Exclusive SnagFilms interview w/ Dawn Mikkelson
1)What prompted you to leave television reporting and go into documentary making?
I am one of the few people who stumbled into television reporting. My background was a combination of performing arts (theater & music) and social justice (political science, nonviolent protest, volunteer work to serve homeless, etc). As a news reporter, I saw how a well-told story framed an issue or experience for an entire community. What was missing was the heart and complexity that can be explored through documentary. I was drawn to the lived experiences of people, rather than the sound bites of politicians and academics. It is through hearing each other’s stories that we are able to understand one another and the issues that we face as a society. The path between TV and independent documentary as a career was not direct either. I spent years working in other capacities and today I make videos for social entrepreneurs and not-for-profit organizations to support my documentary habit. Today I am continually reminded of the power of asking questions and truly listening to one another’s stories. I have seen the impact of those stories on audience members and communities and am honored to be entrusted with them.
2)Why do you choose the stories you choose?
The quick answer is that these are the stories that wake me up in the middle of the night, that I cannot shake loose. Often these stories are of people whose voices have not been listened to by the mainstream media, either because they are too complicated for a 2-minute story on the evening news or because they don’t have the resources of a multimillion-dollar PR campaign to get that story out into the world.
What I am drawn to has changed over the years. When I was younger I tended to focus on the injustices of the world. Over time, my focus has shifted to stories that inspire me and make me believe in the beauty of humanity. That is the foundation for my current film, SMOOCH.
3)What are you working on now and what inspired you to make that your next work?
Sometimes you choose films and sometimes films choose you. My current film feels like the latter. I am currently in early production on SMOOCH, a global documentary which profiles individuals who have found the humanity in the very persons they thought they could never forgive. Our team will hold free and public photography shoots around the world, collecting stories from around the world on forgiveness, culminating in the forgiver and forgiven giving one another a kiss on the cheek (a smooch). The resulting still photos represent people of all nationalities, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, and socio-economic background to create an archive that showcases our shared humanity and illuminate the power of forgiveness between two people.
The first story of SMOOCH is of Mary Johnson who has forgiven the man who murdered her son. Mary is now like a second mother to O’Shea Israel and the two of them have dedicated their lives to sharing their story. Recently, their story was shared on the CBS Evening News (along with SMOOCH footage) and on the StoryCorps site.
I met Mary and O’Shea last fall and was struck by the fact that the world is full of stories like this. Stories that stand in bold contrast to our conflict-driven politics and media. This has lead to mass “Forgiveness shoots” where we take our cameras across the globe and the general public weighs in on forgiveness, monitoring the pulse of what forgiveness means and the challenges to forgiveness in our global society. The film will then highlight a handful of the most powerful stories we find (we are connecting with organizations across the globe to shoot on all 5 continents) in the final film. SMOOCH and its growing online outreach initiative create a global chorus of stories and photos both within the film and online. By seeing what’s possible and participating in the self-reflection fostered by the SMOOCH online outreach initiative, audience members will receive the inspiration and tools needed to begin practicing reconciliation and forgiveness in their own lives.
Dawn was in the The Reel Spotlight!
Follow Dawn on facebook: @Emergencegrrl
Source: snagfilms.com
