Award-Winning Short Doc Screens For Free
Texas Filmmaker Melissa Kirkendall’s award-winning documentary You are Me & I am You will screen on October 13, 2022 at our HQ for free.
The short doc follows Carmen Cumba, an indigenous midwife in the High Sierras of Ecuador who, despite many hardships and obstacles, has dedicated her life to helping the women of her community both as an Ancestral medicine practitioner and as an advocate for equality for her fellow midwives in Ecuador. The special one-time event evening will include a Q&A with acclaimed Producer/Director and complimentary food and drink.
Melissa is a long-time Texas-based music and film creative. She started in DFW as an owner and operator of many successful live music venues.
In 2012, she pivoted to the film industry with her first feature-length documentary on the 1960’s teen garage rock scene called "Teen A Go Go". It screened at music and film festivals around the world and was featured on Netflix.
In recent years she has been producing on a variety of independent scripted films, as well as documentaries, including ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series for the feature-length documentary "What Carter Lost".
She was a producer on the widely acclaimed feature film, "The Vast of Night", which was acquired by Amazon Studios and released on Amazon Prime in 2020. It became an instant critic and audience favorite, making numerous “top films of 2020” lists. During its festival run, the film screened at top festivals around the world including TIFF, Slamdance and Edinburgh. It won the Audience Award at Slamdance, the Jury Prize at Overlook, and garnered a Spirit Award nomination.
Several of the recent films she has produced have screened at festivals such as SXSW, USA Film, DIFF and other notable festivals around the country.
In June of 2022, Melissa wrapped post production on the anticipated dramedy "Chocolate Lizards" starring Thomas Haden Church, Rudy Pankow, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Bruce Dern.
“You are Me & I am You” is Melissa’s second documentary. It has screened at an impressive list of festivals including Bozeman International Film Festival and Bentonville.