Sep 24, 2020
Imagine this: You see a film that fosters such big thoughts and ideas that you have to share it with others, and discuss! That's the idea behind Tracy Nguyen-Chung and Ciara Lacy's work. In ‘Connection,’ both filmmakers follow Autumn Harry, a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, on her journey as a fly-fisher. Along the way, they bring to the forefront the multitude of connections intersecting with and highlighted by our experiences on the water. In this episode we talk about the importance of these connections and some of the prevalent stereotypes in fishing and how to change them.
1:00 Humanities Montana - check out their 'Gather Round' toolkit -- it's meant to inspire big discussions that matter to people in the great outdoors (well, all of us)
5:00 The art of telling a culturally specific story that resonates universally
7:00 From Vietnam to the U.S., a father's passion for fishing is passed along to his daughter, Tracy
8:30 And in Hawaii, Ciara grew up in a 'catch and release' family when it came to tilapia... which has oddly made a comeback in fine dining
10:00 Tracy and Ciara's film is "Connection", it started with a vision to uplift the image of people of color in fishing. It's the story of an indigenous woman and her discovery of fly-fishing.
14:00 Connections... to geography, to culture, to water, to environment, to self
17:00 Brown Folks Fishing - most storytelling is through Insta; it's a volunteer-run non-profit to gather and support a community of BIPOC anglers
19:00 Growing up in a family hobby, like fishing, and then promptly leaving it during college... and making a full circle as an adult
21:00 Public-facing parts of the fishing community -- industry, Insta profiles, groups, etc -- they're predominantly white (and male). The conservation space is similar.
24:00 People from BIPOC communities are totally out there fishing (hugely!), but they're just not represented in most of the industry
26:00 Two privileged and flawed points of view from naysayers: fishing is a place where we should go to 'escape' and BIPOC anglers don't exist in this space unless it's affordable.
28:00 Storytelling as an advocacy tool. For Ciara, it started with seeing her mom as an organizer for the Native Hawaiian community
30:00 Part of good storytelling is letting people know what they should be thinking about... those life challenges that slip the radar for some. (Pssst... that's what the 'Gather Round' toolkits are all about!)
36:00 What even IS a 'conservation angler'? It’s not something that’s automatically given to you the minute you step into the river. It takes intention and practice.
40:00 Spin-fishing: it's totally cool, everyone!
45:00 'Connections' the film started as a passion project... its trajectory has far surpassed early expectations
47:30 Adventures from documentary filmmaking: Getting an inmate a last-minute bouquet of flowers on his release day so he could give them to his fiancée.
49:00 On being human first, filmmaker second
50:30 "Out of State" documentary, which first aired on PBS
51:00 Find Ciara's work at CiaraLacy.com
52:00 Making fishing films? Four seasons in a day! (And a hard-knock life for film equipment)
54:00 Find Tracy online at tracynchung.com
55:00 "Connections" was underwritten by Orvis, which has been a long-time supporter of Brown Folks Fish. The film will be released later this year on Orvis' website, and also at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Hawaii International Film Festival before then
57:00 Brown Folks Fishing fellowship lab and the Angling for All Pledge
1:00:00 Gather Round has a 'connection kit' focused on four water-themed films... you've got to check it out! Request your free toolkit fromHumanities Montana today