Mother of Color 3-17 by Dawn Jones Redstone
Click through the presentation above for an overview of the film.
LONGER SYNOPSIS
Noelia is a whip-smart community organizer and single mother of two who secretly struggles to get by. She pretends to be able to do it all, but she can’t find adequate childcare, her boss won't cut her a break and the ringing in her ear is getting worse. Despite her ambition to run for office someday, she constantly has to choose her family over her career. One day, she visits a curandera to try to get relief from the tinnitus. The healer believes that her ancestors are trying to tell her something and that Noelia must listen closely and watch for the signs.
Later, when Noelia’s boss tells her she’s losing her job, she gets invited to interview for a position that could change the course of her career, but there's one catch: it's the next day and she'll have to find last-minute childcare. As she sets out to find care for her kids, the ringing begins to morph into strange sights and sounds. Noelia senses that something bigger is at play as she works through a series of obstacles to try to make it to the interview and follow her dreams.
Noelia is a whip-smart community organizer and single mother of two who secretly struggles to get by. She pretends to be able to do it all, but she can’t find adequate childcare, her boss won't cut her a break and the ringing in her ear is getting worse. Despite her ambition to run for office someday, she constantly has to choose her family over her career. One day, she visits a curandera to try to get relief from the tinnitus. The healer believes that her ancestors are trying to tell her something and that Noelia must listen closely and watch for the signs.
Later, when Noelia’s boss tells her she’s losing her job, she gets invited to interview for a position that could change the course of her career, but there's one catch: it's the next day and she'll have to find last-minute childcare. As she sets out to find care for her kids, the ringing begins to morph into strange sights and sounds. Noelia senses that something bigger is at play as she works through a series of obstacles to try to make it to the interview and follow her dreams.
TEAM
Dawn Jones Redstone, Writer/Director
Dawn (she/her) is an award-winning queer, Mexican-American filmmaker whose short films (like 2016's Sista in the Brotherhood) have screened around the globe. Her work features women of color and explores themes of resistance, feminism and the internal machinations that help us transform into the people we want to become. See Me, a recent short she directed with Artists Repertory Theatre, is currently on the festival circuit. She’s the recipient of MRG Foundation’s Lilla Jewel Artist Award and was named a Woman of Vision by Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce. She’s been awarded grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Council and NW Film Center in Oregon and in 2017, she was selected to shadow director Debra Granik on the set of Leave No Trace through the 5to50 program. She believes in using cinema as well as her hiring decisions to lift people up and help create a filmmaking community that better reflects our world. She lives with her wife and daughter in Portland, Oregon. Mother of Color is her feature film debut. Instagram Twitter Web
Ana del Rocío, Lead Actor, Associate Producer
Ana del Rocío (she/hers) is a community organizer and nonprofit executive director who helps increase the representation of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in public office. Before stepping into her current role, Ana spent ten years in the public sector as a teacher, policy and research director, and chief of staff to Oregon's first Latina state representative. After a successful career working behind-the-scenes to improve the way government serves the people, Ana now finds joy in helping governments better reflect the people. Ana also enjoys trying new foods, live music of all kinds, and managing her small team of organizers-in-training: Tupac, age 8; and Inti, age 5. She has previously acted in the short film We Have Our Ways. Mother of Color will be her feature film debut.
Tara Johnson-Medinger, Producer
Tara Johnson-Medinger (she/her/hers) is a white film director, producer, parent and champion of gender equality in the entertainment industry. With over 25 years in the television and film industries, she is the co-producer of the award-winning music documentary The Winding Stream and feature film City Baby. Her feature film directorial debut, My Summer as a Goth released theatrically in 2020. An advocate for women in film, Johnson-Medinger honors groundbreaking female and non-binary filmmakers as Executive Director of the international Power of Women in Film Festival (POW Film Fest), while developing the next generation of media makers through the youth education forum she founded, POWGirls. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two very busy teenagers.
Ashley Mellinger, Producer
As an artist and filmmaker, Ashley Mellinger (she/her) is committed to re-imagining traditional narratives and including underrepresented voices without centering exclusively on their identities and trauma. She is an award-winning half-Korean writer and producer who co-founded Desert Island Studios to increase affordability and accessibility to film resources. Recent producing credits include: See Me (premiered at 2021 Portland International Film Festival); Borrufa (premiered at 2020 Portland International Film Festival); L’Ortolan (Best Experimental Short at the European Short Film Festival and Most Original Concept at Portland Shorts Fest); and Private Chat (as part of Portland Playhouse’s “Wonderland” programming). Mother of Color will be Ashley’s second feature film and the largest production she’s worked on to date, and she is especially looking forward to working with the team’s mostly female and non-binary crew.
