FEATURED FILMMAKER: HANNAH LINDGREN
Hannah Lindgren grew up immersed in stories. The only question was how she would tell her own.
“Listening to and sharing peoples’ stories has been engrained in me from a young age,” she says. “My parents met while working at the Daily Student, a newspaper on Indiana University’s campus, and both worked within the world of communications their entire careers, so being curious about the world and consuming news and stories was built into the foundation of our family.”
In high school, Lindgren began exploring storytelling for herself through different mediums. “I had dabbled in photography and really wanted to get into the photography class,” she says, “but instead I had to choose the video class. I ended up loving it!”
One of her first video class projects was to record an interview with a family member, for which Lindgren chose her grandfather, Forrest Myers, a World War II, Korea, and Vietnam veteran. “His life was rich with stories, and when he would launch into a story, everyone would fall silent and focus on him,” says Lindgren. “It was a very simple video with Ken Burns style photo treatments, but it ended up moving a lot of people it was shown to. That was my introduction to the power of storytelling - particularly nonfiction storytelling and the sharing of peoples’ stories in an authentic way.”
After this taste of the world of filmmaking, Lindgren studied Film & TV and Anthropology at Ball State University, started her own video production company, edited for Tilt23 Studios, worked for Time, Inc., and moved into her current role as Post Producer at Chop Shop Post. Along the way, she’s produced several documentaries, both short and feature-length, the most recent being The Invisible Crown, which she produced alongside the film’s Director, Amelia Kramer. The film follows Lindgren’s personal experiences with Endometriosis, medical trauma, and gender bias.
“I think the most rewarding thing about making documentaries is the multitude of ways that viewers connect with the stories you’ve told,” Lindgren says. “I’ve seen this in particular with The Invisible Crown. On the surface, you might think that you won’t connect with the story if you aren’t a woman who has experienced medical trauma or Endometriosis. But the one on one conversations I’ve had after screenings of that film have proved otherwise…Documentaries show just how multifaceted and beautifully connected humanity is.”
Hannah Lindgren and Amelia Kramer on the red carpet at Heartland International Film Festival
We’re proud to have The Invisible Crown, as well as more than 120 other Hoosier documentaries, as part of our streaming service at hoodox.tv. When you buy a subscription or make a donation, you’re supporting storytellers like Lindgren who value and uplift the stories of our state.
“Even though documentary films are arguably the most affordable type of visual content to make, they typically don’t bring in a large amount of income on the back end,” Lindgren explains. “It’s primarily telling stories for stories’s sake, and there aren’t a ton of investors who see that as an incentive to participate financially.” But, she continues, “there’s nothing more beautiful than people’s authentic stories…People are unendingly interesting and I truly believe everyone has an interesting tale to tell. The visual medium of film allows you to also capture their essence in a way that audio only or the written word can’t. I think a film allows you to step into someone’s shoes more so than any other storytelling medium, because when you sit in a dark theater and see their life unfold on film, you are transported.”
Follow Lindgren’s work on her website and on Instagram @hannahmyerslindgren.
Photos provided by Hannah Lindgren.
