Women Are Sacred
ROLE
Executive Producer
TYPE
Documentary Feature Film
Production team
Fire in the Belly Productions
Director/Producer/Writer: Melinda Janko
Producers: Michele Ohayon, Kavana Entertainment
About the Film
Women are Sacred: Missing and Murdered offers a shocking look at the “silent crisis” of missing and murdered indigenous women/girls in the United States. In 2016 the National Crime Information Center estimated that 5712 Native women/girls were missing or murdered.Four out of five Native women/girls are victims of violence in their lifetime, and they are 10 times more likely to be murdered than any other group of women in America.
The Fire in the Belly Productions team traveled across the U.S. and Alaska to hear the heartbreaking stories from Native families who lost their family members from the violence that started 500-years ago. That same violence continues today as a result of the flawed 1978 Supreme Court Oliphant Supreme Court ruling that denies Tribal Nations the right to prosecute non-Natives who commit crimes on the reservations.
Our Production team met with Native American Scholars, activists, Members of Congress, officials of the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Justice about what is being done to stop the violence today through the Violence Against Women Act, Savanna’s Act, Hanna’s Act, and the Not Invisible Act. The majority of filming is completed, and a release date is planned for 2026. Funding is provided by Common Pictures, Pivotal Ventures, NoVo Foundation, Tulalip Tribe, and Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians.
“Indian country is fortunate that Melinda Janko has developed an interest in this issue and plans to do a documentary film about it. She has the experience and ability to make a great film about missing and murdered Indigenous women and I recommend her to you.”