Dear Kin

US Premiere

Director   Alexis Anoruk Sallee
Country   USA
Year   2021
Languages   English
Genre   Documentary
Running Time   24 min

DEAR KIN, is a video series accompanied by photographic portraits highlighting various Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ peoples and their personal stories.

This film is part of Shorts: Family Tales program.

Director’s Bio

Alexis Anoruk Sallee (she/her)

Alex is Inupiaq and grew up in Dgheyey Kaq’ (Anchorage), Alaska with family ties in Kigiktaq (Shishmaref) and Sitnasuaq (Nome). Her love of filmmaking started in sound design and received her BA in Recording Arts in 2012. After years in audio post-production working in feature films and television, her move to directing and producing was after feeling the need to see Alaska Native representation in film. Her directorial debut Who We Are is a personal project discussing climate change and dedicated to her Inupiat ancestors. It was chosen as the Grand Prize winner in the “She Directed Filmmaker Contest” out of 400+ submissions nationwide. In October 2021, she premiered Dear Kin, a storytelling project that highlights individuals from the Alaska Native LGBTQIA2S+ community through video and portraiture. Sallee collaborated with MTV Entertainment to create original work for Native Heritage Month 2021. She co-wrote and directed Celebrating Our Beauty for the global platform, sharing Alaska Native tattoos traditionally done by women and the power they carry. This project featured an all Indigenous cast and crew. Alex operates Inua Productions a high quality cinematic film production company that creates work from an Indigenous lens.