Fighting to raise her son, save her home from foreclosure, and stay sober after her military husband's death, an Army widow with a dark secret goes to work for her small town's only Muslim family and is forced to come face-to-face with the demons that threaten to pull her under.
A poignant feature film about loss, forgiveness, and hope in America’s heartland, CASH FOR GOLD tells the story of Grace (played by writer and co-director, Deborah Puette), an Army widow hiding a dark secret.
Fighting to support herself and her young son (Sawyer Gacka) while clinging to her recent sobriety -- and with Christmas fast approaching -- she takes a job at the local pawn shop owned by the town’s only Muslim family.
She initially butts heads with the owner's son Hasan (Farshad Farahat), a man with a secret of his own. As their relationship deepens, forces within their tiny community propel them toward one dangerous, explosive night.
Will they each face the mistakes of their past...or be destroyed by them forever?
After a successful festival run that included Best Feature nominations from the Sunscreen Film Festival and Burbank International Film Festival and wins for Best Feature at the Duluth Film Festival and Audience Award at BIFF and subsequent limited theatrical run in select cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit, CASH FOR GOLD was distributed on VOD and DVD by Freestyle Digital Media on Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and other major providers. The feature, an expansion of the 2013 short film under the same title, is a deeply personal story that pulls from events in Puette's own life. It also marks her feature debut writer/co-director and is the product of a 20+ year collaboration with her manager, co-director, and dear friend Robert Enriquez. It also marks the feature debut of producer Ahmos Hassan and his banner, Chariot Films.
Deborah Puette is a queer, L.A. based creator working across film, television, and the American theater who credits her success as an emerging screenwriter and director to her twenty-five years as an award-winning actor.
Puette’s debut feature as writer and co-director, CASH FOR GOLD, is from her very first full-length script. Puette also stars in the film. CASH FOR GOLD won the Audience Award at the prestigious Burbank International Film Festival before being released on VOD in February of 2025.
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists raves, “Deborah Puette makes an auspicious directorial debut with CASH FOR GOLD…there’s no denying the power of [her] storytelling…[it] will leave you looking forward to whatever Puette does next.” The Chicago Reader calls it “a courageous repudiation of the cruel path this country has committed itself to,” while Film Threat praises the film as “a brick house-built drama,” highlighting its authentic depiction of life's challenges, and top critic Nell Minnow from RogerEbert.com says “it is the compassion the film has for its characters that is the film’s true grace.”
CASH FOR GOLD is now available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and other VOD platforms courtesy of Freestyle Digital Media.
Since then, Puette wrote, directed, and produced SUCH A PRETTY GIRL, a short film based on her semi-autobiographical TV pilot, PLAY LIKE A GIRL (Finalist, 2021 Writers Lab underwritten by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Oprah Winfrey). The film was Executive Produced by Robina Riccitiello (DÍDI, MUTT). The short film also serves as a proof-of-concept for her second feature which is currently in development with and will be produced by Rachel Stander’s company, A Season of Rain.
In the television space, Puette has written several pilots, the most recent of which, BLAZE, has been recognized by the GLAAD x Blacklist, Warner Brothers Writers Workshop, the NBC Writers Program, and was the recipient of Roadmap Writers Jump Start Grand Prize.
As an actor, Puette has recurred and guest starred on shows across virtually every network and streamer and has played lead and supporting roles in features for Disney, Miramax, and many independent production companies.
On stage, she's carried lead roles in over 30 plays and 100 workshops and her work has been nominated for every major theater acting award in both Chicago and Los Angeles. She’s the recipient of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award, Best Actress; L.A. Weekly Award, Best Actress; Los Angeles Critics Circle Award, Best Solo Performance; and, as a producer, the Ovation Award for Best Production.
Currently on VOD on most major providers
Limited theatrical screenings in select cities including Los Angeles (Laemmle Town Center), Chicago (Wayfarer), Minneapolis (Woodbury 10), Detroit (various).
Sunscreen Film Festival 2024
Burbank Film Festival 2024
Heartland Film Festival 2024
Burbank International Film Festival 2024 - Audience Award
Duluth Superior Film Festival 2024 - Best Feature
Sunscreen Film Festival 2024 - Best Feature (nomination)
Sunscreen Film Festival 2024 - Best Director (nomination)
Burbank International Film Festival 2024 - Best Feature (nomination)
Actor - Deborah Puette
Actor - JoBethWilliams
Actor - Jeff Kober
Actor - David Sullivan
Actor - Farshad Farahat
