Alaska documentary on Native suicide

Alaska Documentary Takes Up-Close Look at Suicide Among Natives

By Mary Beth Smetzer“In a landscape as dramatic as its stories, Alaska Native people face staggering suicide rates, yet remain determined to heal and thrive.”

So begins the description of “We Breathe Again,” a documentary film in progress on Kickstarter.com, an Internet funding platform for creative projects.

“We Breathe Again, Heartbreak & Hope in Alaska,” is a collaboration between Gwanzhii LLC, the Indigenous Leadership Institute and Crawl Walk Run, whose principals form a tight-knit team that began filming more than a year ago in several locations around the state.

To date, the project has been funded with a lot of volunteer hours by numerous people and a couple of individual donors.

The group is seeking a project goal of $15,000 on Kickstarter.com to help finance another six months of filming to create a feature-length film for television and the theater.Comment:  For more on Native suicide, see Anti-Suicide Campaign at Lakota College and Bucher's Free Anti-Suicide Concert.