During her second pregnancy , Farmiga made her directorial debut with the micro-budget , Christian-themed drama '' Higher Ground '' , in which she starred as the protagonist , Corinne Walker . The film received " generally favorable reviews " on review aggregator site Metacritic and premiered at the 2011 Sundance . Many of her family members were involved in the production : Farmiga 's sister Taissa portrayed Corinne as a teenager , her husband Renn Hawkey served as a producer and musical director , and her cousin Adriana Farmiga served as an art curator . She received nominations in both acting and directing for the film , including the Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Director , and the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture . In his film review , critic Kirk Honeycutt of '' The Hollywood Reporter '' noted : " Directing debuts by actors do n't come any better than this " . Of her performance , Leonard Maltin of IndieWire remarked that Farmiga " gives an honest , empathetic performance should come as no surprise ; she is one of the most gifted and daring actresses of our time "
2011 Sundance
2011 Sundance Film Festival
Vera Farmiga