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Telling her stories

Fourteen-year-old filmmaker is making a name for herself

Melissa Roach
Posted 2/11/16

NETT LAKE – Fourteen-year-old CeCilia Martinez, of Nett Lake, already boasts an impressive career. Yet, despite having spent more than half her life in filmmaking, she knows this is still just the …

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Telling her stories

Fourteen-year-old filmmaker is making a name for herself

Posted

NETT LAKE – Fourteen-year-old CeCilia Martinez, of Nett Lake, already boasts an impressive career. Yet, despite having spent more than half her life in filmmaking, she knows this is still just the beginning.

CeCilia first became interested in filmmaking by following in the footsteps of her sister, Kaya. The girls collaborated with film producers from the small, nonprofit, St. Paul-based digital art company, In Progress, to make the documentary short, “Sisters of the Jingle Dress.” The film garnered the attention of The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., as well as the hearts of her community, and piqued the interest of then six-year-old CeCilia.

Poetry and photography provided an artistic outlet, but it was only a matter of time before she wanted to work into film.

In 2014 she again partnered with In Progress, and for this newly developing artist, it was a good partnership. In Progress worked with CeCilia to hone her skill as a “digital storyteller.” She learned how to use different cameras, and with their help, she created two documentary shorts.

The powerfully poetic film short, “Bully,” serves as an aching call out to friends, parents, teachers, and community to address bullying. Another film short, “Amazing,” catapulted CeCilia to the national and international level. The 2015 American Indian and Indigenous Film Festival recognized and screened her work last November at their festival held in San Diego. The film also screened at the 2015 My Hero Project- International Film Festival, winning first place in the Middle School category.

“We are incredibly proud of CeCilia. I’ve seen her notebook, the amount of time and thinking, the strategy she puts into each line and camera angle. It’s much more complex than anyone realizes,” relates North Woods Principal John Metsa. “We are so supportive and excited that she has taken herself to a new level, to take up this challenge. Her video poetry is powerful.”

Traveling to “cool” places like New York City and San Diego is one of the perks of being an award-winning filmmaker. Recognition and respect from peers and receiving valuable insight from industry filmmakers is another. These experiences and artists have helped CeCilia further develop as an artist.

Seeing her work along with other talented artists’ work is something she can’t quite explain. Although she might not be able to explain it, her artistry is manifested in her work. CeCilia has a unique gift of being able to communicate through pictures, not only with the spoken word, but also with what is left unsaid.

Those “unspoken words” are what drive her to continue to capture them, visually weaving them into her films. Her current project is a work in progress and she hopes to be finished this summer. Equipped with curiosity and an interest in history, CeCilia is asking questions of her community, reaching to her elders for their words, and their unspoken words, to tell the story.