It seems like a long time... but they're almost done.

I know it seems like it has been a long time waiting for the 2013 Navajo Oral History project films to be complete.  In reality, it's not that long.  The students finished the fieldwork portion of the project about one month ago (on June 5, 2013).  Then, the hard work of documentary journalism began... the scripting, editing, audio work still photography editing, etc.

On July 6, I received the last of the projects and all 5 documentary teams had turned in all the parts of their projects.

I got the films ready to be burned, and made a master disc -- still called a DRAFT -- and sent that to Prof. Miranda Haskie at Diné College. She'll review the films and let me know if there's anything that may be culturally sensitive that might need minor editing.

Once we hear back from Prof. Haskie, we'll make final edits and the films will be ready for duplication.

At this point, everything is still on schedule to have the DVDs burned and printed and back to us in time for the reception and premiere events in September.

Here, again, is the basic information about the premiere events.

All the members of the 2013 Navajo Oral History project really hope their family, friends, classmates, neighbors, and other interested humans will attend the premiere events to see the films they worked so hard to create.

The first reception is scheduled at Winona State University on Friday, Sept. 13, beginning at 5 p.m., in the Science Laboratory Center Auditorium. The Diné College students and faculty involved in the project will be in Winona for this event and will also visit a few WSU Mass Communication courses and enjoy some local tourism while in Minnesota.

The second reception is planned for Monday, Sept. 16, at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona, at 5 p.m. (location to be determined). The WSU students and faculty will travel to Arizona for this reception. At this event, on the Navajo Nation, the featured elders and their families are invited. It's quite a moment for student film-makers to watch the elders view the films for the first time.

Both reception events are open to the public. The Navajo Oral History project team hopes family members and friends of the participants will attend to see the films and join in the celebration and appreciation of the student's hard work.

Following the reception events, extra copies of the 2013 DVDs will be available for sale at $20 each... and all the proceeds go directly to a Diné College scholarship fund.