In 2024, Dasha Levin and three college classmates spent a week in Arizona filming Nikyle Begay, a Navajo shepherd and weaver who identifies as nonbinary.
The students’ assignment was to create a documentary that inspires social change. That assignment has now been played at over 35 film festivals – and the Coronado Island Film Festival will make it 36 when the documentary screens, according to Levin.
“Handwoven” is Levin’s first film premiering at CIFF, but not his first experience with the festival.
His parents own an apartment at the Coronado Shores and his uncle used to review films for CIFF.
While attending Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University – which is where he graduated from – Levin joined his uncle and reviewed films for about three years until last year. He said evaluating others’ work helped him learn what kinds of films were getting accepted and how to make something similar.
He said he wanted to know how people were telling stories, their styles and what film festivals were looking for. “This was my real, big introduction to all of that,” Levin explained.
Levin, 24, graduated from Dodge College last year where “Handwoven” was his year-long thesis. He produced and directed it over two semesters, alongside undergrad classmates Mason Cazalet and Matthew Wisdom and masters student Mihika Das, who was the main cinematographer for the project.
“Handwoven” follows Begay, who uses they/them pronouns, and documents how they have been able to mold traditions as an indigenous person with their gender identity while navigating a nonbinary lifestyle.
The film follows scenes of Nikyle weaving, describing their relationship with their family and the world and at a Native festival of the arts where they speak on what a future looks like for people like them and how it remains uncertain.
“I love how they describe the uncertainty with a quiet confidence of hope in the next generations,” Levin said to The Coronado News about his film.
I think the main lesson is to find peace within yourself … In order to find peace elsewhere, you need to find it within yourself first.
Producer and director Dasha Levin
“I think the main lesson is to find peace within yourself,” Levin said. “In order to find peace elsewhere, you need to find it within yourself first.”
Begay had been interviewed before, which is how Levin discovered them, but had never been on camera in this capacity before.
“They were a little leery of what our intentions were … We didn’t have much time to warm them up to the camera,” Levin said. “Thankfully, Nikyle was very receptive to us, was very welcoming to us.”
The documentary has already won a few awards including best student documentary at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, Cannes Film Festival, and next generation filmmaker at Berkshire International Film Festival.
Levin learned during this year-long process the virtue of patience when creating a documentary.
“A lot of it was learning on the fly and sort of taking it day-by-day,” Levin explained.
With only four people working on the film, Levin said he had to step into a lot of roles and be flexible.
Learning how to be a Swiss Army knife in terms of film-making sense — that was really important.
Producer and director Dasha Levin
“Learning how to be a Swiss Army knife in terms of film-making sense – that was really important,” Levin said.
The actual filming process took about a week, but editing, sound mixing, and everything else that happens in post-production took up the entire second semester.
The Dodge College graduate has already produced his second documentary – about low-riders in a Latinx and Chicano community of eastern Washington – and is on his way to produce a third documentary.
“Handwoven” will be shown at the Spreckels Room at the Hotel Del Coronado at 10 a.m. on Nov. 6.
