Ellis, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is from Oklahoma, USA. She starred as the main focal point in the AFS film, BAD PRESS, which covers the back-breaking work done by Muscogee (Creek) journalists to revive and preserve their freedom of press.
On Monday, January 27, Angel Ellis came to Rovaniemi with US Embassy in Finland Public Engagement Specialist, Heidi Day. The visit was organized by the US Embassy in Finland through the American Arctic Connection agreement.
Ellis and Day began their visit with an interview in the morning, before touring through ULapland's virtual production stage and XR film studio, and sitting down for lunch and to chat with Ellis about her work in Indigenous journalism. The group also discussed the intersection of cultures across Indigenous groups, how journalism and cinema can overlap, and the future of film technology for communicating stories and knowledge.
This visit comes shortly after the news of the new ULapland Arctic Indigenous Cinema International Masters program, which was officially announced at the Skábmagovat Indigenous Film Festival in Inari, Finland.
BAD PRESS was also screened at Skábmagovat, and had another showing on Monday at Rovaniemi's Arktikum just after the university tour.
A special thank you goes out to American Film Showcase, for providing rights to screen the film in Rovaniemi.