don’t have to have lived it to feel it. That’s the magic Maltz is attempting to conjure up in her film, and the emotional experience of it proves rich indeed.”
Shangreux, who is Maltz’s goddaughter, won the award for Best Performance in a U.S Narrative Feature at Tribeca. The film is nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, one for editing and the other, the coveted Cassavettes Award. This will be Maltz’s second consecutive nomination for the Cassavettes Award. “Jazzy” was one of the first films to qualify for an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA.
Mark and Jay Duplass executive produce “Jazzy” as well. Gladstone also is an executive producer, telling IndieWire that with that credit, she knew she “would be involved in any way to just help nurture and foster and support the story of Jazzy, kind of like the relationship that Tana and Jazzy have. It’s an extension of that into reality.”
Maltz added of Gladstone’s impact on Shangreux specifically, “Jazzy looks up to Lily so so so much, it’s been really wild to watch her realize who Lily is and how she can look up to her. Understanding who Lily is and that she’s now been in two movies with Lily and has had this relationship with her that’s very close, it’s really deeply inspired Jazzy, not just in starting drama class, but also in how she speaks and talks about the projects she’s working on now.”
“Jazzy” premieres February 7 in select theaters from Vertical. Check out the trailer below.
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