I recently asked my Facebook friends this question and the answers were wide-ranging from the most current like Olivia and Fitz on Scandal to Helen and Tom Willis on The Jeffersons. What do you think?–Heidi Durrow
2014 Festival Re-cap: Closure, feature film
Closure dir. Bryan Tucker
The Mixed Remixed Festival was thrilled to screen the feature film, Closure directed by Bryan Tucker. The documentary follows Angela, an African-American woman who was raised by a Caucasian couple in a large, multiracial family in Washington State. She was adopted at the age of one from foster care in the state of Tennessee, under the terms of a closed adoption. As Angela grew older, it became apparent that the unanswered questions about her birth story would continue to haunt her if she did not attempt to find some answers. Filmed and edited by her husband, Bryan, the documentary follows Angela for two years during the search for her birth family. Several twists and surprising revelations ultimately lead Angela and her family across the country to her place of birth. It is there where Angela comes face to face with her birth mother for the first time, and meets family members who had never known she was even born – including her birth father.
Bryan and Angela attended the Festival to do a Q&A led by Festival Advisor John Meeks. The audience was incredibly moved by the film and there were lots of tears and stories shared during the audience interaction after the screening. We can’t wait to see else this duo does to advance the conversation around these issues!
Top 5 Web Series By/For/About Mixed & Multiracial People
You’ve asked for it and we’ve answered. The Top 5 Web Series by/for/about the Mixed experience! (In no particular order because we love them all!)
1. Mulatto Diaries with Tiffany Jones. A perennial favorite. We love you Tiffany Jones!
2. The Essence of Maya featuring a backstage look at the life of singer-songwriter-visionary Maya Azucena, a mixed chick.
3. Team Mixed Show : In their own words: “Exploring what it means to be mixed, and celebrating our diversity.”
4. United Colors of Amani: Another Festival favorite and just all-around funny stuff by and featuring mixed chick extraordinaire Amani Starnes.
5. MMXLII Countdown to 2042: From the channel’s description: “Countdown to 2042. In the year 2042, via the U.S. census, America will no longer have a single ethnic majority. We explore that landmark date with different leaders in their respective fields.” Our Festival founder did an interview for this series that you can check out here.
2014 Festival Re-cap: Sleeping with the Fishes Feature Film
The Mixed Remixed Festival was so excited to screen, Sleeping with the Fishes, the directorial feature debut of Nicole Gomez Fisher who just weeks after our screening won Best Director at the Imagen Awards. (So well-deserved Nicole! We love you!)
We were so lucky to have Nicole Gomez Fisher attend and participate in a Q&A led by Festival Team Leader extraordinaire, Rayme Cornell, directly following the film. We can’t wait to see what Nicole does next!
Sleeping with the Fishes is a comedy which captures one girl’s journey of self-discovery and the dynamics of her zany family. With its fair share of “ay dios mio” and “oy vey” moments, the film comes to life with colorful characters and one-liners that can only be found in a Latino Jewish home in Brooklyn.
A slice-of-life, Sleeping with the Fishes features an incredible Latino cast of established and rising talent who come together to tell a relatable and comically poignant story.
Cast includes: Gina Rodriguez (yes her!), Ana Ortiz (yes her too!), Steven Strait, Priscilla Lopez
Nicole Gomez Fisher is the writer and director of Sleeping with the Fishes, an official selection of the 2013 Brooklyn Film Festival. She’s just finished writing her second feature, Good Egg, an action comedy, as well as spec scripts for Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. Nicole has received international recognition for her comedy writing. Both Sleeping with the Fishes and her original sitcom, This is My Life, won praise at recent screenwriting competitions. Starting out as an actress and stand-up comic from Brooklyn, Nicole is a founding member of The Hot Tamales Live!, the Latina comedy tour produced by Eva Longoria. She went on to write and perform her acclaimed one-woman show, Mixed, at the New York Underground Comedy Festival. Nicole’s film, television and theater acting credits include a recurring role on 24, General Hospital, Empire (an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival), Frankie and Johnny are Married (starring Mandy Patinkin), Habla for HBO Latino and Birth Marks (part of The Ensemble Studios Marathon Series). Nicole’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Time Out NY, Backstage, Theater Mania and 15 Minutes Magazine. Sleeping with the Fishes marks Nicole’s directorial debut.
Bravo (again) Cheerios! A True Storyteller’s Prize Leader!
We were pleased as punch to honor Cheerios with a Storyteller’s Prize in June at the Mixed Remixed Festival for their work in celebrating the diverse American family in their commercials. Cheerios’ Camile Gibson and Doug Martin accepted the award on behalf of the company and really stole the show (video to come soon). Now, Cheerios has released this awesome video in its continued commitment to portraying life in America as it is in all of its wonderful diversity. Check this out! Bravo again Cheerios! And here’s more praise for Cheerios from Slate Magazine, and Adweek.–Heidi Durrow
[youtube]http://youtu.be/QvHGKSqBVjs[/youtube]
What’s Your Mixed Remixed Silly Collection?
