NEEMKOMOK


An AFI Thesis Film


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Neemkomok'



"She Returns"





An AFI Conservatory Thesis Film



Film Synopsis





Isadora, an Indigenous Californian (Gabrielino/Tongva) woman, faces a battle to survive after being emancipated from the abusive Los Angeles mission where she was raised in the early 1800's. She's helped by Domingo, a Franciscan friar, on the journey to bring her to a Native village where she can she can finally be safe.



About our project





For our thesis at the AFI Conservatory, we were required to shoot a short film in the 30 mile zone encompassing the city of Los Angeles and its surrounding area. This is the same area that the Gabrielino/Tongva people-- and at the far reaches of the 30 mile zone-- the Chumash, Juaneño/Ajachemen, Luiseño, Cahuilla, Serrano and Tataviam people, have inhabited for thousands of years. Yet despite this rich history underneath its feet, Hollywood has never told those people's stories.

"Neemkomok" is a look into the lesser-known side of California [and by association, US] history. In Los Angeles in particular, not many people know the origin story of how this massive city of 11 million+ people came to be, and many are unaware of the atrocities that native Californians faced under both Spanish and US governments. In fact, much of this history has been covered up or forgotten, hands washed clean of a tumultuous past.

By going back to the source, we hope to tell a unique tale of loss, hope, and redemption, from a perspective that history is often afraid to tell.



THE TEAM: AFI CLASS OF 2017



Douglas Cushnie



Director/Writer



Douglas is a filmmaker from the small town of Sherman, Connecticut, and is currently an MFA Directing fellow at the American Film Institute. Having traveled extensively through Latin America, he has shot projects for non-profits and coffee companies in Nicaragua and abroad since the age of 16. His 2012 short, VOLAR EN LÍNEA RECTA, has shown in film festivals around the world. He's interested in capturing social, environmental, international and economic issues in a narrative format, using creative methods to tell important stories of underrepresented people and places.




Shanshan Sun



Producer



Shanshan has been interested in film since she was a young kid. She previously worked on several Hollywood movies such as THE MUMMY III: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR. She also worked at a local TV broadcast company in New York City, produced, directed and hosted a popular unscripted program LIVING IN NY which gained tremendous popularity in the local community. She is currently a producing fellow at the AFI Conservatory, and has recently interned at Legendary Entertainment and Beacon Pictures. Her dream is to make movies that send positive message to people and motivate people to pursue a better life.



Pallavi Reddy



Cinematographer



Pallavi is a graduate in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Osmania University in India. She was schooled in Saudi Arabia and has worked as a copywriter and freelance photographer for three years prior to her tryst with cinematography. Since mid-2011, she has been working as an assistant to cinematographers in Bollywood on feature films and television commercials. In the past year, she has also lensed a full-length documentary, two short films and a couple of promotional films for internet advertising.



Jifu Li



Editor



Jeff Li graduated from Beijing Film Academy's sound recording department in 2012. He won the national scholarship, the opportunity to go to the graduate school without the entrance exam. He decided to work for China Film Group as a senior sound editor, re-recording mixer and project manager for more than 30 big movies in China from 2010 to 2015. Some of his work, like THE GRANDMASTER, directed by Wong Kar Wai, won the 61st MPSE Golden Reel for Best Dialogue Editing. THE HOME GLEANERS won the 49th Golden Horse Best Short Feature Movie. He also worked as editor on three business short feature movies and a movie trailer editor.



Sheila Wilson



Story Editor




Sheila Wilson is a Screenwriting Fellow at the AFI Conservatory. She's also a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago, where she received her BA in Cinema Art + Science with a concentration in Directing. Her film, Amerikkka, is set to begin its festival run at the Academy-Qualifying Urbanworld Film Festival this year in New York City. Sheila's passion for filmmaking stemmed from theater, where her plays SCARS and ASHES AND POSY were published--and the latter produced--by the Actors Theatre of Louisville New Voices Young Playwrights Competition.



About AFI



http://www.afi.com/Conservatory/





The filmmakers at the world-renowned AFI Conservatory learn by doing. Here, tomorrow's storytellers are placed in a hands-on, production-based environment and are trained by a group of dedicated working professionals from the film and television communities.


Located in the heart of the entertainment community in Hollywood, the AFI Conservatory places a strong emphasis on narrative visual storytelling and personal expression. This film program instills the tools that help filmmakers practice their craft and become better storytellers. Classes are broken up into teams that mirror a real production environment. Those teams collaborate on and produce more films than any other graduate-level film school. Upon graduation, about 81% of our graduates report that they are working.


AFI Alumni:


DAVID LYNCH (Director - Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks),

DARREN ARONOFSKY (Director - Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan),

TERRENCE MALICK (Director - Tree of Life, The New World)

ANDREA ARNOLD (Director - Fish Tank),

WALLY PFISTER (Cinematographer – The Dark Knight, Inception),

ROBERT RICHARDSON (Cinematographer – Django Unchained),

MATTHEW LIBATIQUE (Cinematographer – Black Swan, Iron Man, Straight Outta Compton)

FRANCO GIACOMO-CARBONE (Production Designer – The Expendables, Hostel),

TODD CHERNIAWSKY, (Production Designer – Avatar, Art Director - Alice In Wonderland),

SHARON SEYMOUR, (Production Designer – The Town, The Ides of March),

HOWARD SMITH (Editor – The Abyss, Glengarry Glen Ross),

CHRISTOPHER GAY (Editor – Mad Men, CSI:NY),

AFFONSO GONÇALVES, (Editor – Winter’s Bone, True Detective),

FRANK REYNOLDS, (Editor – In The Bedroom, In Search Of A Midnight Kiss)


Neemkomok


An AFI Thesis film