Untold Valor

NATIVE AMERICAN FILM SERIES
MONDAY, October 12 at 7:20PM

This powerful film shares the stories of Native American Code Talkers in World War II—Indigenous heroes who used their languages as unbreakable codes to help secure Allied victory and protect their fellow soldiers.

UNTOLD VALOR will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers Ise White, Tom Funk, and Derek Garza, moderated by Daniel Junge.

ISE WHITE (Writer/Director/Executive Producer)
Ise White is a New York-based director and writer. She grew up traveling around the world with a suitcase filled with books and martial arts weapons. She specialized in swords and daggers and was trained in her family’s indigenous martial arts. This isn’t the most orthodox path to adult hood, but it defined her love of action films and all things adrenaline. After working for the FLOTUS, Michelle Obama and being featured in IT. Vanity Fair, Ise White became one of the top luxury fashion editors in the world, working for Conde Nast Italy and then Hearst China, developing beauty, celebrity, and cinema projects with a focus on narrative storytelling and winning awards for celebrity cover projects partnered with major studios. 

TOM FUNK (1st AC)
Tom Funk is an IATSE member with more than 20 years of experience working as a 1st Assistant Camera on film, television, commercial, and specialty productions throughout the United States and internationally. Tom studied film at Brooks Institute in Ventura, California, beginning in 2004, where he was able to hone his passion for camera work and pulling focus. After graduating with a BA in Commercial Film Making, he spent 15 years working in Los Angeles, building a career in the film industry first as a film loader, then as a 2nd AC, and eventually as a highly technical and knowledgeable 1st AC. In 2020, Tom relocated to Kansas City, where he currently works on large-scale commercials, features, and television productions. He is also one of the owners of Lucky Duck Camera House, Kansas City’s first camera rental house.

DEREK GARZA (Executive Producer/Cast)
Derek Garza is a multiracial actor born in Colorado and raised in Oklahoma. He is Wichita & Comanche and is an enrolled tribal member of the Wichita Nation. Derek also identifies as Mexican and has roots in the Mexica tribe or more commonly known as Aztecs. He calls DC his home after moving from Chicago with his family and works both internationally and regionally. His acting career spans Theater, TV & Film and he is currently working at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theater as Theseus & Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

DANIEL JUNGE (Moderator)
Daniel Junge is assistant professor of emerging media arts (film production). An Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, television showrunner and educator, his work has screened at Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, Tribeca and SXSW. He won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for “Saving Face” and earned a second Academy Award nomination for “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner.” His feature credits include “Chiefs,” “They Killed Sister Dorothy,” “Being Evel” and “A Lego Brickumentary.” His most recent feature, “I Was Born This Way,” co-directed with Sam Pollard, premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. Junge has also served as showrunner for the AMC series “Secret History of Comics” and the Netflix series “Challenger: The Final Flight.” He has taught at USC, UCLA and Loyola Marymount and holds an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the University of Georgia.

Now in it’s third year, the Native American Film Series at The Ross features free monthly screenings showcasing Native American films and television programs from the Vision Maker Media public broadcasting archives. Presented by The Ross Media Arts Center, Vision Maker Media, and Friends of The Ross.

Unless otherwise noted, screenings in this series will take place on the second Monday of each month and are admission free and open to the public. Tickets available at the Ross box office (online ticketing not available for free screenings).