March 24
RNCI Producers Group Women of Color
Joanelle Romero
Host
Founder of NWIFTV in All Media
Oyate Wayanaka Po Win / People Who See This Woman. Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache Dinétah Paiute and is SpanishSephardic. A relative of Pawnee Pojoaque Southern Ute Lakota and Haudenosaunee.
Humanitarian, Producer, Director, Actress, Founder NWIFTV in All Media. A Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Short-Listed for an Academy Award
Romero received the Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award for “the vision to see the truth…and the courage to speak it” (Arpa International Film Festival)
Loretta Todd
Producer Director
Canadian Indigenous film director. Her first dramatic feature, Monkey Beach, based on the iconic novel by Eden Robinson, recently launched to strong audience and critical response, screening at TIFF (Industry Selects), opening the Vancouver International Film Festival and sweeping the Drama awards at the American Indian and Red Nation International Film Festival in the USA, including Best Film and Best Director. With international awards adding up (Venice Film Awards, 7th Art International Film Festival), Monkey Beach was the #1 Canadian film for 4 weeks at Cineplex and Landmark Theatres.
Ms. Todd has directed over 100 projects including award-winning documentaries (Forgotten Warriors, Hands of History, People Go On), digital media and games (My Cree App, Coyote Quest) animation (25 short animations) and TV. Ms. Todd created, produced, wrote and directed children’s series (Tansi! Nehiyawetan 1-3, Coyote’s Crazy Smart Science 1-3), sci-fi (Skye and Chang) and interactive media (Fierce Girls). She is in development with a new animated children’s series.
Her media work encompasses contributions to the development of Indigenous media, providing opportunities for Indigenous cast, crew and creative, building new spaces for Indigenous production and expression and writing influential scholarly essays on issues of appropriation, representation and Indigenous futurism. Ms. Todd created the Aboriginal Media Lab with the Chief Dan George Centre and Simon Fraser University and was instrumental in the formation of the Aboriginal Arts Centre at the Banff Centre. Recently, she created the IM4 Media Lab, an Indigenous VR/AR/XR Lab, in collaboration with Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she is the Creative Director.
Katsitsinni Fox
Producer Director
Katsitsionni has been making films since 2003 in the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, where she resides. Her film “Ohero:kon – Under the Husk,” following the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their traditional passage rites to becoming Mohawk Women, received funding from Vision Maker Media and was broadcast on many PBS stations. Katsitsionni received the Jane Glassco Award for Emerging Filmmaker at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival in 2016 as well as the Red Nation International Film Festival. She produced a series of twelve short segments for REMATRIATION, a Native American women’s online, multi-media magazine, that is focused on healing and empowerment of Native women through the sharing of their stories and successes. Her latest documentary, WITHOUT A WHISPER, is an untold story of how Native American women helped to inspire the struggle of American women’s suffrage movement in the United States.
Alex Rose Holiday
Dinétah Navajo Nation and Slovakian
Traditional Singer – Model
I grew up on the Navajo Nation, near Shiprock, NM. I’m 24 years old and I’m a singer, motivational speaker, and artist. I am Tóáheedlíinii (water flows together clan). I compose songs in my Diné language to inspire all generations of native people to learn their culture & language. Music is our universal language, it will speak to you even when you don’t understand the words through the melodies and the beat. My goal is to share what I’ve learned from my time on Mother Earth to inspire my people to connect with their roots. I give presentations on traditional stories, traditional foods & utensils, mental health, & balancing tradition with modern society. My ultimate goal is to spark interest in all people to learn about their culture as well as others, to plant the seed & let their curiosity lead them back to their roots.
