Exploring Imagination Workshop with Emilie Blythe McDonald In-Person
Filmmaker Emilie Blythe McDonald, a November Writer-In-Residence at the Hemingway House, will lead a workshop in Exploring Imagination. She will read from the novelette that turned into her 2024 Sun Valley Film Festival High Scribe award-winning script "Flor and Aman Against the Motherfucking World", and talk about her inspirations for the screenplay.
Then she will lead attendees in a series of writing exercises that will gently encourage them to unearth their most authentic voices as they write from characters' points of view, explore place and time, and dive deep into their imaginations. She asks folks to please bring their favorite pen and notebook, along with a sense of curiosity!
- Date:
- Saturday, November 8, 2025
- Time:
- 3:00pm - 4:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Mountain Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Idaho Room
- Campus:
- The Community Library
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Classes & Discussions
Emilie Blythe McDonald basically grew up in the back of a VW bus, traveling through the U.S. and Mexico. She writes and directs visually arresting films that bring a compassionate eye to often-overlooked characters and the conflicts that permeate their everyday lives. Her films have won multiple awards and screened at festivals internationally including BAMcinemaFest, Nantucket Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, IndieMemphis and Sidewalk Film Festival. With her latest project, FLOR AND AMAN AGAINST THE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD, she won Sun Valley Film Festival's 2024 High Scribe Award, was Quarterfinalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships, The Writers Lab, and ScreenCraft's Screenwriting Fellowship, Finalist in Nashville Film Festival's Screenwriting Competition, 3rd place in Vail Film Festival’s Screenwriting Competition, and participated in The Gotham's U.S. Features in Development section of the 2024 Project Market. She’s also participated in Cine Qua Non and IFP’s No Borders.
She holds a BA in Film from Vassar and an MFA in Film from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She’s a member of Film Fatales and New Mexico Women in Film and a founding member of an NYC- based writing group comprised of women directors. She currently lives in Albuquerque, NM where she teaches film at the University of New Mexico and enjoys green chile and thrifting.