Sharon R. Sherman (Director/Producer/Editor) is a folklorist and independent filmmaker. She is Professor of English and former director of the Folklore Program at the University of Oregon where she teaches courses on film, folklore, fieldwork, and video production. They include topics from indigenous celebrations to material culture to urban legends. In addition to numerous articles, she is the author of Chainsaw Sculptor: The Art of J. Chester Armstrong (1995) and Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video, and Culture (1998). She is co-editor of "Film and Folklore," a special issue of Western Folklore. She is also co-editor of the book Folklore/Cinema: Popular Film and Vernacular Culture. Sherman has served on the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society and as the Film and Videotape Review Editor for Western Folklore and the Journal of American Folklore, and is on the board of Folkstreams (www.folkstreams.net), a website devoted to streaming folklore films.
Cheryl S. Lewman (Assistant Editor/Co-Producer/Camera 2/Web) is an ethnographer and independent filmmaker. She holds a bachelor's degree in social anthropology and a graduate degree in ethnography. Her film topics include: folk medicine, gender issues, family folklore, material culture, and politics and public policy. She has presented papers at international and regional conferences. She taught for two years at the University of Oregon and for over ten years at Lane Community College. She is now working in tech as a User Experience Designer and Researcher.
Jorge Preloran, Argentine filmmaker, received a degree in film school from UCLA and began his career as a filmmaker in the 1950s. Preloran taught film production at UCLA for over 20 years. His documentaries look at various folklore related subjects of Argentina including his famous film Imaginero, a highly acclaimed work on a creator of religious images living in the Andean high plateau. One of the common traits of Preloran's films is the concern for individual life histories, often observed over long periods. Luther Metke at 94 on a Spanish-American war veteran was nominated for an Academy Award in 1980. His film Zulay, Facing the 21st Century, is based on a dialogue of Zulay Sarabino from Ecuador and Mabel Preloran from Argentina, on the feelings and problems both women suffered while adapting to life in the US. Over a period of 30 years, Jorge Preloran made 60 films.
Mabel Preloran has over 25 years experience working in the field of cultural anthropology in the United States and Latin America. She has extensively published articles regarding medical anthropology. She worked as a research anthropologist at UCLA, and is also a sound recordist, fieldworker, and screenwriter. Mabel wrote the feature length film My Aunt Nora, which has been well received throughout Latin America and screened internationally. She has worked on numerous other films with Jorge Preloran.
Steven Zibelman is a professional musician and soundman. He has worked in folkloristic and ethnographic film for over thirty years. He has composed original music for film projects and worked with Sharon Sherman on many of her other films. For the Zulay endeavor, he has served as production cameraman, soundman, and advisor.
Jason E. Arnesen (Camera 2/Technical Specialist) is an ethnographer and independent filmmaker. He holds degrees in anthropology and folklore where he focused on ethnography, electronic media and vernacular communication. His film topics include independent media and politics and public policy. Recently he was cinematographer for the feature fiction film The Revenants, winner of Toronto ReelHeart International Film Festival (2008). He currently works as a user experience manager.
