PORTLAND, Maine — When she got the chance to direct her first feature film, "Heightened," Sara Friedman was both thrilled and comforted by being able to shoot it in and around Portland and especially in Cape Elizabeth, the town where she grew up.
"We [shot for] a day at the Lobster Shack," she said, referring to the seafood restaurant that thousands of people visit every summer for an oceanside meal. "I’ve been eating lobster rolls there since I could chew, so it was really great."
As the film rolls, you’ll see Friedman’s name in several of the credits—as an actor, writer, executive producer, and director. That’s a lot of work, a lot of responsibility, but not uncommon for young filmmakers working on a tight budget.
"I’d done it for many short films," she said of juggling so many jobs, "But this was my first time doing it for a feature. I found the only way to get through it was to really trust my crew, to know that I could turn to my cinematographer—even though she’s supposed to be in charge of just the image—and say, 'Hey, was that [acting] take that I just did garbage? Should we go again?' And she’d say, 'You might want to go again.'"
In "Heightened" Friedman plays Nora, a young woman who has a mental breakdown while taking the bar exam and returns home to Maine for psychiatric outpatient treatment. The film features Maine native Dave Register and veteran film and TV actors Xander Berkeley and Sarah Clarke, who both live in Maine.
Now comes the task of getting the movie in front of as many people as possible. This year’s Maine International Film Festival in Waterville is screening "Heightened” twice (both shows sold out), and Friedman is working on selling the rights to the film for wider distribution.
"We’ve got some really exciting stuff going on," she said. "The goal for it now is for it to be on streaming and video on demand."