Uncle Roy

Ninety-three-year-old photographer Roy Blakey, whose work and collections explore life as a theatrical skater, world traveler, and pioneer in gay nudes, leading to an overwhelming amount of precious things. As his memories fade, Roy’s mentee and niece Keri feels the weight of responsibility to his life and legacy.

Key Personelle

Keri Pickett (Director/DP/Producer)

Award-winning artist, producer, director, cinematographer. Pickett’s documentary films FINDING HER BEAT (2022), FIRST DAUGHTER AND THE BLACK SNAKE (2017) and THE FABULOUS ICE AGE (2013) have won multiple awards and screened at festivals around the world, breaking records in attendance, and streamed on Netflix. Her films focus on family and community and she is a cultural envoy for the US State Department with the American Film Showcase program. A well-known photographer, Pickett has published multiple photography books, with photographs displayed in international and national museums and have appeared in Life, Time, People, Stern, and Geo magazines, and she has been awarded fellowships from the Bush Foundation, McKnight, Jerome, and Target Foundations, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Pickett was awarded the 2018 McKnight Filmmaking Fellowship.

Dawn Mikkelson (Producer/Editor)

Emmy Award winning producer and McKnight Filmmaking Fellow, whose work has broadcast, streamed and screened internationally. Festival screenings of her feature documentaries include: the Galway Film Fleadh, Cinequest, Mill Valley Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, DOC NYC, Frameline Film Festival, and American Indian Film Festival. Broadcast and streaming include: APT (American Public Television), PBS, CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corporation), Yes-Docu (Israel), Duetsche Welle (Germany), iTunes, and Amazon Prime. Mikkelson has completed seven award-winning independent feature documentaries, MINNESOTA MEAN (2023), FINDING HER BEAT (2022), RISKING LIGHT (2018), THE RED TAIL (2009), GREEN GREEN WATER (2007), THIS OBEDIENCE (2003), and TREADING WATER: A DOCUMENTARY (1999), character-driven films highlighting power and joy in the margins.