As I grew older and learned how to talk about being in the Mixed experience, I found it was very important to keep my sense of humor about some of the conversations I had. To that end, I have also started a collection with a nod to my mixed roots as an adult. I started collecting zebras and mules and lately pandas. It’s silly, but fun. How do you like my mule. His name is Otto. Get it? Mule Otto? Do you have a silly collection that nods to your mixed roots background? —Heidi Durrow
Mixed Remixed Festival 2015: Submissions OPEN
MIXED REMIXED FESTIVAL
CELEBRATING MULTICULTURAL FAMILIES AND STORIES
SLATED FOR JUNE 2015:
SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN
(Los Angeles, CA) The Mixed Remixed Festival, the nation’s premiere multicultural film, book and performance festival, will take place at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Avenue on June 13, 2015 in downtown Los Angeles.
The Mixed Remixed Festival celebrates stories of multiracial and multicultural families, interracial and intercultural relationships, transracial and transcultural adoptions, and individuals who identify as multiracial, multicultural, Hapa or mixed. The Festival will present several films, readings, workshops, panel presentations, and will include family activities and a live performance.
The 2015 Festival will bring together innovative artists, film and book lovers, multiracial individuals and families, the country’s fastest growing demographic according to recent Census reports. Events are free and open to the public.
The inaugural Festival in 2014 showcased appearances by Comedy Central’s Key & Peele, actress Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), and actress and singer Erica Gimpel (Fame, Profiler) among others. The Festival also presented Cheerios with its Storyteller’s Prize for its celebrated series of commercials featuring an interracial family.
The call for submissions for films, workshops, panel presentations, readings and performances by writers, actors, comedians, spoken word artists and musicians is open now until Jan. 15, 2015. There is no submission fee. For specific submissions requirements and festival information check here.
About the Organizer
Heidi W. Durrow Founder/Executive Producer is the New York Times best-selling author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (Algonquin Books), which received writer Barbara Kingsolver’s PEN/Bellwether Prize for Literature of Social Change. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky has been hailed as one of the Best Novels of 2010 by the Washington Post, and a Top 10 Book of 2010 by The Oregonian. Ebony Magazine named Durrow as one of its Power 100 Leaders of 2010 along with writers Edwidge Danticat and Malcolm Gladwell. Durrow was nominated for a 2011 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Debut. Durrow has been featured as a leading expert on multiracial and multicultural issues and identity by the NBC Nightly News, the New York Times, CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC, Ebony Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is an occasional contributor to National Public Radio and blogs for the Huffington Post.
Past Sponsors
Cheerios, Miss Jessie’s, Pitfire Artisan Pizza, Poets & Writers, Zerflin, and Cards in Color.
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Key & Peele: “This prize means belonging.”
Mixed Remixed Festival honored Key & Peele with a Storyteller’s Prize in June 2014. It was exciting to hear biracial celebrities we adore talk about their own Mixed experience. The Storyteller’s Prize is presented by the Mixed Remixed Festival to artists, scholars, activists, organizations and community leaders who illuminate and celebrate the Mixed experience. The complete Storyteller’s Prize presentation featured many talented performers including Khanisha Foster, Aaron Samuels and Mya Greene. Video footage of the show will be posted on our You Tube page. You can see Key & Peele’s acceptance speeches here:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/IrsXHId3eRo?list=UUNJXzxVW32o6p66tL9ySX2w[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/D7VRVQgbDvE[/youtube]
Meet Our New Tweeter-in-Chief
We are so excited and so lucky to have Erica Dessenberger on board as our new Tweeter-in-Chief! Please say hello to her on our Twitter feed @mixedremixed! Here’s a little more about the wonderful Erica:
Erica Dessenberger is absolutely pumped to be a member of the Mixed Remixed team! Born and raised in Northern California, she comes from a mixed race family of many cultures. In 2010, she graduated from the University of California, Davis with a B.A. in English, three different Twitter accounts, and a growing interest in social media marketing. Most recently, Erica spent two years tweeting up a storm and providing marketing and fundraising support for Ballet San Jose, the Silicon Valley’s professional ballet company. She continues to work with nonprofit arts organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and looks forward to setting the Twittersphere ablaze with news about Mixed Remixed Festival 2015!
Watch Blackish & Tweet with Us TONIGHT!
We’re super-excited to see ABC’s show black-ish starring mixed chick Tracee Ellis Ross playing a mixed chick! Can you believe it? Watch it live and tweet with us using hashtag #mixedremixed!-Heidi Durrow
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