ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Dewi (day-wee) Sungai Marquis-Houston is a mixed-race Native Bornean mother, wife, and filmmaker who was born in Indonesia, adopted as an infant by white American parents, renamed “Amy," and raised in the U.S. in white suburbia. Dewi's experiences as an Indigenous transracial and transnational adoptee led her to a filmmaking career that centers Native voices and challenges narratives spun from white supremacy culture and colonialist worldviews. Dewi’s “found family,” ceremony, and artistic collaborations in Native Country are helping her heal from assimilation and the impact of colonization on her own life and lineage.

Dewi’s life+creative partner, Jason Houston, is a photographer, cinematographer, and father with a deep reverence for this land, its people, and his pre-colonized European ancestors. He is committed to art and action that seeks to deconstruct colonial worldviews and dismantle white supremacy culture.

In 2021, Dewi and Jason founded eight16 creative, under which they produce creative nonfiction films and photography and champion sovereign storytelling in local and Native communities around the world.