Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival

Festival in Sight!

intern — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:24:05 +0000

Hello again! This week we’re taking a break from the usual “Where Are They Now?” updates to focus on a bit of Mixed Roots news. By this, of course, I mean the upcoming Festival!! (Well, upcoming may be a bit of a stretch. After all, the Festival isn’t until this June, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start planning!)

Speaking of planning, Mixed Roots is already accepting submissions for films, workshops, readings, and performances for this Festival. There is no fee to submit your work, but don’t wait! Submissions will only be accepted until March 5th. (I’d get on this right away! If we’re going to keep having amazing Festivals, then we have to put our work out there!)

Just check out this website to get more info about entering. And if you’ve never heard of the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival before, then aren’t you in for a treat! Take a bit of time to explore this website, and please consider coming to the Festival!

This year’s Festival will take place at the Japanese American National Museum, 369 East 1st Street, June 16-17, 2012, in downtown Los Angeles. Don’t forget to enter all submissions before the 5th of March! I can’t wait to find out all the great activities and panels we’ll have this year!

Spotlight on Athena Asklipiadis

intern — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:01:49 +0000

This week we’re shining the spotlight on Athena Asklipiadis, a woman who has attended the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival for the past few years. At her first Festival, Asklipiadis came as an attendee, but in years following she has manned a booth.

A part of the Festival that Asklipiadis enjoyed greatly was seeing children participate at the variety of activity and reading stations. Although she wishes that there had been such a program available to her when she was their age, Asklipiadis is pleased to know that such resources are now available to young people and that Mixed Roots is reaching out to them as well.

Aside from her regular work, Asklipiadis founded Mixed Marrow, an organization committed to “register more donors to the national registry as well as spreading awareness through social media, print media and film.” She also works with various other organizations to promote this cause.

Thank you to Athena Asklipiadis for taking the time to interview with Mixed Roots. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to see her around and add some names to the national bone marrow donors list!

A Chat with Nicole Koschmann

intern — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:31:14 +0000

Today we’re having a chat with Nicole Koschmann, a film-maker who participated in the 2010 Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival!

At the Festival, Koschmann’s documentary Black, White, and Yellow was screened in front of an audience that she felt was the best possible for the film. The documentary is about transracial adoption, a subject to which a surprising number of viewers could relate. Koschmann describes the discussions after the showing as being “really interesting and dynamic.” In addition to these conversations, she greatly enjoyed the welcome atmosphere and the variety of chats with other writers, film-makers, and musicians.

Last we heard from her, Nicole Koschmann was focusing on photography and taking the time to raise her two sons. She told us that she does, however, have plans to return to film-making in the future! Speaking of which, Koschmann confided that she would just love to attend and participate in another Mixed Roots Festival! Which, by the way, is a great idea for everybody! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge!) Seriously, people, this year’s Festival is going to be a blast! And with that little commercial, we’ll wrap up this interview. Thank you so much for your time, Nicole Koschmann; we cannot wait to see you and your work at a Festival!

An Interview with Tara Betts

intern — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:33:12 +0000

Time for another of our “Where Are They Now?” specials. This week we’re focusing on Tara Betts, a writer who took part in the Festival in June, 2010. During the Festival, she read from her book Arc & Hue and also spoke with other authors about literature.

Betts especially enjoyed these chats at the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival, remarking that not one conversation “privileged [or] favored one identity over another, which sometimes happens in conversations on interracial identity.” Thank you, Ms. Betts, for taking part in such discussions. The exploration of such subjects as interracial identity in today’s world.

And where is she now? you may ask. Well, last we heard from her, Betts was finishing a series of works, among them an anthology of bop poems as well as a children’s book. She was also in the process of co-editing an anthology of formal poetry by African American poets. Betts was also pleased to say that some short film adaptions of her poetry were in the making. She also plans to complete a memoir in addition to fiction, emphasizing that she wishes to be a writer who is “not bound by genre.” Thank you for your time, Ms. Betts, and please do keep writing!

And We’re Back!!

intern — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:27:11 +0000

Hello again, all you lovely people! I admit that it’s been a while, but the blog is back. That’s right, B-A-C-K, back! So make sure to check it out periodically for spotlights, Mixed Root Festival news, and more! Ooh, this is so exciting, I can’t wait!

Festival Today and Tomorrow!! :D

intern — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:27:44 +0000

After the painstaking wait, it’s finally here! The time for the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival has finally arrived! I do hope you can all attend today and tomorrow; it will only be here for two days! And since I cannot make it (I fly back just ten days later, what a bummer!), you all will just have to enjoy the Festival for me. Good luck to the Mixed Roots Team! I know that this year’s Festival is going to be a great success!

