Director and cast member Vera Farmiga (R) and her sister and cast member Taissa Farmiga pose for a portrait while promoting their upcoming movie Higher Ground in Los Angeles August 23, 2011. After Vera Farmiga was nominated for an Oscar for her performance opposite George Clooney in the 2009 film Up in the Air, the actress was offered the chance of a lifetime -- not just to act in a film, but to direct it as well. The result is indie drama Higher Ground, due in theaters on August 26, 2011. The film is inspired by Carolyn Brigg's memoir This Dark World, in which a young woman enters a community of evangelical Christians, then begins to question her faith. Photo taken August 23, 2011.