Georgina Lightning is a Native American film director, screen-writer, and actress. Lightning was born in Edmonton, Canada, and is a Mushwatchees Cree, registered with the Samson Band of the Hobbema Indian Reservation near Edmonton. She was raised off of the reservation.[1] In 2007 she was featured in Filmmaker Magazine as one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film. In 2010 she was the recipient of the "White House Project- Epic-Award for Emerging Artist".[2] She co-founded Tribal Alliance Productions, partnering with executive producer Audrey Martinez, as a means to create opportunities for Native Indian and Indigenous filmmakers.[3]
In 2008 she directed, wrote, and starred in the supernatural thriller film: Older Than America. As such, she became the first Native American female director of a feature-length film.[4] The film has won several awards from various film contests, including Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actor.[1] The idea for the film came from her personal exploration of her father's past. Her father, who occasionally had violent outbursts, had been quite silent toward her about his childhood. When she was 18, he committed suicide. This event later launched her on an exploratory quest, attempting to find out more about her father's elusive childhood. In the course of her explorations of her father's past, she found herself visiting the Native American boarding school that her father had attended as a boy and noticing the oddly large cemetery behind the school, with the names of so many of its young students etched onto the silent headstones. From this very difficult experience, the concept for the film emerged. The film was shot primarily at the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation in Minnesota.
She is an outspoken advocate of Native American causes, working to restore a greater common appreciation and awareness of the intrinsic value of Native American culture to society in general.[5] Her three children are either currently or previously performing actors. They are Crystle Lightning, Cody Lightning, and William Lightning.