Maila Hålom

Cultural anthropologist based in Denver, whose work supported film projects that elevate forgotten narratives from Colorado’s lost Chinatown to Maasailand in Africa. Will serve as the audience’s proxy, the outsider who’s never been to the island, but her experience in the field will help us unearth deep concepts around identity, politics, and belonging. Joie is a child of refugee immigrants whose family fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon. She is a community activist who knows what it means to start over with nothing but flavors of home in the heart, and how a recipe can become an anchor in a sea of uncertainty.

Born and raised on island, a pioneer of Guam’s youth poetry slam movement and hip hop scene, whose work received Best Made in Marianas Award at Guam Int'l Film Fest. In some ways is a prodigal son returning home after living stateside for ten years. Will function as an insider but will reckon with personal realizations: though proud of his cultural roots, admittedly he's never actually fished or farmed. Meta's return home is a reconnection to practices he wished he learned as a boy. Interviews he will conduct center the subject’s views but also reveal deeper connections to his understanding of culture, politics, and place.