The 2017 independent film about a teenage girl in Sacramento that marked Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut was Lady Bird.
Written and directed by Gerwig, the coming-of-age film follows Christine McPherson, who insists on being called “Lady Bird,” during her senior year at a Sacramento Catholic high school in the early 2000s. Saoirse Ronan plays Lady Bird, while Laurie Metcalf portrays her fiercely loving and financially anxious mother.
The story draws on Gerwig’s Sacramento upbringing, though Lady Bird is not a literal autobiography. Gerwig had previously co-directed Nights and Weekends with Joe Swanberg in 2008, making this her first film as a solo director. The film premiered at Telluride in September 2017 and was released by A24 that November.
Lady Bird earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay. It is often confused with Frances Ha or Mistress America, films Gerwig co-wrote and starred in but did not direct alone.