The Protector by Diné filmmaker Ramona Emerson
The Warrior Tradition
The Protector
5:00
Published:
Donavon Barney is a Iraq War Marine Corps veteran who embraces his traditional Navajo beliefs and connection to culture, but also understands that his people are in desperate need of technological development and the transition of accessing technology. Faced with crumbling infrastructure on the Navajo reservation, Barney finds ways to advocate for his people through a career in cybersecurity.
RAMONA EMERSON | Navajo Tribe of New Mexico
FILMMAKER BIO
Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She received her degree in Media Arts in 1997 from the University of New Mexico and her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (fiction) in 2015 from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has worked as a professional videographer, writer and editor for over twenty years and is currently working on her 8th film project, Crossing the Line.
She is a Sundance Native Lab fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller fellow, a Tribeca All-Access grantee and a WGBH producer fellow. Ramona just finished her first novel, Shutter, the first of a trilogy. Through her storytelling, Emerson looks at contemporary stories about her people and aims to question and redefine the expectations of Native cultural identity, highlighting stories that are not a part of mainstream media. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she and her husband/producer, Kelly Byars run their production company Reel Indian Pictures.
Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She received her degree in Media Arts in 1997 from the University of New Mexico and her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (fiction) in 2015 from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has worked as a professional videographer, writer and editor for over twenty years and is currently working on her 8th film project, Crossing the Line.
She is a Sundance Native Lab fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller fellow, a Tribeca All-Access grantee and a WGBH producer fellow. Ramona just finished her first novel, Shutter, the first of a trilogy. Through her storytelling, Emerson looks at contemporary stories about her people and aims to question and redefine the expectations of Native cultural identity, highlighting stories that are not a part of mainstream media. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she and her husband/producer, Kelly Byars run their production company Reel Indian Pictures.