Cristine Ackel

Cristine has a master's degree in Film Production from USC. She has received awards and other recognition for her writing and photography. She has worked in a variety of capacities, on a wide range of productions including: educational and museum videos, nature documentaries and theatrical productions, working with HBO, BBC, NASA, Renaissance Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Amblin Entertainment. In addition, she has been a first grade teacher and worked with kids with developmental and physical disabilities through therapeutic horseback riding. During the Guatemalan Civil War she was selected as an American "guardian" for a peace negotiator between the military coup government and indigenous opposition, whose stories she recorded. Cristine has lived in the South African township of Piesang River building homes to address historic race inequities. On a BBC bound documentary in the Arctic Circle, she was not only assistant to the cameraman, but as the only female on site, was the marksman with a bear gun to protect the crew from grizzly attacks. Cristine has been fortunate to have a rich history of diverse and challenging opportunities that benefits her work here as a researcher at GDIGM.