Luz Elena Mendoza (they/them), Special Appearance, Music
Y La Bamba has been many things, but at the heart of it is singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza’s inquisitive sense of self. Their fifth record, Mujeres, carries on the Portland-based band’s affinity for spiritual contemplation, but goes a step further in telling a story with a full emotional spectrum. Coming off Ojos Del Sol, one of NPR’s Top 50 Albums of 2016, Mujeres exhibits the scope of Mendoza’s artistic voice like never before. “Music is an extension of everything I have inside. It’s how I emote,” Mendoza says.
Josie Seid, Special Appearance
Josie Seid (she/her) is an international theater artist who has performed in places as far reaching as Cairo, Egypt. As a resident artist with Artists Repertory Theater in Portland as well as a member of LineStorm Playwrights, she is able to flex her creative muscles in many ways. Acting credits include: An Octoroon and The Miracle Worker with ART, Into the Woods and The Drowsy Chaperone with Broadway Rose, A Maze with Theater Vertigo, and Men on Boats with Third Rail as well as the film, I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore on Netflix.
Sean Conley, Director of Photography
Sean Conley (He/His) is an award winning Director of Photography based in Portland, Oregon. At the age of 17, Sean picked up his Dad’s 35mm film camera and fell in love with photography and the ability to capture a moment in time. This informed his transition into cinematography where he shot skate videos with friends and eventually short films, music videos, commercials and narrative & documentary features--experience that has given him a wide variety of shooting conditions. He’s worked with Netflix, A24, Nike, Fender, and Adidas and his work has screened in Europe, Korea and the United States. Sean loves collaborating with directors to tell visually meaningful stories and is committed to being an ally for underrepresented voices in the industry. He is a member of the Oregon Media Production Association, the Freelancers Union and is on the Board of the Couch Film Collective.
Vaughn Kimmons, Production Designer
Vaughn (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist who celebrates Blackness as the cosmic source of sacred inspiration and gives voice to the connective power of shared human nuance. Through movement, voice, video, visual art, wardrobe styling and production design she explores the concept of authenticity and its influence on human spiritual and emotional development. She believes freedom and balance exist in the realm of truly being one’s self. Her work often seeks to unpack the issues that challenge self-actualization within Black communities, examining historical and current contexts that have stifled and transformed our identities. She is a singer/songwriter in Portland based bands Brown Calculus and Tribe Mars, has styled music videos for local bands Y La Bamba and Yawa and worked as a production designer for My People's Market's Fall 2020 marketing campaign. Mother of Color will be her first feature film and she's excited to work with such a talented team.
Barbie Wu, Casting Director
Born and raised in Taiwan, Barbie (She/Her/Hers) discovered her passion for acting in 2003 as an exchange student in Eugene. After earning her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon, she received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from Southern Methodist University in 2014. She is a resident artist and educator at Artists Repertory Theatre and was featured in Today Is My Birthday Audio Drama, Better Maybe, Magellanica Audio Drama, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Everybody, and Magellanica. Her other credits include The Break (Long Distance Affair, a co-production of Juggerknot Theatre and PopUP Theatrics), Renaissance: Technically! (Portland Center Stage) , The Wolves (Portland Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Anonymous Theatre Company), The Mermaid Hour (Theatro Milagro), Slavs! (Southern Methodist University), Mother Courage (Oregon Contemporary Theatre), Shakespeare in Hollywood (Very Little Theatre), King Lear (Lane Community College) and was a founding ensemble member of Bootstrap Theater Company in Truckee, California. Barbie is a teaching artist with Hand2Mouth, Portland’s longest running theatre ensemble, and a barista at Tōv, Portland’s only double-decker coffee bus.
Kenya Juarez, Communications Strategist
Kenya (she / her) grew up in Woodburn, Oregon with her first-generation Mexican immigrant family. She is a communications professional with experience in ballot measures, legislation, digital campaigns, and fundraising. Kenya believes in her own voice—and using it to pursue social justice. She is committed to pursuing messages that empower and elevate people of all walks of life. Outside of work, Kenya spends her time at concerts (before COVID) and loves cheering on the Portland Trail Blazers.
Kanani Koster, Assistant Director
Kanani Koster (she/her) is the director of the award winning short, The New Frontier, which has played across the West Coast at festivals like Red Nation Film Festival, Oregon International Film Festival, and Local Sightings. She has spoken on numerous panels on race, diversity and representation in film. Kanani is the 2020 Oregon Made Film Grant winner for the docu-short, Any Oregon Sunday, and a 2020 Portland Arts Museum Re:Imagined Artist recipient. She is the Acquisitions & Impact Manager at Collective Eye Films but spends the off season directing narrative films, music videos and documentaries. Kanani’s visual style and storytelling is focused on reclaiming nostalgic tropes and aesthetics for more diverse audiences who have been historically left off screen. When not directing she can be found on set as an A.D. or Producer supporting likeminded filmmakers dedicated to telling authentic stories.
