Ramona, Rita and Ramona's mum (born in Ireland), a nephew, and a friend spent a week together in April near Drogheda, just north of Dublin. We explored a 5200-year-old passage tomb, Newgrange, where the sun shines into a burial chamber on the winter solstice. We enjoyed the Irish countryside, the people, Dublin and some delicious food! There is laughter galore when 3 generations, and a friend, travel together.
Rita Davern
Stories I Didn't Know in NYC /
Last month, on April 7th, director Rita Davern and Ramona Kitto Stately, Dakota Educator held a LIVE virtual Q&A with 300 NYC middle and high school students. They watched Stories I Didn’t Know through a program called Movies That Matter put on by the Jewish Museum of NYC. The program invites middle and high school students to view award-winning documentaries that examine current social issues such as representation and identity, immigration, and civil rights followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers and Stories I Didn’t Know was one of those documentaries!
CreatEVE Event: Film Screening and Discussion, ‘Stories I Didn’t Know’ /
In recognition of National Women’s History Month in March, The Grand Center for Arts & Culture (New Ulm, MN) in cooperation with the New Ulm Film Society, will be screening our documentary, ‘Stories I Didn’t Know’ on Thursday, March 31 at 7pm.
Both director and producer Rita Davern and Dakota Educator Ramona Kitto Stately will be at the film screening and will hold a Q&A session following the film! This event is FREE and all are welcome.
Check out the article about us in The Journal.
Bringing Stories I Didn't Know to Louisiana /
At the beginning of March we were invited to screen Stories I Didn’t Know to the Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) - Department of New Media, Journalism, & Communications Arts students. Director Rita Davern, co-director Melody Gilbert, Dakota Educator, Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately were present for the Q&A. The screening was possible thanks to the Department of New Media Journalism and Communication Arts at NSULA in collaboration with The History We Stand On series organized by the Ethnic Studies and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Read more about the screening below:
Photo by Emily Zering (Purple Media Network)
Screening in Bulgaria at Sofia DocuMental /
We are going to Bulgaria! Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at Sofia DocuMental Film Festival on September 8, 4pm at the Czech Center in Sofia. Our film is part of a small retrospective of our co-director and producer Melody Gilbert who is teaching a workshop at the festival and showing her latest films.
She will be there in person to answer questions and meet the Bulgarian audience!
Crew and Cast Party /
We’ve released Stories I Didn’t Know during a pandemic and we’ve never had the chance since then to get together the cast and crew to celebrate the successes of our film. We’ve seen each other plenty online but not enough in person.
Last Sunday, we finally managed to gather together most of the crew and cast for a small outdoor party. Some managed to join us virtually, some couldn’t make it but we were happy to have the chance to see and hang out with everyone!
Host a STORIES I DIDN'T KNOW community screening! /
We are thrilled to announce that now you can bring our documentary to your community! You can host a screening of Stories I Didn’t Know at your campus, theater, organization, or community venue. Also, you can book the co-directors Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert at your event.
We can wait to connect with you and your communties!
Webinar: "Reckoning with Two Paths: Histories and Futures in Mni Sota Makoce" - Center for Community and Civic Engagement at Carleton College /
On Monday May 3rd, Stories I Didn’t Know co-directors, Rita Davern & Melody Gilbert, Dakota educator Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately, who both feature in the film, were on a panel called “Reckoning with Two Paths: Histories and Futures in Mni Sota Makoce” alongside Minnesota filmmaker Keri Pickett (First Daughter and the Black Snake) at Carleton College. The Carleton Community had the chance to stream both films for free before the discussion.
“The ‘Prophecy of the 7th Fire’ says a ‘black snake’ will bring destruction to the earth. We will have a choice of two paths. One is scorched, and one is green.” So begins the story of environmentalist and Ojibwe White Earth Community leader Winona LaDuke’s fight against the Embridge Pipeline 3 Project in northern Minnesota chronicled by director Keri Pickett in the documentary First Daughter and the Black Snake. In LaDuke’s activism we see not only see how to stop and choose a different path but also to reclaim from the snake what has been lost to the fire. The peoples of Minnesota have followed the two paths with their contesting visions of life, land, and livelihood for generations. In a personal narrative, Stories I Didn’t Know, directed by Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert, Rita faces the consequences of her ancestors’ choices in settling on land taken from Dakota communities who had lived for generations on lands at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. As she researches methods of legal restitution, Rita meets activist and Bdote Educator Ramona Kitto Stately and musician Reuben Kitto Stately, from whom we learn the effects of the westward expansion through on the land on which we stand. ”
This event was sponsored by Center for Community and Civic Engagement, The Dean of Students, The Dean of the College, The Department of Political Science, The Department of History, American Studies, Environment Technology and Science, The Public Policy Program
Official Selection: Alexander Valley Film Festival /
We are happy to announce that Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at the 2021 Alexander Valley Film Festival between April 23 and May 2. The festival will take place online and if you wish to learn more about it, buy a ticket or a pass for the festival click HERE.
