Abstract

Filmmaking on the Forward Edge in a First Strike Community

As an academic, I seek to conduct, incorporate and present critical nuclear research to decolonise and visualize the nuclear experience of the Mariana Islands. I am collaborating through a multi-funded critical research and film project which produces policy papers and community-centered documentary films. Specifically, this project seeks to highlight aspiring creatives across the islands of Guam and Saipan, Tinian, and Rota of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

This work reflects on ten days of mentoring and four days of film production of the documentary Tip of the Spear in the Mariana Islands between island filmmakers in the context of (de)colonization and (de)militarization. The short documentary is partially funded by Pacific Islanders in Communications and includes a crew of ten traveling across three islands – Guam, Saipan, and Tinian for filmmaking mentorships and storytelling collaborations.