An Interview with Marcia Alesan Dawkins

intern — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:08:58 +0000

I hope you’re all ready to read a little something because here’s our next “Where Are They Now?” post! Today we’re focusing on Marcia Dawkins, author of the book “Things Said in Passing” and a volunteer at last year’s Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival. As a volunteer, she was a moderator for the film “Biracial… Not Black Damnit!” As I learn more about this program, I find that there are so many ways in which one can help out!
One of Miss Dawkins’s positive experiences at the Festival was actually meeting people she had previously only come to know through the internet or literary sources. Her motivation to help out with the event in the first place comes from when she was interviewed by Heidi Durrow and Fanshen Cox on Mixed Chicks Chat. The descriptions of the events and hard work that was needed spurred Miss Dawkin to participate in the Festival.
Currently, she is a Visiting Scholar at Brown University, where she works as a syndicated blogger for Huffington Post and a as a columnist for Truth Dig. She is also working on her next work, “Eminem: The Real Slim Shady,” a book that addresses identity, race, communication and economic literacy in the realm of popular culture. In addition to all of that, Miss Dawkins lectures at universities across the United States and does press interviews to share her research.
Thank you so much for your time, Miss Dawkins! I hope you decide to attend the Festival this year as well!

A Chat with Fanshen Cox

intern — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:53:00 +0000

I am pleased to announce to anyone who comes across this blog that after much managing, waiting, and all-around cursing of the time difference between Los Angeles and Berlin, Miss Fanshen Cox and I were able to get in an interview via email. (Thank goodness for internet!) While we were unable to chat face-to-face (or rather, computer to computer), Miss Cox’s personality still showed through her typed answers.
In the event that you haven’t yet had the opportunity to check our “Organizers” page, allow me to mention that Fanshen Cox is the Co-Founder/Co-Producer of the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival. After Heidi Durrow and she started the Mixed Chicks Chat podcast, it became apparent that there were simply too many stories that had not been shared. In order to fix that little problem, the two of them founded the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Miss Cox’s drive to take part in storytelling through performance can be dated back to when she starred as the “Sugar Plum Fairy” in her school’s bilingual elementary school production of “The Nutcracker.” As someone who enjoys the theater experience, I am personally grateful to those who put on a show, whether it is through film, performance, or literature. The concept of telling a story and bringing understanding as well as entertainment to the audience never ceases to leave me in awe. Helping to further this concept, the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival has brought to reality “a warm, nurturing environment where artists feel comfortable and comforted in sharing the whole, complicated, true story of their racial and cultural backgrounds.” This accomplishment was originally Miss Cox’s goal for the Festival. Well, Miss Cox, it has certainly sprung to life!
When asked if she had anything she would like to add to this interview, Miss Cox replied by thanking everyone who makes the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival possible. We need you all and are so grateful for the work you do! On a quick closing note, I would like to thank Miss Cox for taking time out of her schedule to be interviewed!

Hines Ward on Dancing With the Stars

intern — Sun, 22 May 2011 20:48:26 +0000

Hines Ward, an MVP of the Superbowl XL and a winner of the Mixed Roots Loving Prize, is currently one of the three finalists for the ABC show Dancing With the Stars. Who will win the coveted and frankly, sparkly mirror ball trophy? How will this season of the ABC celebrity dance competition end? The two-day finale starts Monday at 8/7c, so tune in to see our Loving Prize winner! ? Don’t forget to vote tomorrow! Go Ward!!

Congratulations to Hines Ward! Winner of the 12^th Season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars!

Spotlight on Christen Lee

intern — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:24:10 +0000

Time for another little game of Let’s See What They’re Up to Now! This time we’re checking up on Kristen Lee, who attended the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival in May 2010. At the Festival, she screened her short documentary film, “MiXeD mE” (directed Chris Woon and Nancy Wen, as well as Kristen Lee herself).
The UCLA Ethnocommunications Course film has since screened at a Critical Mixed Race Conference and, on May 1st of this year, will make its Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival debut. In case you are unable to make it to that screening of the film, or if you just happen to be in New Orleans at the time, “MiXeD mE” will also be featured later in May at the 2011 Association of Asian American Studies Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
When asked to relate her favorite memory of the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival, Miss Lee replied that she greatly enjoyed “networking with other mixed race creative artists, entrepreneurs, families and business professionals!” Her inspiration to take part in the Festival was due to the need of “having a space that welcomes Mixed Race artists.” What a great thing that the Festival provides such a place.

Thank you for your interview, Miss Lee, and congratulations! (Miss Lee graduates from the UCLA Asian American Studies Program this June with a Masters of Arts.)