SCREEN
Newport Portland , Washington , Oregon
Sharing Stories of Hope
An Indigenous filmmaker ’ s restless pursuit to create films that inspire
BY MATTHEW KINCANON
Misty Shipman
For Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe filmmaker Misty Shipman , her imagination knows no limits . While she was already on a path that supported her creativity , it was a movie scene of a man rescuing a cow that led her on another path that would put her behind a camera calling “ action ,” and her work being shown at film festivals around the world .
Shipman first found inspiration to pursue filmmaking after attending a screening of “ Winter in the Blood ” for a Native American literature class she was taking at University of Idaho , where one of the two directors was present for a Q & A with attendees .
“ I can remember walking into that screening as a creative writer ; I was getting an MFA in long-form novel writing , and two hours later I just felt like I was a filmmaker ,” Shipman recalled , describing the moment as a baptism .
As she watched the film ’ s protagonist , Virgil First Raise , go through a dark night of the soul , Shipman felt she had seen people in
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