2010 McKnight Filmmaking Fellow, Dawn Mikkelson’s work has been seen on PBS, OUTtv, and Free Speech TV, and has screened at international festivals including the Galway Film Fleadh, Cambridge Film Festival, IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam), Leipzig DOK Market, American Indian Film Festival, and Washington DC Environmental Film Festival. Founder of Emergence Pictures, Mikkelson has created award-winning independent feature documentaries, as well as educational and online videos for nonprofits which illuminate larger societal issues while creating understanding through the intimate stories of individuals including The Red Tail, Green Green Water, THIS obedience, and Treading Water: a documentary. Her current film project SMOOCH has evolved into a global initiative around forgiveness, telling stories of those who have forgiven someone they thought they never could. The trailer for SMOOCH recently won The Pachamama Award of the Possible Futures Film Contest, an online contest with a field of 317 entries from 44 countries. A former television news reporter, Mikkelson often speaks and writes for MPR and MovieMaker Magazine, as well as and teaching documentary film at IFP Minnesota and serving as Vice-President of the Board for SPNN (St. Paul Neighborhood Network). *Photo Credit: Adrian Danciu