Director's Works
Tribal Families Coalition, Place Where I Belong Christopher Nataanii Cegielski
Christopher Nataanii Cegielski is an LA-based director, writer and member of the Navajo Nation whose work and character exudes youth and ambition. Recently, Christopher was a fellow of the DGA and AICP’s joint Commercial Diversity Directors Program (CDDP), whose purpose is to increase diversity representation in commercial filmmaking. He has recently worked with clients such as ABC, United Airlines, Google, Youtube, Altra, AriZona Beverages and DIG DEEP on their Navajo Water Project. Christopher’s narrative work has received international recognition from festivals such as the Berlinale, SXSW, imagineNATIVE, Sun Valley, and the LA Film Festival. He has received artistic development from the Sundance Native Lab’s Time Warner Producers Fellowship and Film Independent’s Project Involve Program, where he received the Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship Grant.
We took on this powerful opportunity to make a film centered on the essential law of ICWA and highlight CTFC’s admirable work in their fight to keep Native families and communities together. As a native filmmaker, I’m very passionate about creating stories that center around my culture and heritage. When I create stories about my community, for my community, it creates a prideful responsibility that inspires me to do the work I’m most proud of. However, this one felt especially meaningful. With the Haaland vs. Brackeen case thrusting ICWA and the fight for tribal sovereignty into the spotlight, it’s obvious that the American public has little understanding of what this law is and why it actually exists. We made this film because now more than ever, it’s important to refocus the narrative back on why this law was implemented in the first place: To protect our culture, our communities, and most of all… our children.