Crystal Z Campbell

Oklahoma City, OK

Camp Naco - Experimental Film Project

Crystal Z Campbell is a multidisciplinary artist, experimental filmmaker, writer, and educator whose project at Camp Naco explores the layered histories of the U.S.–Mexico border through an innovative film blending archival materials, oral histories, and reenactments. With a deep commitment to ethical storytelling and community collaboration, this 2021 Guggenheim Fellow's work centers the underloved and for this project, will be informed by Black, Indigenous, and Mexican American communities connected to the Buffalo Soldiers and borderland histories. Their proposed film will be developed through on-site research, consultations with local historians and tribal elders, and filmed reenactments, culminating in a bilingual, accessible, and immersive experimental film intended for both community screenings and wider festival distribution.

Photo: Brandon Watson