SARAH

The Twelve-year story of a rural American family and the girl who tries to hold it together.

“With RICH HILL,” 2014 Sundance Winner, “The audiences embraced the young men - there was understanding, empathy - but not so much for their mothers, who had all been teenagers when their sons were born. For the moms, there was judgment - why weren’t they better role models? Why did they have kids so young? That’s when I started to film with Sarah.” - Tracy Droz Tragos

Spanning twelve years, RICH HILL: SARAH chronicles the life of a 14-year-old high school girl who excels at math, exploring her choices and overwhelming family responsibility as she grows up to become a 26-year-old woman with three children, a minimum-wage job as a home health aide and a hard-earned GED. When dreams collide with hardships and lack of opportunity in rural America, Sarah and her siblings, just like the generation before them, make a series of compromises from which it seems unlikely they will recover.

Ultimately, this film is a meditation on family, the role of women in a family, and time itself - how people change and may also be stuck. Despite moments of great joy and celebration, and the redemptive power of enduring love - there is also deep regret and frustration, when teenagers face the back-breaking realities of parenthood - especially pregnancy and motherhood - and are drawn into repeated cycles of dropping out of school, abuse and addiction.

The smallest details of getting ready for work or bathing a baby are the memories years later that resonate. There are also destructive patterns that are revealed only with distance. A film about time will not always unfold chronologically, but sometimes embrace juxtaposition and montage, creating an impressionistic space for the audience to look at their own lives and choices - to remember who they once were and who they are now. Inspired by Apted's series “7 and Up,” Linklater's film “Boyhood,” and Edward Albee's “Three Tall Women” - SARAH is a long-form exploration on growing up, gender roles, identity and survival over time. 

This film is currently late-production (with an anticipated release in 2025) and has received support from CATAPULT FILM FUND and the JOHN SIMON GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION.

Learn more by watching ‘Sarah’s Uncertain Path’ - THE NEW YORK TIMES Op-Doc