Films
Full length or trailers of my films found here.
Public Trust: The Fight for America's Public Lands
As an extinction crisis looms and climate change continues to be one of the greatest threats our planet has ever faced, America’s 640 million acres of public lands support biodiversity and carbon sequestration. It’s essential that we fight for their protection by preventing the slashing of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, fighting the potential permanent destruction of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, and stopping the de facto sale of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—one of the last wild places in America.
Shash Jaa': Bears Ears
Shásh Jaa’ (Bears Ears) is a proposed 1.9 million acres of Utah wilderness considered sacred lands to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Hopi, Zuni) coming together to protect this pristine area from natural resource extraction and make this area a designated National Monument in collaborative management partnership with tribes.
Mulheres Na Capoiera
A Short film for Sight and Sound NYU Summer Film Program 2015.
Into America - The Ancestors' Land
An extraordinary couple embarks on a journey INTO the heart of AMERICA starting in the water metropolis of Seattle and heading for THE sacred ANCESTORS’ LAND on the arid Navajo Reservation. Showing a dramatic family portrait of a loving grandmother, Helen Yellowman – an enchanting traditional Navajo storyteller who refuses to speak English – and her adult grandson, Angelo Baca – a young academic who commutes between the two worlds, this road trip reveals an unknown America. As both navigate through America’s contradictions, nonetheless celebrating their strong connection to the homeland, it gradually comes to light: the Ancestors’ Lands are being desecrated.
The Return Home
A fiction short film about repatriation, both domestic and international, across museums, private collectors, and black market dealers made for NYU Tisch School of Arts Sight and Sound Summer Film Program 2015.
The Art of Speed
Misha Averill, a Native American and Japanese speed skater, is on a quest for national championships and Olympic gold. This short inspirational documentary about her overcoming obstacles and challenges to be a national champion is a motivational example of an exceptional young woman aiming for great achievements in sports and education. Made for Toronto International Short Documentary Film Competition in 2010, this film is about her passion, dedication, and ultimate goal of success in the dangerous sport she loves.
In Laman's Terms: Looking at Lamanite Identity
“What is a Lamanite?” Based on this single basic question, one Native American man seeks out answers to hard questions about Indian and Mormon identity. Angelo Baca, a Navajo and Hopi filmmaker, takes a personal journey exploring the influences of the Mormon culture upon his own and what the definition of a Lamanite really means from individuals from within the church as well as outside of it. Traveling across the country from New York to Hawaii, issues such as colonization, assimilation and proselytizing of indigenous populations are confronted and discussed. From an Indigenous perspective, this provocative documentary explores the impacts the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon has on native peoples and communities challenging the traditional, some might even say racist, notions of the original term and its place in the church’s teachings. A documentary whose answers will surprise and enlighten you.
A Return to Wellness
In 2007 the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) was launched, marking a significant moment in the advancement of indigenous ways of knowing in health policies, practices, and knowledge development. A truly collaborative endeavor, " A Return to Wellness" was created and produced by the IWRI Faculty and Staff as well as the Native Voices Program at the University of Washington to provide a multi-media platform for understanding the impacts of historical processes, current practices, and future innovations on Indigenous experts to illuminate the implications and importance of decolonizing and indigenizing policies, practices, and research in healing and transforming the health of Indigenous communities.
A Mormon and Shoshone Experience
This documentary short revisits the dark history of early Mormon settlement in Utah. Mae Parry, an 86-year-old elder and tribal historian for the Northwestern Band of Shoshone, recounts her tribe's experiences and her family's hardship. The result is an honest and heartbreaking look at the interactions between Mormons and Native Americans that traumatically echo its effects even today.