WE reached our initial GOAL!! BUT WE'RE NOT DONE YET - HELP US GET to $20,000!! It is going to take more to complete this film, so with the HOURS LEFT in our Kickstarter campaign it would be great to keep the love going! We’ve been successful so far because of the power of so many people! Every amount donated goes to completing this film so let's KEEP GOING! THANK YOU to ALL the people who have backed this film so far!! We can't do this without YOU!
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Historically Alaska Native peoples lived solely from the lands and waters of the far north; it is that relationship between land, water and people that has culturally defined the first peoples of Alaska. Today Alaska Natives face many challenges in a world dominated by differing values. Rapid lifestyle changes, forced assimilation, and historical traumas have led to severed connections to the land and waters; these struggles threaten the loss of traditional values that have sustained Alaska Native Peoples for millennium.
Alaska Native communities today are battling suicide rates six times the national average. Suicide is a problem that is difficult to think about and hard to talk about. In many families and communities people either do not want to talk about these tragedies or they do not know how to talk about them. Therefore the impacts of suicide get buried deep and individuals, families, and communities are left without a healing process.
We Breathe Again is a feature length documentary film that takes a real and intimate look at Alaska Native communities as they struggle with the impacts of suicide, and endeavor on a path of individual and community healing. The film presents journeys of both hardship and beauty; and it illuminates everyday paths toward reconnecting the severed ties between the people, the land, and the waters. Set in a landscape as dramatic as the stories, this film will push the audience to feel the rhythm of the land juxtaposed to the realities of its peoples.
We Breathe Again follows inter-generational Alaska Natives today, each shedding light on pieces of the past, present, and future of their culture and way of life. Through experiences of humor and sadness; of joy and despair, this documentary is an Alaska Native story about being Native today.
While this film project remains focused on Alaska Native communities, there is a universal relevance in the struggles, the learnings, and the path towards healing that are presented. Suicide is an issue that sadly manifests beyond Alaska; it is one of the most tragic indicators that something is very wrong in our communities, locally and globally. As global citizens we are facing uncertain times. Amongst other things, nation-states worldwide are facing economic meltdowns while climate change welds global weather havoc. Yet through Indigenous knowledge and worldview we may find solutions; we find a clear and deep relationship between people and the land and waters. In this film, Alaska Native individuals share their stories, and work to reclaim balance. This project presents a lens through which we might all see a reflection of our own local and global struggles, as well as a potential path of healing and well-being.
While we are only trying to raise $15,000 in this Kickstarter campaign, we still have a long way to go in order to bring this great film to completion. That's why we would really like to raise MORE than our goal. YOUR backing of this film today is so important to us - give a little or give a lot!
Here are a few of the rewards we are offering with your backing! much much more is written on the right column of your screen --> --> -->
Meet some of the We Breathe Again team that is working hard to bring these stories to the world:
Evon Peter, Executive Producer, is Gwichin (Alaska Native) and a leader in wellness among Alaska Native peoples. He is former Chief of the Neetsaii Gwich’in (Arctic Village) and Chief Executive of Gwanzhii, LLC. He served as both subject and cultural adviser for the award-winning feature length documentary, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action. His experience includes work within the United Nations and Arctic Council forum representing Indigenous interests. Evon has been working throughout Alaska with Native communities in suicide prevention, community wellness and healing, and in the development of young Indigenous leaders. Evon is nationally recognized as an inspiring speaker, strategist, and writer.
Marsh Chamberlain, Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor, is a first-time feature filmmaker and the founder of Crawl Walk Run, a New York based media production company. With a Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts degree from Ithaca College and a filmmaking background, Marsh has worked on numerous projects, including television specials (The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special! In 3D! On Ice!, HBO's Weight of the Nation), documentary films (The Greatest Movie Ever Sold), commercials (Nokia, Nike, Pepsi Max), and other media (Ken Burns American Journeys). As a young, white filmmaker living in New York City with Alaska Native connections through family, Marsh is able to offer a unique perspective to these stories.
Vivien Hillgrove, Supervising Editor, has more than 41 years of experience as an award-winning editor for both feature films and documentaries. Her documentary credits include seven films by Lourdes Portillo including La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead, The Devil Never Sleeps, Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena, and Senorita Extraviada, which won a special jury prize at Sundance and the 2002 International Documentary Award. Her other editing credits include First Person Plural and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee by Deann Borshay-Leim for POV and Independent Lens. Also for Independent Lens, she edited Heart of the Sea (Independent Lens Audience Award). Additionally, she edited the award-winning documentary Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, The Future of Food, and Symphony of the Soil, activist and educational films respectively.
Enei Begaye Peter, Producer & Executive Director of the Indigenous Leadership Institute, is of the Diné (Navajo) & Tohono O’odham Nations. She is an experienced grassroots organizer and an active speaker, strategist, and writer. Among other recognitions, Enei was named one of Utne Reader's "50 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World". Enei has worked in service to Indigenous communities through non-profit organizations for many years. She is a co-founder of non-profit organization Native Movement and served as a long-time Co-Director of the Black Mesa Water Coalition. Enei grew up on the Navajo reservation in Northeastern Arizona; she is Stanford University educated and currently lives in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Nathan Nagaruk, Associate Producer, is Inupiaq Alaska Native and active member in his community of Nome, Nathan has devoted numerous years of his life to Alaska Native youth and the Christian community. With a BA in Rural Development from the University of Alaska, he has been instrumental in the Christian vocational school - Amundsen Education Center, in Soldotna, AK. Struggling through turmoil and heartbreak from his own experiences, Nathan has emerged with hope and drive to show Alaskan youth a positive direction.
In addition to all these wonderful people, "We Breathe Again," has many more talented people dedicated to creating a quality documentary film!
Thanks for checking us out! And Thank You for your backing!!
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Funding period
- (30 days)