Navajo filmmaker still shining at Sundance

The film festivals where Emerson's films — "The Back Road" (2000), "The Last Trek" (2006) and "The Return Home" (2008) — have been shown include: ImagineNative in Canada, the Native American Film and Video Festival in New York City, and the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.

"I knew at a very young age that I wanted to make films and somehow I have managed to keep at it for many years. The ability to transfer those early memories on the reservation of going to the movies with my grandmother, to the actual reality of making films, has been a dream come true," she said. "'Opal' is a reflection of that and of the personal stories I love to tell. My hope is to create a story that reflects a very true representation of what it's like to grow up on the Navajo Nation, but more importantly, questions the roles of women and girls both on and off the reservation."

Besides readying 'Opal" for entry into the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Emerson said she's working on finishing a documentary entitled "Hidden Talents," about Navajo painter James Woolenshirt King, of Shiprock, N.M.

Information from: Gallup Independent, http://www.gallupindependent.com