Team – Las Mujeres de Manzo

The Film Team

The Mujeres de Manzo Project is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Arizona (Colleges of Fine Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Humanities), community partner SplitSeed Productions, and local residents. Drawing on our complementary areas of expertise, our team is uniquely positioned to tackle this project.

Beverly Seckinger

Distinguished Outreach Professor in the School of Theatre, Film & Television, Beverly Seckinger’s films have been screened on PBS, at festivals on four continents, and nontheatrically throughout the U.S. Her films have been purchased by more than 400 university libraries. Since 2015, she has directed the DocScapes Film & Workshop Series, with a primary focus on human rights films and filmmakers.

Michelle Téllez

Associate Professor of Mexican-American Studies, Michelle Téllez is a renowned scholar in the field of Border and Chicanx Studies. Her most recent book, Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas: Autonomy in the Spaces of Neoliberal Neglect, was published in September of 2021. She was an advisor on the acclaimed film about Chicano musician Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, Singing Our Way to Freedom (Paul Espinosa, 2018).

Ana Isabel Cornide

Associate Professor & Director of Community Outreach, Department of Spanish and Portuguese,  Ana Cornide serves as the outreach and community engagement expert for the project. Her academic research focuses on the cultural politics of gendered migration and the figure of the migrant as a site of cross-cultural dialogue. In Fall 2021 she received the College of Humanities Chatfield Impact Award; in Spring 2022 she received the UA’s Koffler Prize for her outreach work.

Leslie Ann Epperson, Director of Photography

Leslie Ann Epperson is an Emmy Award-winning director with decades of experience in television and independent film. She is director/editor of History and Stories of the Tohono O’odham Districts, award-winning documentaries Celebrate Now and Many Bones, One Heart, and Director/Writer/Co-Editor of Divine Mission San Xavier del Bac.

Trayce Peterson

Trayce Peterson is a community organizer who works with several local coalitions. She is the co-founder of SplitSeed Productions and a producer of Binational Encuentro: Female Migrations that examines the borderlands through visual and performance art. Peterson is a core project partner and has so far raised $10,000 in private donations for the film through SplitSeed.

Berlin Loa and Lane Van Ham

UA School of Information Assistant Professor Berlin Loa teaches cultural heritage preservation with a focus on inclusive preservation practices in libraries, archives, and museums. She is our liaison to Special Collections and has begun working with Dr. Rubio-Goldsmith to prepare her personal papers for archiving. Her PhD student Lane Van Ham has completed over 235 hours of archival research for the project since January 2022.

Additional Team

We have received funding from the UA College of Fine Arts ($2000), a UA Research Innovation and Impact Grant ($9500), Seckinger’s Faculty Fellows Stipend ($1467), SplitSeed Productions ($10,000) and Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation ($10,000).