John Henry Summerour grew up in Chickamauga, GA, the son of a Methodist minister. He earned his BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the British American Drama Academy in London. His first short film, “Chickamauga,” screened at the 2008 Atlanta, Austin, Sidewalk and Rome International Film Festivals, among others. He is the recipient of the 2006 Screenwriters Colony Residency on Nantucket, and the 2010 IFP Narrative Lab Fellowship. “Sahkanaga” is his first feature film.
About the Film
What would you do if you stumbled upon a secret that could destroy your family’s business, ruin your chances at love, and completely upend your community? When a teenager in rural Georgia makes a gruesome discovery in the woods, he finds himself contending with these monumental questions. Based on actual events, "Sahkanaga" is an unusual coming-of-age story with a number of disturbing mysteries and uncomfortable confrontations at its core. The film’s lush cinematography captures the fecund beauty of Appalachia, which looms over the ordinary rituals of its unsuspecting residents as a constant reminder of the vast unknown, haunting even the most apparently innocent and simple of places.
- Kristina Aikens, Independent Film Festival Boston
