Parity Pipeline

Parity Pipeline

Frostbite Revolution

Directed by Dawn Mikkelson

In St. Cloud, MN, a groundbreaking experiment unfolds as unhoused adults run their own shelter: alcohol allowed, no curfews. FROSTBITE REVOLUTION plunges us into a world of radical autonomy where self-governance challenges the paternalism inherent in traditional social programs, presenting complex ethical dilemmas.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
  • CREDITS
  • GALLERY

Genre

Synopsis

Winter in rural Minnesota. The temperature is -20F with winds gusting across the vast fields outside a former auto parts store on the edge of the small city of St. Cloud. Inside, a group of men chat nervously over steaming coffee in Styrofoam cups as a woman’s moans and cries echo from across the room. Sheila spent the previous night outside in a cardboard box and awoke to numb fingers that were getting progressively more and more purple. Waves of pain now course through her body as it begins to thaw from severe frostbite. Other residents attend to her, bringing blankets and warm beverages, hoping that she keeps all of her fingers. FROSTBITE REVOLUTION (working title) is a documentary feature in development in collaboration with this rapidly growing community of unhoused individuals who live in the small towns and rural communities across this country.

Director Identity

Bio

Dawn Mikkelson (Producer/Director/Editor) 3-time Emmy Award winning producer, and 2010 McKnight Filmmaking Fellow, Dawn Mikkelson’s work has broadcast on global television networks such as PBS, CBC, and Deutsche Welle and screened at dozens of top international film festival including: DOC NYC, Doc Edge, Mill Valley Film Festival, Cinequest, and Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. 2023/2024 American Film Diplomacy Program (US State Department & USC School of Cinematic Arts) participant and finalist of the Project Greenlight Digital Studios and Seed&Spark Untold Story Crowdfunding Rally, Mikkelson has completed seven award-winning independent feature documentaries, Minnesota Mean (2023), Finding Her Beat (2022), Risking Light (2018), The Red Tail (2009), Green Green Water (2007), THIS obedience (2003), and Treading Water: a documentary (1999), as well as branded content for Nonprofit, NGO, and Governmental partners including the European Union, the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, and the Center for Victims of Torture. Based in Lake City, Minnesota, Mikkelson is a proud member of the Film Fatales, Film North, the IDA (Independent Documentary Association), and the DPA (Documentary Producers Alliance), as Co-Representative of the Midwest Region and Member of the Ethics Working Group.

Credits

Executive Producer - Cynthia Wade

Director of Photography - Rachel Mueller