What's the story?

Shaped by a traumatic upbringing, a Tlingit woman in her 70s has spent decades rejecting her family and culture. When her granddaughter goes missing, she risks her health in a final act of love, showing how sacrifice can heal generational wounds.

From the Director~

This story is one very near and dear to my heart. I knew that I wanted to write a Tlingit story for my final senior thesis, but this story is one that people of any nation or culture can relate to. The struggle that so many families go through of trying to reconnect with their culture that was taken from them, and ultimately, how that affects us at an individual level. In my case, my family originates from Alaska, and we are all enrolled as Tlingit in the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. However, I grew up very, very far away from the tribe across the country in Atlanta, GA. No one in my family knew exactly where we came from within the tribe, and we struggled to piece together what our family history really was. This is a situation that I feel is more common than we think with people whose families are victims of a cultural genocide. I really wanted to illustrate this perspective, inspired by my own family members and history, in a short-film format. I wanted to show the human side of this story, a character that is not completely in the right or wrong but has been raised and nurtured from their experiences. I want to show indigenous characters in a way that doesn't highlight them solely for their indigeneity, but for their resilience and connection to each other. But even more than that, I wanted to show that change and breaking a cycle of pain, resentment, and silence is possible within each generation of individuals.

I really thank each and every person that has shown even a little interest in this story, and I hope the day comes when I can premier the completed film to the audience it was made for.

- Sophia Lindholm

Proof of Concept!

Below is a link to a small micro-budget proof-of-concept short that my team and I filmed last November:

https://www.sunthiefproductions.com/gateway

We did this with less than $500, so imagine what we could do with more...

Where is the money going?

We intend on allocating money towards the following:

These are all crucial elements necessary for the production of our film. We will need specific lens', gear and locations to make the look of our film come to life. This will incur location fees and travel/transportation costs for the crew and gear. We will, of course, need to pay our cast. We have cast the best actors who are traveling all the way from Alaska to bring this story to life. We really want to give their time and craft justice by paying them fair rates! Catering is another very important element of production. We need adequate meals to keep our hardworking cast and crew happy on set, and we want to honor their dedication to the project with good, healthy lunches for those long days of shooting.

Other ways to help!

If you can't donate right now, no worries!

Just looking into this campaign already helps us! If you want to help in another way, please share this campaign with everyone you know! Post on socials or repost our posts on instagram @sunthiefproductions.

Thank you so much for your interest and we look forward to providing you with the best film we can make !

The Roots of a Cedar Tree Team.