Leave No Trace is a 2018 American independent drama film directed by Debra Granik. The film is written by Granik and Anne Rosellini, based on Peter Rock's 2009 novel My Abandonment, which is based on a true story.

Debra Granik

She made 3 years earlier a documentary about a Vietnam war veteran with PTSD: "Stray Dog".

Winter's bone (2010): big success - but she still did not get big studios support: “The stuff that I like to tell stories about aren’t really what people [in the studios] are looking for.”

Linear narration, no back story/flashback, but with subtle hints that cast the characters, reinforcing the "be here now" feeling that matches the story perfectly. A non-judgmental story with no bad guy.

Leave No Trace is a national program that protects the outdoors by teaching and inspiring people to enjoy it responsibly. Establish rules for US national parks visitors.

Leave no trace

Title

Filmed in Oregon: Portland

Commercial and critical success

Book vaguely based on a true story (a father and daughter living in a forest near a big city for years). The film deviates from the book in the second half.

Both main actors followed survival skills classes.