'A'-t'i Xwee-ghayt-nish: Still, We Live On
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Directed by: Dave Jannetta
- Produced with: The Tolowa Dee-Ni' Nation
- Produced by: Marva Sii~xuutesna Jones and Nicola Waugh
- Released: 2025 (educational)
- Year of Production: 2023
With their language facing extinction, the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation in Northern California is working against time to bring it back. Loren Me'-lash-ne Bommelyn is leading the charge towards language and cultural revitalization for the Tolowa Dee-ni' people with support from fellow Elders, knowledge keepers, ancestors and the tribal community.
Official Selection at the 2024 Maoriland Film Festival, 2024 RiverRun Film Festival, 2024 Native Spirit Film Festival and featured in the Smithsonian Institute’s Festival of the American Indian Native Cinema Showcase
Professor Testimonials
"A beautiful documentation of Tolowa linguistic and cultural renewal, of moving from passive to active spoken language again in the Tolowa Dee-ni' Community."
Kayla Begay
Associate Professor & Chair of Native American Studies
Cal Poly Humboldt
"The film shows us that the commitment of one person to their language and lifeways connects generations. It gives us a glimpse into how language and culture are restored, and the joy of speaking Tolowa together."
Janne Underriner
Associate Research Professor and Project Director, Northwest Indigenous Language Institute
University of Oregon
“A powerful portrait of a community coming together to save not only their language, but also the cultural practices, connections to the land, ceremonial knowledge, and worldview associated with the language. It's a story of Indigenous resurgence, tenacity, and language reclamation that reveals intergenerational transmission of knowledge and empowered futures for their community."
Kristin L. Dowell
Associate Professor of Indigenous Art & Film
Florida State University
Dave Jannetta is a Humboldt County, CA based filmmaker and Assistant Professor at Humboldt State University with experience across a broad spectrum of visual storytelling. In 2015 he released his debut documentary feature, "Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere”. “Love & Terror” premiered at the Hot Docs International Film Festival and went on to play many prestigious festivals including Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, DOC NYC, the Bend Film Festival, and The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival where it took the Big Sky Award.
At the beginning of his career, Dave served as personal assistant to Peter Jackson through North American production of "The Lovely Bones", and spent a year abroad working at Jackson’s WingNut Films in Wellington, New Zealand.
He holds an MFA from Temple University, is a graduate of Penn State University (Finance/Film Studies; 2005), and an alumnus of Werner Herzog’s Rogue Film School (winter 2012).
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