Andrea Vernae, Director’s Shadow
Andrea Vernae(She/her/hers) is a theatre artist who loves storytelling. She has acted on the stages of Portland Playhouse, Portland CenterStage, Third Rail Repertory Theatre and Artists Rep. Since quarantine, she found the courage and turned her desires for always wanting to tell stories through film into reality. She most recently wrote and directed a short film entitled You Don't Know Naan, which was produced by the BLVCK Film Collective. She is excited to be working on a team with Dawn again and cannot wait to learn and grow under her mentorship.
Pearson Kunz, Production Coordinator
Pearson (they/he/she) is a creator and educator who has been making and shaking in the Portland area for over a decade. When Pearson isn't running a middle school classroom, they can be found acting, hosting an arts podcast, leading theatre workshops, and producing projects through their company Golden Pride Productions. Pearson is so honored to be supporting the creation of game-changing projects like Mother of Color!
Rachel Saldivar, Sound Mixer
Rachel Saldivar (she/her) is a lifelong musician turned production sound mixer and post production audio mixer. A San Francisco native of mixed Mexican Indigenous background, her passion for recording and mixing high quality audio inspires her to seek new and exciting projects across the West Coast. She’s worked on content for brands like Nike, Sephora, and Adidas but spends most of her creative time working on indie films, documentaries and creative content centering women and marginalized communities.
James Jones, Editor
James Jones (he/him) is a narrative editor who has worked on films and documentaries winning awards at festivals in Europe and the US as well as and broadcast/streamed to worldwide audiences. After spending most of his career in network television (History Channel, CBS, Discovery, National Geographic, MTV) including on several Emmy award-winning projects in New York, he slowly began his transition to film. His most frequent collaborator is his sister, Director Dawn Jones Redstone for whom he has edited several award-winning short films to date. He recently completed work on the series Unseamly for Discovery+ and is currently editing the feature doc Buffalo Soldiers of the Pacific Northwest directed by Dru Holley. His main interests lie in projects that give a voice to stories that have been historically underrepresented or ignored, with the goal of effecting social change for generations to come.
Jasmine Vazquez, Colorist
Jasmine Vazquez (she/her) is a colorist at WK Studios in Portland, Oregon. She works on a variety of formats including commercials, music videos, feature films, and is always excited about new creative collaborations. She loves communicating and translating the ideas of others into color, and has been exploring the magic of color all her life. When she was five years old her favorite color was Lisa Frank. When she was ten years old her favorite color was the pairing of two colors, as she became more fascinated by how colors work together. These days she loves any color that makes a person feel something, and since each person experiences color in a unique way, her goal is to help build their color story together.
Jake Hull, Composer
Jake Hull (he/him) is a Portland-based composer for film, tv, and concert works. With a background as a classically trained musician, a published world music scholar, and a touring artist, Hull has been developing a unique voice in the film industry since 2014. His recent credits include the docu-series 'Trans in Trumpland', the International Documentary Association-sponsored film 'Velvet Citizen' and the Cannes competing Vietnamese film 'Impermanence.' His work has also been commissioned by brands like Coca-Cola, Mozilla Firefox, Regal Theaters, and Kaiser Permanente and has been screened in theaters around the world. Hull's music has brought to life over 30 productions varying in scope from intimate, experimental scores to writing, arranging, and recording with The London Contemporary Orchestra (There Will Be Blood, Radiohead, The Phantom Thread) and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra (Get Out, Parasite). And as a musician and Portlander, Hull is committed to working with local artists on every project by continuing to build an inclusive team of collaborators and musicians as part of his music collective, Night Hike Publishing.
Leah Benson, Communication Support, Production Secretary
Leah (she/her) is a copywriter and lifelong learner who relishes in being thrown into the deep end. In previous lives she's been the founder and of Gladys Bikes -- a gender inclusive bike shop in Portland, Oregon -- a storytelling coach, community organizer, event manager, sexual health educator, and death doula-in-training. This seemingly random mishmash of a background adds up to a love of taking on challenges and gaining new skills, and she's beyond excited to jump in to help in any way she can to make Mother of Color a reality.
Lucila Cejas, Communication Support, she/her
Born and raised in Argentina, Lucila's communication, journalism, and filmmaking background is threaded by a passion for storytelling. She works as a Strategist in the advertising industry and helps brands solve problems with the power of communication. Highly curious, deeply empathetic, and self-reflective, Lucila is constantly immersed in global media, academic studies, and straight-up people-watching to find different flavors of human essence that can be applied to brand strategy and provide a rich foundation for inspiring creative work. When she's not at work, you might find her at your local nursery looking for beautiful and unique plants for her triple-digit collection of flora.
