David Farnor | On 08, Feb 2024

Apple TV+ and Lily Gladstone are reuniting, with the streaming platform picking up the rights to the film Fancy Dance.

Gladstone is currently nominated for an Oscar for her leading role in Apple Original film Killers of the Flower Moon. Now, Apple is shining a spotlight on the actor once again by acquiring the global rights to Fancy Dance, following its premiere at Sundance.

The movie marks the feature directorial debut for Erica Tremblay, who co-wrote the film alongside Miciana Alise. The film offers a nuanced account of the human costs of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic, and the possibilities of healing for those left behind.

Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Gladstone) has cared for her niece, Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson), by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s father, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search, gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonised world at the mercy of a failed justice system.

Gladstone stars alongside Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Whigham, Crystle Lightning and Audrey Wasilewski. She also exec-produces alongside Bird Runningwater, Charlotte Koh and Forest Whitaker, with Deidre Backs, Tremblay, Heather Rae, Nina Yang Bongiovi and Tommy Oliver serving as producers.

The deal was brokered by WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.

“Our film Fancy Dance has found the perfect home with Apple, and I am thrilled to share this beautiful story of two Seneca-Cayuga women with a global audience,” Tremblay said. “As a Native American filmmaker, seeing my community included in the rich tapestry of cinema is a dream come true.”

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