Butte Hall, Room 311
530-898-4094
alva@csuchico.edu

Mailing Address
Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology
400 W. First St.
Chico, CA 95929–0400

Portfolio

We Are the Land
2019 / 28 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
A solar company built a power station in the Mohave desert. The land was home to prehistoric Native American communities. The artifacts they left behind were displaced and destroyed. This film tells the story of the tribes whose ancestors inhabited that desert basin. Their descendants speak of the pain caused by destruction of their cultural patrimony, and the vitality of the desert landscape for indigenous people. They envision a sustainable future that protects the values of the past.
Read more about We Are the Land ...
Bang the Drum
2020 / 28 minutes / Directed by Will Nitzky
For the Yao minority of rural southwest China, the bronze drum is a sacred heritage. Its sound aids the souls of deceased elders to reach the ancestral land. When the Chinese government steps in to protect heritage, the life of the bronze drum takes on new meaning and becomes an icon for tourist performances. Bang the Drum traces the path heritage takes in a changing China.
Read more about Bang the Drum ...
Saving the Sacred
2020 / 28 minutes / Directed by Dan Bruns
The Koi and Habemetol Pomo have called the majestic Clear Lake basin home for an incredible 14,000 years. However, rapid urbanization and the looting of artifacts for sale on illegal markets has threatened to completely erase their long history and rich culture from this unique landscape. In an effort to protect these sacred sites, the tribes unite with their local governments and communities to preserve their priceless culture and past.
Read more about Saving the Sacred ...
Muerte Silenciosa
2020 / 27 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
Hundreds of California’s municipal water supply systems rely on contaminated sources. Many such systems are in the San Joaquin Valley, home to over four million people – as well as some of the most productive farmland in the world. How is it possible that in one of the richest states in the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world, people still lack access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water in their homes? Meet activists, laborers, lawyers, and politicians all seeking solutions to the problem of this silent killer.
Read more about Muerte Silenciosa ...
When the Smoke Clears
2021 / 27 minutes / Directed by Jai Dhillon
When the Smoke Clears chronicles the Camp Fire from its inception on November 8, 2018, to the aftermath almost two years later. The film focuses on the town of Paradise, interviewing residents about their reactions and impressions of the fire, its devastation, and impact on their lives. Although heartbreaking at times, the film reveals the resilience and hope of its residents as they rebuild their community in this Northern California town.
Read more about When the Smoke Clears ...
Stolen Paradise
2018 / 28 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
The stark landscape of the Eastern Sierras, Mono Lake, and Owens Dry Lake illustrate the consequences of efforts in the early 20th century to move water from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles. Emphasis is on the results of 100 years of water transfers from this region averaging 5-7 inches of rain per annum, and the abiding sense of loss felt by the Paiute-Shoshone people whose ancestors first settled what is now the Owens Valley. Viewers are introduced to locals with unique insight into the grass roots impacts of decisions taken far, far away.
Read more about Stolen Paradise ...
Mr. Tanimoto's Journey
2017 / 26 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, 120,000 American citizens of Japanese descent were wrongfully imprisoned at internment camps across the country. Jim Tanimoto, born in California, is the last living member of a group of men known as Block 42, who bravely protested the loss of their constitutional rights. This is his story.
Read more about Mr. Tanimoto's Journey ...
Potter's Field
2017 / 26 minutes / Directed by Christina Jeffries-Kenney
In 2012, a thousand once-forgotten burials were excavated under a parking lot at a San Jose hospital. Now anthropologists at California State University, Chico study how the skeletons could offer insight into navigating a future of antibiotic resistance.
Read more about Potter's Field ...
Illusions In Stone
2016 / 58 minutes / Directed by Brian Brazeal
Illusions in Stone tells the global story of the emerald trade - a story of hope, faith, danger and desire. It is a place where righteous thieves, reckless miners, and religious scholars are all united by their fascination with the green stones. Each of their stories are tied together by the thread of hope and a dream of riches that often proves to be an illusion...
Read more about Illusions In Stone ...
Stories In Thread
2016 / 27 minutes / Directed by Tamara Maxey / Produced by Will Nitzky
Stories in Thread focuses on Hmong Pa Dau. The traditionally hand-made textiles are integral to what it means to be Hmong in America.
Read more about Stories In Thread ...
A Walk Through Time
2013 / 28 minutes / Directed by Daniel Bruns
With its majestic landscapes, diverse wildlife, and a history spanning 14,000 years, Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is one of the most unique places in all of California. It is also the home of the Koi people who were the first humans to colonize the area and who are still there to this day.
Their deep cultural heritage prompted the extraordinary events that led to the park's creation and reinforces the current struggles to protect the amazing resources that the park holds.
Read more about A Walk Through Time ...
Impact Of The Frolic
2013 / 28 minutes / Directed by Matt Ritenour
In the summer of 1984, archaeologist Thomas Layton unearthed some unexpected Chinese artifacts at a Native American site in Mendocino County. Driven to discover their origins, Dr. Layton set out on a quest to solve the riddle of the mysterious potsherds. What he eventually uncovered was a story of vast cultural connections and a shipwreck that impacted California forever.
Read more about Impact Of The Frolic ...
Torn
2013 / 27 minutes / Directed by Jake Martin
For thousands of years stunning petroglyphs on the volcanic tablelands near Bishop, California shimmered in the starlight, but then a menace struck. Looters with rock saws and chisels destroyed this ancient site leaving everyone with one question...why?
Read more about Torn ...
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
2013 / 27 minutes / Directed by Maija Glasier-Lawson
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) promotes an indigenous approach to environmental stewardship. Our world faces unprecedented ecological challenges. Collaborating with local peoples is a crucial step toward a more sustainable future.
Read more about Traditional Ecological Knowledge ...
Bound To Tradition
2012 / 22 minutes / Directed by Anna Rushton
Susan Campbell, a Mountain Maidu Native American is making a cradleboard for her first grandchild. Along the way she discovers just how difficult it can be the balance her traditional ways with modern society.
Read more about Bound To Tradition ...
The Beginning Of The End
2012 / 26 minutes / Directed by Kelsea Rossow and Andrew Reuther
In 1872 a small group of Modoc men, women and children refused to be confined to a reservation and sought refuge in the area now known as the Lava Beds National Monument. After keeping the US Army at bay all winter, in the Spring of 1873 the Modoc's leader, Captain Jack, shot and killed General Edward Canby, the only US General killed in the so-called Indian Wars. This film tells the epic story of the Modoc War and why so few know of it today.
Read more about The Beginning Of The End ...
Treading Water
2012 / 26 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
Facing an uncertain future, a community confronts its reflection in the mirror of water scarcity. In the new normal of what once was the California dream, activists, commercial fishermen, farmers, local politicians and others share their anxieties and reveal their values in an effort to find common cause, if not always common ground.
Read more about Treading Water ...
A Man Called Ishi
2012 / 22 minutes / Directed by Magdalena Roberts
Ishi survived attacks on his people and lived in the remote wilderness of northern California for 40 years. His story reminds us that Native Americans are neither gone nor forgotten.
Read more about A Man Called Ishi ...
California Indian Voices
2012 / 22 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
Native People from all over California came together to discuss issues of cultural sustainability, tradition, the environment, substance abuse and what it means to be an Indian in the 21st century. These are their stories.
Read more about California Indian Voices ...
Someone You Know
2012 / 22 minutes / Directed by Jesse Dizard
Across our colleges and universities, women are being sexually assaulted and then blamed for it. Their stories have been silent for too long. This film brings them out into the open.
Read more about Someone You Know ...