Experiencing Interruptions?

Dear Alaska,

Sharks are tuned in to the natural rhythms of the world, sensing emotions, events, and energies from thousands of miles away. They are the messengers of the vast oceans that connect us all. The director's family are sharks and they carry that medicine with them. But, what happens to a family when a shark is captured for its fins? When a Japanese father is kidnapped and shipped to internment camp after internment camp? All his kids stolen and trapped in boarding schools designed to strip them of their roots? A Tlingit mother left with an empty, broken home?

The director, Moriah, and their family are Wooshkeetaan, Eagle-wolf moiety of Tóos Hít, Shark House, and despite these intense fractures, their keen sensibility as sharks brought them back together in the 5th generation, the director's generation. Colonial violence and U.S. militarism attempted to wipe out their family, their community, and their cultures. Colonizers tried to render Tlingit people extinct, boasting about Moriah's language being endangered like a forgotten fish, but sharks bite back.

As one of the first Tlingit produced feature documentaries, this story captures this sacred bite in the form of juxtaposed homecoming journeys, guided by this shark medicine. Shark siblings discover old family secrets (00:33:14) and create trails for their elders to follow. Elders learn the language (00:37:37) that was stolen as they swim alongside the younger fish. This sacred bite, a preservation of culture, is a two-way current, running from elder to youth and youth to elder. 01:19:20 is the concluding animation in the film that amplifies and celebrates this reclamation of culture. Dear Alaska, is a love letter to Moriah's family, their people, their culture, and their land.

  • Moriah Hayes
    Director
  • Moriah Hayes
    Writer
  • Moriah Hayes
    Producer
  • Selena Do
    Producer
    Pandemic Bread
  • Natasha Baumgartner
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Naomi Michalsen
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Andriana Moss
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Talisa Hayes
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Moriah Hayes
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Jaden Bullock
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Frances Houston
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Bob Sam
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Anthony Hurtado
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Brenna Deasy
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Nayeli Rincon
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Samuel Lucero
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Drama, Personal, Family History, Native, Indigenous, Tlingit, History
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 26 minutes 54 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 21, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Ghana, United Kingdom, United States
  • Language:
    English, Tlingit
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Moriah Hayes

Moriah HánJiāXiù Hayes (they/she/he) has worked on a variety of narrative, documentary, and educational film projects. Moriah’s Tlingit name is Keeyées Tláa, and they are Wooshkeetaan, Eagle/Wolf clan, Áak’w Ḵwáan of the Auke Bay region in Juneau, Alaska. As a queer Indigenous filmmaker, they have a strong passion for amplifying truths that have been historically undermined, underrepresented, and pushed aside throughout the cinematic medium. Their first documentary feature is a student film, California to Ghana (2018), and they are currently entering the festival circuit for their newest documentary feature: Dear Alaska,. In 2022, they served as the Art Director for Zeinabu irene Davis’ short film Pandemic Bread (2023). This is their fifth year as the Pacific Arts Movement’s Reel Voices Media Arts Instructor, teaching documentary filmmaking to high schoolers. They founded the production company, Shark House Cinema, named in honor of the Tóos Hít, Shark House. Moriah graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a double minor in Ethnic Studies and Native American & Indigenous Studies. With a wide variety of film projects, it’s Moriah’s lifelong goal to create a strong enough ripple in the film industry to inspire, encourage, and amplify the many stories that are longing to be told.

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Director Statement

I create art as an act of resistance. My creations are never meant to be held by just one person; it is always an act of service to my community. Dear Alaska, captures my journey of reconnection to my indigeneity as I engage with other Indigenous people. As a film director, I am committed to the healing of my loved ones, and all our communities. I use the cinematic medium to uplift QTBIPOC relatives. My productions unite fellow comrades to have fun creating stories that heal. I am deeply inspired with my work as an Art Director on the fiction narrative Pandemic Bread by Zeinabu irene Davis, where a beautiful synthesis of amazing artists were led by femme/queer folks. I strive to recreate this atmosphere with every production I am a part of and break out of the boxes placed upon us by colonial heteropatriarchal capitalists.

I want to experiment with and explore the dynamic visual representations a camera can capture. I am an observer, a witness to the world, and my camera is an extension of myself. The perfect tool to document what I see. How I see it. In Dear Alaska,; I document the quiet interconnections of human and non-human through simple acts like hiking, gardening, and harvesting. There is beauty, light, and hope in every corner of this world; a resistant power that reminds people of who they are and what they are capable of. I want to capture the depths of our everyday life to encourage people to turn away from the fascist despair and toward themselves and each other because this reminder can truly set us free. It is through connection, connection to ourselves and to each other that resistance, healing, and thrivance happens. We are energized through these connections, fill each other’s cups through these lifelines, and my biggest dream is to see my art build this communal resistance. To bridge the gap between neighbors who never knew they could connect this way - sitting in the theater, sharing tears and inspiration, in awe of the same images and relating from diverse perspectives.