CTFF 2018 OFFICIAL SELECTION: RISKING LIGHT
CTFF 2018 OFFICIAL SELECTION: RISKING LIGHT
Presented by Project Angkor and Khmer Arts Academy
* Q&A with Director Dawn Mikkelson after the screening
Executive Producer/Director: Dawn Mikkelson
Cinematographers: Matt Ehling, Jesse Roesler, Russell Hawkins, and Emma Paine
Producer: Miranda Wilson
Documentary: 1hr 27mins
Country: United States
Official Website: www.riskinglight.com
PLAYING: Sunday, September 16th.
TIME: 5:00PM
GET TICKETS: http://ctff2018.whindo.com
LOCATION: Art Theatre, 2025 E. 4th St. Long Beach, CA 90814
ABOUT FILM
From the streets of Minneapolis, the aboriginal lands of Australia, and the killing fields of Cambodia come the powerful stories of three people who had the courage to step out of the haunting, tragic darkness of the past, risking everything to reach the light of their own compassion.
RISKING LIGHT is a thought-provoking documentary that explores resilience, and the painful process of moving from grief to compassion and forgiveness. Through the unforgettable stories of Mary Johnson, who grieves a murdered son; Debra Hocking, a victim of government-sanctioned genocide; and Kilong Ung, who survived the terror of the Khmer Rouge, RISKING LIGHT challenges us to examine our own beliefs about forgiveness and ask “What would the world look like if we could learn to forgive one another?
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Dawn to the stories of ordinary people who choose to be extraordinary, frequent contributor for Twin Cities PBS (TPT), 2015 Emmy Award winning producer, and 2010 McKnight Filmmaking Fellow, Dawn Mikkelson’s work has broadcast and screened internationally. Festival screenings include: the Galway Film Fleadh, Cambridge Film Festival, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, DocuFest Atlanta, Leipzig DOK Market, American Indian Film Festival, Planet in Focus, and Washington DC Environmental Film Festival. Mikkelson has completed five award-winning independent feature documentaries, The Red Tail, Green Green Water, THIS obedience, and Treading Water: a documentary, which illuminate larger societal issues while creating understanding through the intimate stories of individuals. Her fifth feature documentary Risking Light premiered in competition at the 2018 Cinequest Film & VR Festival and has screened to full houses at a growing list of film festivals including Cleveland International Film Festival and Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.
A former television news reporter at an ABC affiliate, Mikkelson has taught Documentary Film as Adjunct Faculty at Ottawa University in Kansas, as well as at Film North. In 2006 Mikkelson’s film, Hope for Recovery: Understanding Mental Illness (produced in collaboration with Twin Cities Public Television and NAMI-MN) won the Eric Sevareid Award by the Northwest Broadcast News Association (NBNA).