You may know her from Up In The Air, The Departed, or her excellent breakout turn in Down to the Bone, but Vera Farmiga has now gotten behind the camera. We just had the first poster for Farmiga‘s directorial debut Higher Ground, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival this year, and now the trailer has arrived.

I’ve heard divisive reactions since but it was one of my favorites at the festival, packed with wit, laughs, and strong performances led by Farmiga herself. Telling the life story of a woman and her spiritual struggles, the concept may seem dry, this new director is able to keep the pace moving, while still building to a heavy emotional payoff, up to the final shot.

Sony Pictures Classics will be releasing the film next month starring Joshua Leonard, John Hawkes, Dagmara Dominszyk, Donna Murphy, Bill Irwin, Norbert Leo Butz and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The first trailer below does a solid job selling some of the elements I liked, but pulled out of order and chopped up, it doesn’t really grasp one of my favorite aspects, long journey of this person’s life we experience. Check it out below or on Apple in HD.

Synopsis:

Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut, HIGHER GROUND, is a coming-of-age drama in which Farmiga delivers a subtle, nuanced performance completely from the gut, with equally strong and compelling supporting characters. Set against the backdrop of the Sixties, when feminism reached its zenith, the film expertly depicts the landscape of a tight-knit spiritual community. Inspired by the resonant memoir from Carolyn Briggs (who also wrote the screenplay) the film is an exquisite study of one woman’s internal struggle with the primary love relationships in her life. John Hawkes, Donna Murphy, Bill Irwin, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Joshua Leonard round out the cast, along with Farmiga’s younger sister Taissa, who proves herself to be an extraordinary new talent as Young Corinne.

Higher Ground hits theaters August 26th.

Are you a fan of Farmiga as an actor? Ready to see her directorial work?