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Alaska's Midnight Sun: A Love Triangle Unfolds
11 Mar
Summary
- Film explores a woman's choice between two men in Alaska.
- Filming in Alaska presented unique challenges with constant daylight.
- The project aimed for a more mature, less shoestring approach.
Filmmakers Joe Swanberg and Jake Johnson have collaborated on "The Sun Never Sets," a dramedy premiering at SXSW. Departing from their Chicago roots, they chose Anchorage, Alaska, as the setting for this more mature film, starring Dakota Fanning in the lead role. Fanning plays a woman caught between her boyfriend (Johnson) and an ex-boyfriend (Cory Michael Smith) who has returned to town. The film's production embraced the distinct environment of Alaska, where the sun famously doesn't set, presenting unusual filming conditions.
Johnson noted the 11 p.m. daylight made nighttime scenes challenging, with perpetual daylight blurring the lines between day and night activities. Fanning, however, found the Alaskan setting, including her character's unusual role on a construction site, to be an appealing aspect. The duo also discussed their intentional shift towards a more substantial budget, moving away from their signature shoestring indie approach to allow for greater creative freedom and a less compromised final product.
