Who We Are
It is important to clearly convey the reality that this project is not just the workings of two people. It is made up of people on both sides of the border and across many communities, who have willingly contributed in whatever ways they can to make sure this story is told effectively and beautifully, with an incorruptible sense of honesty, and yet with deep compassion. Who we are is simply that. We are who we are. If you’ve found your way to this website, you are who we are. Because we are in this together.
Of course, no project can be accomplished with a nebulous network of contributors, but no coordinating effort. Below are two of the people who are taking on that role of organization and coordination, and ultimately film production.
If you would like to read more about some of our many collaborators and contributors, you can find a brief description of them on the Partners tab.
Daven Hafey
Writer, Director
Daven’s approach prioritizes listening to others. Rather than telling his story and his opinions to others, he has always been more interested in listening, authentically, to people’s stories and contexts and learning as much as he can about those who have come before us. Even when their perspectives differ from his. Particularly when their perspectives differ from his. Consequently, he’s learned that everyone is capable of teaching him something new. As a writer and filmmaker, he focuses on finding ways to communicate what others have taught him, and on providing platforms upon which important concepts, stories, and storytellers can have their voices heard. Those stories, combined with the evidence that has been gifted to us through historical record keeping, are often resonant with broad audiences, as we all collectively share the world in which we live and the histories that have brought us to our present reality.
He brings an interdisciplinary approach to film making, understanding that our lives, our communities, and the environments within which we live are nuanced, subtle, and contextual. Professionally, Daven has worked as a field biologist in Southeast Alaska and western Zambia; a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay, Alaska; a community organizer and communications director for a wild salmon and wild foods sovereignty NGO throughout Southeast Alaska; and a boat captain and science communicator in Antarctica, Nunavut, Greenland, and the Salish Sea. His combined passions of human history, sociology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and the arts have shaped the lens through which he views the world, and the lens through which he hopes to bring complex contemporary issues into focus.
Salmnesia will be Daven’s third documentary, the first two also having been salmon-focused. The previous two, Water is Life and We Eat Fish! both received acclaim from Alaska to California, with We Eat Fish! earning Best Environmental Film at the Anchorage International Film Festival (Alaska). Daven is committed to creating opportunities for the land, and the people and wildlife who live on it, to tell their stories. Their honest stories, with dignity and from the heart, free from partisan or commercial influence.
A friend once told Daven that the most beautiful things in life happen when you are comfortable being uncomfortable. He couldn’t agree more, and it is with this approach that he plans to dive headfirst into the story of wild salmon, from expected inclement weather and discomfort while filming in the field, to the probable pushback the team will receive while attempting to film certain parts of the story. He also believes in having the courage to empathetically communicate uncomfortable stories in our collective past in effort to help us meaningfully tend to unresolved wounds.
He earned a degree in political science from Creighton University and continued his education in Northern Studies and ecology courses through the University of Alaska system. He lives on an island in the Salish Sea with his wife Olivia and their two dogs Jack and Loon. When not on the water, Daven spends his time at his table saw and other woodworking tools.
Lee Andelson
Photographer, Filmographer
From a young age, Lee always knew that he belonged outside. It felt more natural to him, made him happier, when he was out under a hot sun or a cold rain or a merciless wind. Even though he grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley, he was always drawn into whatever pockets of wildness he could access.
As the years ticked by, he understood that whenever he encountered a healthy stream or an interaction between wild animals, that he wanted to share that experience with anyone and everyone who didn’t have those experiences consistently. Deep inside, he knew it was good medicine. He began taking everyone who was willing to go with him out into the mountains, to hike, to sleep under the stars, to talk about life and our situation within it.
His skills developed the more time he spent honing them, and he has since become a professional wildlife photographer specializing in marine wildlife. Whether it’s in California’s Monterey Bay or the Salish Sea that transcends the US-Canadian border, Lee has been able to capture incredible stories through his imagery, often sharing them for free to whoever wanted to see them.
Lee’s filmography prioritizes not just aesthetic visual composition, but more importantly, the soul of the story. The context. The dynamics at play between species, between individuals, between wildlife and their environments, for better or for worse.
He’s also spent years as a professional wedding photographer, something he describes as a genuine, enriching passion, because it provides regular opportunities to be present in the overwhelming, often indescribable and intangible and yet very real feeling of love. It is this commitment to love, not just in the romantic sense, that Lee brings to his photography and film production.
Lee splits his time between Washington and Oregon with his wife Jamie and their two dogs Niseko and Hakuba.