Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Liz Sargent, the Writer-Director of Take Me Home

By Lucy Spicer

One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2026 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about them as people. We decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!

Liz Sargent didn't go to film school. In fact, her background is in modern dance and experimental theater. News flash: There is not a huge audience for modern dance or experimental theater. It is hard, ethereal work, she explains. And I found that I want to share my stories with a broader audience to be in conversation with something that can find people throughout time, to hold the existence of the things I value and ponder. Film became the medium by which Sargent would share her feature debut, Take Me Home, which is premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Expanded from a proof-of-concept short film that premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Take Me Home follows Anna (played by the writer-director's real-life sister Anna), a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, as she navigates caregiving responsibilities for her aging parents within a health care system where resources and support for individuals with disabilities are scant. This is my most personal and vulnerable story, says Sargent. Shot in my parents' home, built from moments we lived together - so getting to world-premiere it for a Sundance audience that's open-minded and excited about new voices feels like the perfect way to send it into the world.

In addition to resonating with anyone who has had to face the complications of caregiving, Take Me Home provides a rare opportunity for audiences to see a big-screen performance by a lead actor with a cognitive disability. Expanding the industry's idea of who gets to lead a film isn't just a creative choice; it's a practical, human one. When we build a set and a process around an actor like Anna - when communication, pacing, and expectations shift to meet her where she is - we see that the work becomes richer, says Sargent. If Take Me Home leaves any lasting message, I hope it's that making space for people who think, speak, and move through the world differently isn't charity - it's an artistic advantage. It's good storytelling. And it's good business.

Below, find more insight from Sargent about the making of Take Me Home, including one of her favorite memories from production - discovering that Anna is a frat boy at heart.

Liz Sargent, director of Take Me Home, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute (Photo by Erica Urech)

What was the biggest inspiration behind Take Me Home?

My sister Anna is a real boss lady. Her stubborn nature can drive me nuts, but her hugs can also totally disarm me with the most sincere loving goodness I could ever experience. SMH - sisters!

This project was born from thinking about how the world isn't set up for Anna, who was born with a cognitive disability that left her with little short-term memory and other unique disabilities. Anna is spicy, she is blunt in the best way, and she feels everything deeply.

Anna is the youngest of 11 children. My parents had four biological children then adopted seven more, six of whom are Korean, several with disabilities. Our home had a natural chaos and also an innate value of symbiotic caregiving. As we grew older, a deep anxiety developed and I found myself overwhelmed by the lack of supportive resources and bureaucracy in the health care system and the ways in which so much of our country isn't set up for disabled people or their families to thrive.

When I first began writing, the script felt like a diary entry. The entry point was my anxiety for what Anna's future will look like when my aging parents can no longer take care of her. What is our responsibility to our family as we grow older?

But as I kept writing, I realized the perspective that mattered most wasn't mine - it was Anna's. Her original heart and humor are the truth that made this film. She is my muse, my guide, and the emotional backbone of the story. When you meet her, you'll realize it was an obvious choice. Anna is a star.

Describe whom you want this film to reach.

This film is for anyone who has a complicated family. If you love someone, then you will be a caregiver one day.

While this story is rooted in the specific lived experiences of adoptees and people with disabilities, it is through the specificity that the film opens into something universal: the profound, often messy, always human reality of caregiving and the ethical questions it stirs.

Because if you love someone (a parent, a partner, a child, a sibling, a friend), then at some point, in some form, you will be faced with these caregiving questions. This film is an invitation to reflect on that inevitability with compassion and without judgment. But it also hopes to ignite action, to create support systems and health care that gives us all the support we need to age with dignity.

Tell us an anecdote about casting or working with your actors.

Anna has very little short-term memory. Her acting coach, Terra Mackintosh, created bespoke rehearsals to help her understand the dynamics of each scene, while the autobiographical script gave her a shortcut understanding of the relationships.

Often we would prompt lines to help guide Anna during the shoot, while also trying to allow space to use her own language or improvise a bit. We had such incredible actors for this film - talent with deep understanding of their characters and

LINK:	https://www.sundance.org/blogs/give-me-the-backstory-get-to-know-liz-s...
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