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“Bring Her Home” film screening and discussion of Leya Hale’s new film about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, featuring art work by Beth O’Keefe and All My Relations Gallery, with artist discussion moderated by Anne O’Keefe-Jackson of Mni Sota Arts
April 26, 2022 | Granite Falls, MN: On Thursday, May 5, Mni Sota Arts, Department of Public Transformation and Pioneer PBS will present a screening of Leya Hale’s film BRING HER HOME followed by a discussion with the featured artists moderated by Anne O’Keefe-Jackson. BRING HER HOME follows three Indigenous women — an artist, an activist and a politician — as they work to vindicate and honor their relatives who are victims in the growing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. As they face the lasting effects of historical trauma, each woman searches for healing while navigating the oppressive systems that brought about this very crisis.
The event will be held at Pioneer PBS Studio (1 Pioneer Drive, Granite Falls) on Thursday, May 5 from 5-7 p.m. In addition to the film screening, local artist Beth O’Keefe will be sharing the artwork she created as a part of the Department of Public Transformation’s Ignite Rural Artist Residency, alongside additional artwork contributed by All My Relations Arts. The Mni Sota Arts food truck will provide food and beverages from 5-5:30 p.m. The film screening will be followed by a discussion moderated by Anne O’Keefe-Jackson (director of Mni Sota Arts) with Leya Hale and Beth O’Keefe. This event is free and open to the public; registration is required. Please register for the event at pioneer.org/Bringherhome. For more information, please contact Anne O’Keefe-Jackson at info@mnisotaarts.org.
The “Bring Her Home” film screening and discussion is presented in partnership with Mni Sota Arts, Department of Public Transformation and Pioneer PBS. This event is supported in part by the WE CAN! Event Series and the Ignite Rural Artist Residency program with funding from a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council made possible by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
About “Bring Her Home” director and producer: Leya Hale is from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné Nations. She makes her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota with her companion and children. She is a producer for Twin Cities PBS and is best known for her first feature documentary, “The People’s Protectors,” a Vision Maker Media grant production and winner of the 2019 Upper Midwest Emmy award for Outstanding Cultural Documentary. In 2020, Leya was awarded the Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous Artists and attended the 2020 Berlinale European Film Market as a NATIVe Fellow. When not producing feature films, Leya works on a variety of short-form content in efforts to create social change within the upper Midwest region.
About Mni Sota Arts + Anne O’Keefe-Jackson: Mni Sota Arts is a Native arts and mobile resource center based in Morton, MN. Anne O’Keefe-Jackson is an enrolled member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community. She received her undergraduate degree in marketing and American Indian studies from Augsburg College and her master’s degree in business and leadership from Augsburg University. Anne was recently named a Southwest Initiators Fellow (2020-2021). She currently serves on the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Board and she is an artist and advocate of the arts.
About Beth O’Keefe: Beth O’Keefe lives and works in Morton, MN / Lower Sioux community. For the last seven years she has been studying hide tanning from a master tanner. She was using her time as an Ignite Rural Artist to study a collection housed in Brooklyn, New York. Her intention is to reproduce a Dakota woman’s dress and to hone her teaching skills in order to pass down the knowledge and kindness that she has been fortunate enough to receive.
About Pioneer PBS: Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported public television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more than 55 years, Pioneer PBS has served its rural audience through a mix of local and national programs rich in cultural heritage, diversity and educational opportunities. www.pioneer.org
About Department of Public Transformation (DoPT):The Department of Public Transformation is an artist-led organization that works locally and relationally to develop creative strategies for increased community connection, civic pride and equitable participation in rural places. This event is in conjunction with the WE CAN! Event Series and the Ignite Rural Artist Residency. www.publictransformation.org
