Emergence: Sky City Cultural Center

The Haak'ume people of Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico were faced with a challenge when their visitor center burned down in 2000: How to reconstruct a place that was as welcoming to their people as to visitors, would tell the story of their people, and also be a bridge between cultural and 'green' interpretations of sustainability. What they created was much more than that. This is the story of the Place that the architects and the Haaku'me people created together.

Editing by:
Archinia Studios http://archinia.com/
Pure Mother Love Studios http://puremotherlove.com/

Score by:
Frederick "Rick" Aragon http://www.frederickaragon.com/

  • Rachel Preston Prinz
    Director
  • Zenne Seradwyn
    Director
  • Rachel Prinz
    Cinematographers
  • Zenne Seradwyn
    Cinematographers
  • Daniel Sonis
    Cinematographers
  • Mona Frastaci
    Production Assistants
  • Arianna Shewfelt
    Production Assistants
  • Melanie Magdalena
    Production Assistants
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 11, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Rachel Preston Prinz, Zenne Seradwyn

First time Director/Producer Rachel Preston Prinz heads up an acclaimed architectural design and preservation practice based in New Mexico. Her work investigates traditional and modern approaches to architecture, agriculture, culture, and landscape to address how we might not only survive, but also thrive, and to do so, sustainably.

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Director Statement

We were filming a local public television series celebrating 1000 years of truly sustainable architecture built by the peoples of the American Southwest, filming mostly in New Mexico. Our second filming location was at Acoma Pueblo's Sky City Cultural Center.

When we arrived, what seemed at first like "just another building" revealed itself to us... as an experiential, touchable story... one that took us on a journey through the history and culture of the Haak'ume people of Acoma pueblo... through their observations of their Place in the world... stories of growing up Haak'ume... of pottery making, traditions lost and found, teaching their children... stories of architecture that had meaning and a connection to their own migration and the Places that they connected to... and their ancestors (who they speak of in the present tense). There's a lesson in this building for all of us. Not JUST about the Haak'ume, but especially about the Haak'ume. If we pay attention, it might just lead us back to a way of seeing the world, our buildings, and ourselves in a living relationship with our past, present, and future, to Nature, to Culture, and to Place.

And it feels... like HOME. ♥