'Following the light': Santa Fe filmmaker Kaela Waldstein at the helm of documentary on Indigenous photographer Cara Romero

Nov. 3—Kaela Waldstein enjoys bringing a story to life in film.

When she approaches a project, it's full of compassion, respect and patience.

The Santa Fe-based filmmaker's latest documentary, "Cara Romero: Following the Light," is airing in 81 different markets on PBS in November as part of Native American Heritage Month.

The documentary is also available to stream on the PBS app and is in collaboration with the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

"Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (of IAIA) had the idea for a series of documentaries," Waldstein says. "I started working with IAIA with a fashion documentary. At the time, she told me she wanted to do one on Cara Romero."

"Cara Romero: Following the Light" explores Romero's development as a photographer.

It delves into the Chemehuevi and California Indigenous history that informs her work, includes behind-the-scenes footage of her shoots, and features interviews with leading Indigenous artists — Romero, her husband and famed Pueblo potter Diego Romero, collaborator and place-based artist Leah Mata Fragua (Northern Chumash), and more.

An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings — the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, California, and the urban sprawl of Houston.

Romero's identity informs her photography, a blend of fine art and editorial photography, shaped by years of study and a visceral approach to representing Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences from a Native American female perspective.

Waldstein says the film was originally conceived as a 5- to 8-minute long video, in the early months of the pandemic by IAIA professor Bear Robe (Siksika Nation).

"Documentary filmmaking was an area IAIA had not yet dabbled in, in terms of educational content creation," Waldstein says. "However, Bear Robe felt like there was never a better time to reach home-bound students through documentaries."

Bear Robe worked with then-Artist-in-Residence Program Director Lara Evans (Cherokee) to find grant monies to support such a project.

Bear Robe had worked with Waldstein of Mountain Mover Media for years on video coverage of SWAIA's Indigenous Fashion Show and in the process they won two Rocky Mountain Emmys for their efforts.

Production began in November 2021. Locations included Santa Fe, as well as in El Segundo and Hermosa Beach, California.

Waldstein being on Romero's photo shoot sets was an experience she won't forget.

"Cara has very high production value and the stories are very personal," Waldstein says. "Seeing how meticulous she is with every step of the process is important. Cara's shoots will often go three days. She tries to figure out the best angles and working with the light. I got to see the sheer amount of photographs she takes just to get one. There are some amazing b-sides that people will never see."

Waldstein directed, produced, shot and edited the program.

Bear Robe and Lara Evans are executive producers, and Jason Goodyear composed the original music for the documentary.

Waldstein says as she dove into working with Romero on sharing her story, she realized there was a much larger story to be told, one that involved California's rich Indigenous history, highlighting intertribal collaboration, and the collective effort to break down the narrow walls that have long boxed in Indigenous artists.

"The documentary quickly became a personal passion project for me," Waldstein says. "I'm a non-Native filmmaker telling this story, and it is important for me to be aware of everything in making this film."

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