FINDING D-QU  follows the fight to reopen California’s only tribal college, D-Q University, shut down in 2005 after decades of struggle. This short documentary follows a group of occupants who risk arrest by illegally residing on the closed campus, confronting the school’s board of trustees. Through this present-day conflict, the film traces D-QU’s history as a civil rights-era beacon for Native students, exploring its legacy of resilience, sovereignty, and the broader movement for Native self-determination and decolonization.

Role: Director, Producer, Editor, DP

Official Selection 2010 Slamdance Film Festival

Distributed by Third World Newsreel and Produced at UCSC's Social Documentation Program.

2010, Documentary Short, 26 Minutes

"Finding D-QU speaks powerfully and visually to a dream that has been persistently deferred-self-determined higher education by and for Native Americans."

Renee Tajima-Peña - Oscar Nominated Filmmaker