Meet Anne Dalton | Documentary filmmaker and actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anne Dalton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anne, how do you think about risk?
I’ve always been a risk taker. When I was working in the public sector, I saw so many things that needed changing. Outdated services not fitting the people they were meant to serve, the intransigence of established bureaucracies and the lack of empathy and stagnation that kept things the same in “the system.”

I spent most of my career taking advantage of chances to try new things. I knew leading an experiment that could fail would still be better than not trying anything and I never had a “hard act to follow.” Because of this, I had tremendous successes, assisted by like-minded people, and was able to give clients and families hope they had no idea there was a reason to expect.

After I retired, it opened up the opportunity to switch from my 31 years of institutionalized thinking to more creative pursuits. I remembered early on an experience I’d had while working at Social Services in which a piece written in the local paper saved lives where the bureaucracy in which I worked was busy ending them.

So my first path took me back to school to study journalism. I freelanced for a while after that and had a contract with a local magazine documenting the work of a non-profit trying to save poor neighborhoods from drug trafficking and other ills. Although I enjoyed this work, I realized an article in a monthly magazine might be read once, but films could last much longer and draw more of an audience. It was at this point I switched to documentary film-making.

My friends complement me by saying I have “chutzpah.” New experiences and a chance to shine a light on things people will never see in the dark are the forces that drive me. I feel fortunate to live where I do, in the midst of a broad and friendly film community where new things are always emerging.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My first film was about domestic minor sex trafficking in Southern AZ called “The Price of Silence.” People often think of sex trafficking in this country as something that begins across our thin border in Mexico, not realizing there is a lot going on here with our own vulnerable teens. Those victimized seldom find the strength to talk about it and their lives are ruined forever. It was challenging to find people who would talk about it. I enmeshed myself in local events for survivors in order to find stories to tell. When unable to find those immediately victimized, I found a family who got permission from their daughter to tell her story from their perspective. I brought in different experts to broaden the view of the situation. I interviewed the police and sheriff departments, some of which were still in denial that the problem existed here and took my probing as an offense that I was implying such things were real. I found the County Sheriff’s office much more open than the city police.

Another film I am proud of laid open the impact of stigma about mental illness on people with severe mental illness trying to get (or keep) their lives together, called “The Hidden Battle.” I had to do quite a bit of networking in order to find people with SMI who were willing to talk publicly about it, but was successful in interviewing seven, choosing five in the end to include. I like to think it put a face (or five faces) on the scary term “mentally ill” and gave viewers the chance to decrease stigma through their own actions. That film premiers for the first time in Tucson on September 24.

I would not say my journey was easy. One of the things I had to overcome was the hard transition from being a photojournalist to being a filmmaker, which involves many more technical skills when I’ve never considered myself “a techy.” I realized since I began this “career” in my mid-60’s that I was unlikely to catch up with the 20-somethings that had attended film school and had an earlier start, so resolved to keep my approach simple. I learned what I had to to produce films without a lot of special effects and asked younger people for help at times. I said earlier that my friends see me as someone with lots of chutzpa, but it came with a lot of trepidation as well. I suppose I’m a little like Georgia O’Keefe, who once said something like, “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

My company motto is “Shining the Light,” and I think that’s what sets my work apart – shining a light into corners that otherwise would remain in the dark. Challenging stereotypes. Giving hope.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Tucson is such a cornucopia of artistic, gastronomic and outdoor experiences. I would show them the art galleries, Rillito Farmer’s Market/St. Phillips Plaza, Lunch or High Tea – Tohono Chul Park, a show at the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, AZ Theatre Co., Gaslight Theatre for fun, Old Tucson, Biosphere 2, Taco bike tours. Hiking in the Catalina mountains, Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, bike riding on the loop around Tucson.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to thank the film community in Tucson, Arizona that has provided me with training and support during my creative journey. This includes some from the past and some present: Access Tucson, a TV station that allowed members to learn production and broadcast their own stories, Independent Film Arizona, Inc. for its supportive members and the IFA Documentary Workgroup, which assisted me in producing meaningful films. Finally, the She Films group for female producers and the University of AZ for its workshops on media productions.

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