News

Margo is a Native American teenager living up river somewhere in Michigan in 1977 and who, after a tragic incident, is about to undertake an American odyssey in an indie key. Although first-time feature director Haroula Rose lays on the narration thickly to begin with, when stitching Margo's back story more carefully through the film would have been less clunky, she has a strong grasp of visual storytelling - from the lush riverside landscapes where Margo goes hunting to the honeyed glow cinematographer Charlotte Hornsby gives to much of the action.

Living with her single dad (Tatanka Means), after her mother apparently abandoned them, in the middle of what seems to be a predominantly white community, Margo's ability with a gun has garnered the jealousy of her cousin Billy (Sam Straley) and the attention - not necessarily savoury - of her uncle Cal (Coburn Goss)...

A resourceful girl goes in search of her mother in first-time feature director Haroula Rose’s slice of Americana

Mark Twain meets Winter’s Bone in this slice of Americana from first-time feature director Haroula Rose. It opens with a Terrence Malick-ish monologue by 15-year-old Margo (Kenadi DelaCerna): “I missed momma, the way she smelled of cocoa butter and white wine.” A tough, resourceful teenager, Margo lives in a rundown town on the banks of the fictional Stark river in Michigan – the kind of place where skeletons of old cars pile up in front yards. Her mom ran out a year earlier (“The river stink drove her crazy”), leaving Margo and her Native American dad Bernard (Tatanka Means). And here the voiceover ends, slightly frustratingly, since Margo rarely speaks, and this is the only time that we get much of a hint of her inner life.

She spends...

Native American teen Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna) has never been able to choose her own path through life. She and her father Bernard (Tatanka Means) live on the land of his white half-brother Cal Murray (Coburn Goss) who also owns the industrial plant that more or less keeps their Michigan town afloat. She learned to hunt and fish as a means of survival after her Mom (Lindsay Pulsipher’s Luanne) left them one night saying the Stark River valley would kill her if she didn’t escape it. So now Margo must follow her freshly sober father’s vital rules as she’s racially abused by her cousins and comforted by her uncle—a dynamic that barely masks upcoming trauma to inevitably place her in the same shoes as her estranged mother.

This is where we meet Margo at the start of Haroula Rose’s Once Upon a River, adapted...

The well traveled musician (with fanbases in surprising spots around the globe) and filmmaker Haroula Rose got her first producing credit for Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station and has been progressively moving into the filmmaker’s chair via short films, the docu form, and TV. She brought to US in Progress a tale of redemption where love, logic and loss inform the route that the film’s fearless heroine Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna) embarks on. Adapted from the Bonnie Jo Campbell’s novel, this outdoorsy, Twain-esque misadventure with a certain 1970’s American cinema aesthetic. Once Upon a River was among the quartet of projects featured at the 2018 US in Progress – American Film Festival in Wrocław.…...

"When the time comes, you better live up to your end of the bargain." Film Movement has released a trailer for Once Upon a River, marking the feature directorial debut of up-and-coming filmmaker Haroula Rose. This premiered at the Bentonville Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Chicago and Thessaloniki Film Festivals. Based on Bonnie Jo Campbell's novel, the film tells the story of a young Native American woman, Margo Crane's odyssey on the Stark River, which introduces her to a world filled with wonders and dangers. Written & directed by Haroula Rose, this "midwestern gothic Americana story" is, in the words of Jane Smiley for the NY Times, "an excellent American parable about the consequences of our favorite ideal, freedom." Starring Kenadi DelaCerna, with John Ashton, Tatanka Means, Ajuawak Kapashesit, Lindsay Pulsipher, and Josephine Decker. This looks like an authentic, personal coming-of-age story. Here's the...

Both dramas to release on home entertainment and digital platforms after virtual cinema debut.

Film Movement has picked up all North American rights to female-directed coming-of-age dramas Once Upon A River and Carmilla and will release both through its virtual cinema initiative this year.

Feature debutante Haroula Rose’s Once Upon A River is based on Bonnie Jo Campbell’s Midwestern novel of the same name.

The story takes place in 1970s rural Michigan as a traumatised young woman (newcomer Kenadi DelaCerna) embarks on a river odyssey to find her estranged mother. Film Movement acquired the film from the producers.

The Bentonville Film Festival announced their lineup of gala selections and competition films which includes the world premieres of Joey Travolta’s Carol of the Bells, Haroula Rose’s Once Upon a River. Co-founded by Geena Davis will kick off with a screening of Tom Donahue’s documentary This Changes Everything and a special presentation of the festival’s signature event, Geena and Friends. The fest takes place May 7-11 in Bentonville, Ark.

The fest champions more diversity and inclusiveness in the film industry and beyond. This year’s competition selections includes 15 narrative films, 14 documentaries, and 9 episodic projects. Of the lineup, 81% are female directed and 68% of the selections include a Poc director and/or cast/subject in the forefront.

“This year’s lineup of films truly exemplifies our mission and we are thrilled to highlight the work of female filmmakers, people of color, Lgbtq+, filmmakers, talent with disabilities and more — in other words,...