Note: Ticket and pass holders will have access to the panel discussion: “Amplifying Indigenous Stories” on Monday, April 26th at 6PM featuring the filmmakers and subjects of all three films.
Official Selection: San Francisco Independent Film Festival /
Stories I Didn't Know is screening on the West Coast at San Francisco IndieFest between February 4 and February 21, 2021! Don’t forget to check out the Q&A and the short film “Hope's Home” by Yue Li screening alongside our film.
Tickets available here: https://bit.ly/SF-Indie-Fest-Tickets
Meet Ramona Kitto Stately /
For those who have seen our documentary film, Stories I Didn’t Know, you may wonder, “Who is Ramona Kitto Stately, and what is she up to these days as an educator and leader?”
Below find Ramona’s profile, along with part 1 of a recent interview with Ramona and Rita about Stories I Didn’t Know. The interview comes from Inclusivi-Tee – a company committed to “co-creating a sustainable, kind, and equitable future through the sale of earth-friendly books and fashion, the organization of workshops and podcasts, and participation in strategic partnerships.”
In this episode of Inclusivi-TALKS, Lori is joined by co-host Shannon Crossbear, filmmaker Rita Davern, and Ramona Kitto Stately, We Are Still Here Minnesota...
Ramona Kitto Stately is an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Dakota Nation. She has a BA in Dakota Art and Culture, and a Masters of Education with an emphasis on Teacher leadership from Augsburg University. After 15 years teaching Indian Education in Minnesota, she is now Project Director for the We Are Still Here Minnesota, creating action for narrative change. Ramona is the mother of two children, an accomplished beadwork artist with moccasins on display in the Science Museum of Minnesota, a part of the scholars' team with of the Minnesota Humanities Center’s for Learning from Place: Bdote and has served as the Chairperson of the Minnesota Indian Education Association since 2016.
Ramona Kitto Stately - Santee Sioux Nation
Project Director - We Are Still Here Minnesota (WASH-MN)
MA Education & Teacher Leadership
ramonastately@gmail.com / (651) 263-0942
"Fostering cultural, social, and policy change by empowering Native Americans to counter discrimination, invisibility, and the dominant narratives that limit Native opportunity, access to justice, health and self-determination."
Ramona Kitto Stately (Still from Stories I Didn’t Know)
Us at Cucalorus Film Festival /
Such a pity that we couldn’t attend Cucalorus Film Festival in person this year but nonetheless we had a wonderful time being part of it virtually! Thank you Cucalorus!
Stories I Didn't Know at Lake County Film Festival /
We were very happy to have Stories I Didn’t Know screen this month at Lake County Film Festival. Watch below the lovely Q&A we had at the festival together with the director of the fest Nat Dykeman and Greg Allen, director of “Reparations” short film that accompanied the screening of Stories I Didn’t Know at Lake County Film Festival.
Private screening with Climate Change Leaders MN /
Climate Change Leaders (CCL) are an amazing group of farmers pivoting their land use to be sustainable and to help battle climate change. Members of this group saw Stories I Didn’t Know yesterday and had a private Q&A with director Rita Davern and Ramona Kitto Stately, a Dakota educator that features in our film. We want to thank this thoughtful committed group of land leaders for having a discussion with us about what reparations to Native nations might look like and discussing hard topics with one's family.
Read more about CCL's work here: https://bit.ly/3ii1cuA
Screening and LIVE Q&A at MSPIFF39 with film directors and film’s subjects /
We are looking forward to share our film with you and have a conversation afterwards about it.
You are now able to purchase tickets to our screening at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival that will will be available from Sunday, May 17 2PM until Saturday, May 23 11:59PM.
Purchase tickets here:
* Only people with a MN billing address are able to purchase tickets and watch the film at this time
Also, you can now register for the free LIVE Q&A with directors Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert and the film’s subjects that will take place on Sunday, May 17 5PM via Zoom.
