An immigrant refugee returns to her Indonesian motherland to reclaim her vanishing Indo culture, confront ancestral wounds, and find home.
Dr. Jane Vogel Mantiri is a social justice activist, retired child trauma psychologist and professional actor living in Portland, Oregon. Against the backdrop of renewed anti-Asian and anti-refugee rhetoric, Jane embodies the immigrant success story and the fulfillment of her father’s all-American dreams. But Jane’s story of resilience and triumph is colored by her aunt’s brutal murder in Indonesia before she was born and her Indonesian-Dutch parents’ subsequent traumatic flight from their beloved homeland during the revolution after WWII. On his death bed, believing Jane was his sister, her father urged her to, “Run!”
Now in her golden years, Jane has shared her story in a memoir, at speaking events, and in podcasts. The desire that drives her to cook nasi kuning and lempers also becomes a longing to return to her motherland to reconnect with family and lay flowers on her aunt’s grave. Her pilgrimage leads to a cousin’s living room in Jakarta, a university classroom in Yokyakarta, and a cemetery in Surabaya where she meets a historian who offers answers Jane never realized she needed on her way to defining her family’s legacy of love.
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Tax-deductible donations via The Bridge Initiative will be used for post-production expenses including picture edit, sound edit, composer, color correction, and festival submissions.
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CREATIVE TEAM
Brenda Jean Foley (producer/writer) is a first-time filmmaker whose producing experience extends across the worlds of theater, cabaret, digital events, and film screenings. Though now she calls Phoenix, Arizona home, her decades of experience onstage and onscreen have taken her from New York to Tokyo. She co-founded CEO Theater in NYC and nonprofit theater/media production company The Bridge Initiative in Phoenix. Two of her feature-length screenplays with writing partner Linnea Liu Dakin have been offered options. She volunteers and consults with the Worldwide Women’s Film Festival and CineStory.
Bruce Nelson (Producer/Director) (he/him) is an award-winning documentarian whose short Gospel Radio Man has been optioned by NETA for screening on PBS. He won a Telly Award for his first short film, Tales of Tobacco. His film Raglin Tales was an official selection of the Arizona Black Film Showcase, Phoenix Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival and Rhode Island International Film Festival. Bruce’s feature-length documentary North Town was an official selection of the Jerome Independent Film & Music Festival, the American Online Film Awards Festival and The Sir Charles Darwin Film Festival (UK), TruDocumentary Film Festival 2016, and Docs Without Borders Film Festival 2016 (Exceptional Merit award winner). North Town is now streaming on Amazon. Bruce is in development on a new project where he employs his storytelling to shed light on the often-overlooked dark chapter in American history of the lynching of Black folks with his Looking For Laura Nelson feature-length documentary. Founder of NEB Productions
Barri Chase (Director of Photography/Co-Cinematographer) (she/her) is the creator of Light Dancing Productions and an award-winning writer, producer, and director of the feature motion picture The Watchman’s Canoe, available on Amazon Prime. As a member of the Southeastern Cherokee Council, her storytelling is profoundly influenced by cross-cultural and relatable narratives. Beginning her career in beauty, fashion, and fine-art photography, Barri transitioned to cinematography and later directed music videos and short films. She now primarily works on feature films and television series. Her television series Marshfield is currently under consideration by several major networks. Recently, she completed work on the first season of the television series 1923 and is in development on several new projects. In 2024, she is set to direct multiple films, listed on her IMDb profile. With a deep understanding of history, culture, and the human experience, Barri often uses the landscape as a key character in her stories. Director and Creative Producer Jennifer Reeder has praised her as “a cinematic storyteller carving out indigenous and multicultural new wave content.” Barri’s multifaceted experience in nearly all crew departments of filmmaking complements her MFA in Screenwriting. Since 2017, she has been a guest lecturer, judge, and panelist at various international film festivals.
Aleks Hollis (Editor) (he/they) is a performer, live foley artist, and video editor. They were recently the live video game designer for Space55’s The Hidden Sea. They have worked as the video editor for The Bridge Initiative’s RomeroFest production of The Dalai Lama is Not Welcome Here, UCAT’s production of The Last Five Years/Los Últimos Cinco Años, and as a live foley artist for Space55’s Night of the Chicken. They have won 3 ariZoni awards: 2 for Artistic Specialization and 1 for Sound Design.
**NOTE: PayPal charges fees so a check is preferred.
Email artsavesLLC@gmail.com for mailing address.
For more about the project, please email ArtSavesLLC@gmail.com
From Executive Producer Brenda Foley
I grew up feeling like an outsider. I was a diplomat’s kid and struggled to fit in as an American overseas and then as an “un-American” teen in the United States. Ballet was my escape and constant – I could always stand at a barre and speak the language, but I’ve never been quite sure where “home” is. When I met Jane, I found a kindred spirit. Her story delights, infuriates, and most of all inspires me. I want to share her wisdom, humor, passion, and talent with the world – it has made me better and I know it has the power to do the same for others!
JOIN US
I have assembled a team including director/producer Bruce Nelson of NEB Productions, director of photography Barri Chase, co-cinematographer Kevin Forrest, location sound Kai Tillman, editor Aleks Hollis, and story consultant/voiceover artist Andréa Morales de Castellano. We are well into production with principal photography wrapped in Portland in May 2023, and are actively seeking investors to help the team get to Indonesia in February 2024 where Jane has been invited to engage with a community of history lovers in Yogyakarta and will visit Surabaya for the first time, her father’s family home.
**NOTE: PayPal charges fees so a check is preferred.
Email artsavesLLC@gmail.com for mailing address.
For more about the project, please email ArtSavesLLC@gmail.com