Willa has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Take Me Home,” the debut feature from writer-director Liz Sargent.
“Take Me Home” premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and made its international premiere at the Berlinale in the Perspectives competition section this year.
In “Take Me Home,” 38-year-old Korean adoptee Anna cares for her aging parents in a fragile balance of meeting each others’ needs. When a Florida heat wave shatters their family and Anna’s routine, her future is uncertain until she creates a world in which she can thrive. Sargent’s debut drama examines the shifting demands placed on a unique — and uniquely challenged — family in a Florida suburb.
The cast includes newcomer Anna Sargent (the director’s sister) as Anna, Ali Ahn and adopted sibling Emily and Victor Slezak as their father, who is covering up signs of dementia.
Expanded from Sargent’s acclaimed short (2023 Sundance Film Festival, supported by Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge with CAPE/Janet Yang Prods.), Sargent’s film exposes the indignities of the American health care system and the structural challenges faced by disabled people.
Willa plans a theatrical rollout planned for this fall, accompanied by an impact campaign in partnership with Caring Across Generations, a leading national organization working to transform the systems and culture supporting care and caregiving in the U.S, that also houses the media company Give Not Take Media.
In 2025, “Take Me Home” won a $1M production prize from Tribeca’s AT&T Untold Stories program, the largest production award in the world. The film will have its New York premiere at Tribeca Festival in June.
Produced by Apoorva Guru Charan (“Joyland” and one of Variety’s 2026 10 Producers to Watch), Minos Papas (“Motherwitch,” “Take Me Home” short) and Sargent, it’s executive producers include Ai-jen Poo and Lydia Storie for Give Not Take Media, Jane Shin Park, Andrew Kim, Bryce Norbitz & Michelle Hamada for Tribeca Studios, Philipp Engelhorn and Candice Sanchez McFarlane for Cinereach, Bill Pohlad and Kelly Martin for River Road Entertainment, Anita Bhatia Foundation for Tomorrow, Elizabeth Woodward for Willa and Janet Yang.
“ ‘Take Me Home’ is exactly the kind of film Willa seeks out to support,” said Woodward, founder and CEO of Willa. “Liz has created a film that is profoundly intimate and urgent, grounded in lived experience yet universally resonant. It’s a film that not only moves audiences, but demands engagement with the systems that shape our lives.”
Sargent said, “I feel so fortunate to work with a rare and intentional distribution team that understands the great potential for this very personal film to connect with wide audiences. From the beginning, we believed this story would be a powerful underdog of a film that could open hearts and shift perspectives. Willa is exactly the team to help bring that vision to life.”
Give Not Take Media, who executive produced “Take Me Home,” will stay on as Willa’s partner in leading an impact campaign that extends the film’s themes beyond the screen, which includes community screenings and public conversations to connect the theatrical release to a national listening tour designed to help inform transformative solutions for the 130 million caregivers and their families who are struggling to afford and manage care.
Willa will lead a multi-phase release strategy spanning theatrical, awards and digital streaming platforms, accompanied by targeted community screenings, partnerships, and policy-focused activations. Willa’s most recent release, The Voice of Hind Rajab,” hit nearly $1 million at the North American box office. It was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA after winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2025.
