An Indigenous filmmaker examines the truth of her transnational adoption into white suburban America, triggering an awakening that challenges memory, coloniality, and the adopted name she was given.
On December 30, 2021, the worst wildfire in Colorado history rages through filmmaker Dewi Sungai’s community. A fire has been raging inside Dewi, too. Born to a young single mother on Indonesian soil, Dewi was adopted by white American parents as an infant, renamed “Amy,” and raised in white suburbia in the U.S.— a story her parents framed as a simple, happy story. But Dewi is noticing the cracks in their narrative, and realizes she is not, and never has been, the daughter they see.
Driven by a deep sense of loss of her culture, family, and land, Dewi discovers and reclaims her birth name, builds community with other transracial adoptees, and begins excavating stories from her Native Bornean ancestry. It pushes her relationship with her 83-year-old adoptive mother to the brink.
Weaving memory with present-day verité, visual metaphor, and an uprising of transracial adoptee voices with the visceral music of Hatis Noit, Kevin Richard Martin, and Yann Tiersen, this film is the second in a collection of shorts exploring indigeneity lost, then reclaimed, as Dewi and others correct the narratives of their past and seek ancestral knowledge critical to an Indigenous Future.
Dewi (day-wee) is an Indigenous film director and editor based in Louisville, Colorado, on the traditional territory of 48 contemporary tribal nations including the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute, and current home to members of approximately 100 tribal nations. She was born to a young Indonesian birth mother and descends from Dayak, Banjarese, Sundanese, and English ancestors. She was adopted as an infant by white American parents who renamed her “Amy” (a name she has since rescinded) and raised her in white suburbia, with multiple journeys back to Southeast Asia for her adoptive father's work. She and her life+creative partner, Jason Houston, created their production company eight16 creative with the goal to center Indigenous voices, challenge dominant settler storytelling and colonial worldviews, and create art that inspires viewers to heal their relationships with the land and each other. They are currently in production on an art-forward body of work that explores Indigeneity lost, then reclaimed, as Dewi and others break from their white supremacy culture and seek ancestral knowledge in an urgent call to address climate and social justice crises facing humanity. Dewi is a member of A-Doc, ADE, BIPOC Editors, BGDM, Cine Fe, Creative Nations, Kin Theory, and Mountain Media Arts Collective, and has collaborated with a wide range of partners, including ProPublica and Exposure Labs.
World Premiere - Denver Film Festival 2024
Cinematographer - Jason Houston
