I’ve Always Been More Comfortable Behind the Camera, but a Responsibility to Tell the Story of My Elders Brought Me in Front of it.

November 4, 2026

Co-director Jacki Cleveland is an Alaskan Indigenous woman with black hair pulled back, wearing a flannel shirt. She sits next to a video camera on a tripod, conducting an interview. Family pictures decorate the walls behind her.

A note from Jacki Cleveland and Mischa Hedges
Filmmakers @ New Day Films for Native American Heritage Month

JC: Our film, Ellavut Cimirtuq, means Our World is Changing. No where is that more true than in my home in Alaska. Erasure of our culture has been happening for generations. Now, climate change is adding to that.

MH: I have been working in the environmental filmmaking & social justice space for most of my career, and when our co-director, Sonia Luokkala contacted me about a climate change story in Alaska, I knew I wanted to help tell it. On our first filming trip to Alaska, we met Jacki, and asked her to join our team as a co-director. Eventually, she became the protagonist of the film - it really only made sense for her to share this story in her own voice.

JC: Our way of life is about the appreciation of the bounty that our world provides us. In our home village of Quinhagak, that ground that holds our ancestors is thawing and eroding away. Our elders, young people, and allies from outside are helping us to retain and recover that history. I’ve always been interested in photographing and helping to share the stories of my village’s elders, and this film was a great way to continue that work.

MH: There was confluence of things happening in Jacki’s home village of Quinhagak; an archaeological project to save artifacts from the erosion of a former village site, the building of a new community cultural center to house those artifacts and make them accessible to the community. The daily connection of Jacki to her community and way of life made a compelling and multi-layered story that viewers could connect with - a story of real people in the USA, dealing with the effects of climate change, and making the most of it.

JC: Despite the hardships our community faces, we wanted to make sure that we’re not seen as Climate Refugees, but fighters in keeping this soul-filled way of life. We are dancing again, continuing to speak Yupik, and staying connected to the Earth. My grandmother said it best, “We are the richest people in the world”.

MH: These stories and many like them are why we decided to distribute the film at New Day Films - a co-op of filmmakers dedicated to having their films make a difference. And having taken part in screenings with audiences, we know there is no greater opportunity than using film to open minds, and having discussions afterwards to open hearts.

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Co-directors, Mischa Hedges, a white man, and Jacki Cleveland, an Alaskan Indigenous woman, are bundled against the cold, standing on a scrubby Alaska riverbank. They hold filmmaking equipment and smile for the camera. Beyond the sparkling river and scrubland, mountains jut up toward thick clouds. Little breaks in the clouds create a few jewel-like spots of blue.

Jacki Cleveland (Nalikutaar) and Mischa Hedges
Filmmakers @ New Day Films