Video Collaboration

This short film is a collaboration between writer Joni Renee, producer Sean Cumming, and director/editor Anna Weltner. Each of the three artists contributed ideas to the filming and post-production process.

The poem in the film, written, read, and sung by Joni Renee is an elegy for her deceased father. The poem and film interpret grief and loss through the lens of the autistic experience, highlighting the sensory and tangible details of memory. The green chair of the poem becomes a green screen onto which memory is projected. This lush account of neurodivergence in loss honors nature, family, and the body.
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Author’s Note: My use of the word “Mexicans” seemed an essential contextual choice; the word was used disparagingly by farmer neighbors to dehumanize migrant workers of many different backgrounds and justify unreported employment in the vineyards. To use any other politically-correct term would have been a falsity. In the late ‘90’s, Pacific Northwest vintners demanded long hours into the night for many weeks on end with minimal pay. The practice has declined but still exists. If you are interested in helping, please contact The Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice.