Conference Grants: Sophia Perez at the Indigenous Imaginarium
We are pleased to support our students sharing their work at the premiere conferences in their field. Sophia Perez presented two projects at the seven-day conference produced by international non-profit If Not Us Then Who in partnership with Creative Artists Agency Foundation. From Sophia:
The Indigenous Imaginarium was a seven-day conference produced by international non-profit If Not Us Then Who in partnership with Creative Artists Agency Foundation, Nia Tero, Black and Indigenous Liberation Movement, The Tenure Facility, The Christensen Fund, and Artists for Amazonia. Held in Los Angeles, the Imaginarium brought together a cohort of Indigenous filmmakers and creatives from Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Canada, Colombia, and Indonesia. These storytellers then attended intimate panel discussions featuring Hollywood directors, cinematographers, producers, and writers, including Bill Pullman and James Cameron. The intention of the conference was to allow attendees to learn from and foster connections with industry experts, all while sharing cross-cultural experiences. One panel particularly interesting to me was a director's panel featuring Loren Waters, Kate Woods, Sylvie Rokab, and Dana Ledoux Miller. As one of the highest ranking Pacific Islanders in the entertainment industry, Dana Ledoux Miller offered valuable insights about the process of fostering Pacific Islander representation in front of and behind the camera in Hollywood as well as ethical methodologies for bringing marginalized communities' stories to major distributors like Netflix.
I presented two projects at the culminating event, an evening showcase during which each member of the filmmaker cohort introduced themselves and their work to an audience of Hollywood industry professionals. My first project, Tip of the Spear, is a documentary about the female-led Chamorro grassroots resistance to the US military's plans to build destructive training ranges across the Marianas archipelago. My second project, Island Time, is a Sesame Street-style children's show that teaches the Chamorro culture and language by featuring local actors, puppets, music, and animations.