2015 - 2017 Filmmaker In Residence
LETTER FROM CLOUDCROFT, a documentary film and its associated trans-media and installation project Constructed Memories, explores the intersection between the legacy of Holocaust slave labor and the celebrated American moon landing. The film examines the secret collaboration between the U.S. and captured German Nazis rocket scientists after WWII, resulting in the American space program & NASA. Revealed through two intertwined perspectives, one from a Jewish father writing letters as a 21 year old in 1946 to his parents during his Army assignment in the covert Project Paperclip and seventy years later, from his daughter tracking incidents and leads from the letters, navigating through geographies of place that shape this story, unraveling the complexities of history, collective memory and personal narrative. Challenged by the writings of her father, the filmmaker confronts national & family beliefs, memories and values while questioning moral and ethical decisions of individuals and governments.
Melinda Hess is an editor, director, and producer of documentary films and hybrid-interactive cross-media. Melinda was the JFI Filmmaker in Residence from 2015-2017, working on her documentary film, "Letter from Cloudcroft." Continuing a residency in the Ninth Street Independent Film Center's Incubator Program, Melinda most recently edited and was a consulting producer for Dan Goldes's film, "5 Blocks" which premiered at the San Francisco Green Film Festival in September 2019.
Project description and bios courtesy of the Resident