Sundance Institute

Institute History

2025 Sundance Film Festival

Description

After a wildfire takes the family farm, a rancher seeks a way forward.

Max Walker-Silverman’s sophomore feature is a personal, affecting story of a community’s life and resilience. A follow-up to his captivating debut, A Love Song (2022 Sundance Film Festival), Rebuilding similarly operates as a careful, loving portrait of the American West — this time whispered in the quiet aftermath of environmental and personal disaster. Against the backdrop of charred lands and a struggling small town, scattered lives coalesce in grief, and a uniquely resonant love story emerges.

Josh O’Connor is a subdued and assiduous protagonist, embracing a call to heal his fledgling family and newfound community. Authentic, nuanced performances from Meghann Fahy, Amy Madigan, and Kali Reis quilt a narrative enveloped by the multiplicity of the American experience — legacies of land, labor, and family.

Rebuilding is a warm tip of the hat to community building through human tenacity, and the abundance of life and love contained therein.—Cameron Asharian

Available in person only.

Screenings include closed and open captions.

Screening Details

Section: Premieres
Film Type: U.S. Narrative Feature
Country: United States
Language: English
Run Time: 95 min.

Credits

Production Designer
- Juliana Barreto Barreto
Editor
- Ramzi Bashour
- Jane Rizzo
Executive Producer
Costume Designer
- Lizzie Donelan
Music
- James Elkington
- Jake Xerxes Fussell
Actor
Casting
- Ann Goulder
Producer
Co-Producer
- Ivan Lafayette
- Rebecca Wyzan
Director of Photography
- Alfonso Herrera Salcedo
Director
- Max Walker-Silverman
Screenwriter
- Max Walker-Silverman

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