New Film “Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa” (The Water Flows Always) to Make World Premiere at 2023 Seattle International Film Festival

In the first of a series of global films highlighting Indigenous Peoples from the Wayfinders Circle, water and culture bring together a father and daughter fighting to protect their homelands in Southern California.

SEATTLE, May 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — We are thrilled to announce that Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) is an official selection for the Academy Award-qualifying 2023 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). It is the first release in an upcoming series of films created by the Wayfinders Circle – a global network of Indigenous guardians who protect their lands, waters, and territories, and are dedicated to sharing the transformative potential of Indigenous lifeways.

Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) represents the power of collective filmmaking between Indigenous communities and creative storytellers, influenced by Indigenous guardianship since time immemorial of the region now known as Southern California. Directed by Gina Milanovich (Cahuilla, Cupeño) and Nils Cowan, the film follows a father seeking to reconnect his daughter with her Indigenous roots and the ancient springs of the Mojave Desert, just as a water mining project threatens their very existence.

“When we first learned of the illegal efforts to mine the water underneath the Mojave Desert, we were more dismayed than surprised. But those feelings soon turned to creative energy as we witnessed the galvanizing force this threat was having among Indigenous Peoples of the area,” said co-director Milanovich.

The film was created in partnership between the Wayfinders Circle conveners (Nia Tero, Pawanka Fund, the World Union of Indigenous Spiritual Practitioners) and the Native American Land Conservancy (NALC) – a member of the Wayfinders Circle that protects and restores sacred sites and areas in their ancestral lands, provides educational programming for Native American youth and the general public, and conducts scientific studies on cultural, biological, and historical resources on sacred lands.

“Having this documentary film involving Tribal members, community members…coming together, celebrating all these beautiful things…is so good,” shared Sean Milanovich, Ph.D. (Cahuilla), Vice President of NALC. “The water can teach us, the water can help us, the water heals us.”

You can attend the world premiere in-person on May 20 as part of CONNECTED by WATER at SIFF, and stream virtually from May 22-28. Tickets can be purchased online: https://www.siff.net/festival/connected-by-water.

For press inquiries, contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Nia Tero