Ep. 42 Indigenous Cinema

In this episode I feature Jasmine Lopez (Tohono O’odham), who is a young aspiring filmmaker and community advocate. Jasmine was raised on the Southside of Tucson by her Grandmother Roselene, oringinally from the village of Gu-Oidag (Big Fields) on the Tohono O’odham Nation. She is currently a senior at the University of Arizona majoring in Management in Information Systems with a minor in American Indian studies, while working for the program A Students Journey.

Photo of Jasmine (right) and Her grandmother , Roselene (Lewis) Smith, (left) at her graduation from Tohono O’odham Community College.

I first discovered Jasmine when she held the title as Miss Native American University of Arizona 2024-2025. We recently met in person and it was then I learned more about the work she does as a student and aspiring filmmaker. Her early introductory to recording videos started as a young girl creating short films on her cell phone using the app iMovie. To her the idea of creating videos on the most accessible resource, an app for most digital devices like a cell phone, iPad, computer etc., was fun making playful cinematic shots and stories.

Portrait photo of Jasmine in her traditional clothing and regalia. Photo of Jasmine giving a speech during her reign as Miss Native American University of Arizona 2024-2025

In 2023 during her time as an undergraduate student at the Tohono O’odham Community College she was awarded the opportunity to intern with the Student’s Journey program at the UofA, to work on a film project of a topic of her choice. Jasmine’s subject matter was environmental justice where she highlighted the issue of the history of TCE water contamination in South Tucson that was largely caused by and centered around industrial activities and defense-related facilities. Below is the short-film titled, “O’odham Su:dag – The People’s Water – A Tohono O’odham Jewed (Land) Story.”

Today, Jasmine is currently working on a grant funded short-film about indigenous love! She was awarded a grant from the American Indian College Fund – Student Professional Development Grant Program. In the interview she goes more in-depth about her plans as her role as the director and pre-production that includes script development, casting, location(s), etc. Aside from being a filmmaker, she is also interested in developing her own business as a managing consulting firm. I hope you enjoy listening to Jasmine’s story and if you wish to support her work she can be reached on Instagram @ripyoungjas and on Linkedin as Jasmine Lopez. Thank you for tuning in!

Jasmine filming in a wash standing behind the camera.

 

Ep. 42 Indigenous Cinema. Graphic created by T. Andrew.