Alumna Tells Stories Through Film
By Janae Brewster

Andrea (Palpant, '00) Dilley tells stories for a living. She tells stories from Spokane to Sudan. She tells stories about the past, present and future.

"I want to tell stories that are reflective of history or a vision for the future," Dilley said.

She works as a writer/director/producer for North by Northwest Productions, a film company based in Spokane. Her success and promotion within the company have allowed her to follow her passion of telling stories.

Dilley's interest in the human spirit was fostered through her education at Whitworth. Along with earning an English and Spanish double-major, Dilley also gained an appreciation for the meaning of human life and relationships.

Her job allows her to pursue her interest in nonprofit work and to merge media work with nonprofit work. She has moved away from commercial work.

Instead, she searches for projects that have purpose and meaning, even if they don't provide her with monetary rewards.

Her first documentary brought her back to Whitworth. She wrote, directed and co-produced "In Time of War," a piece about the Japanese internment during World War II.

Whitworth History Professor Dale Soden collaborated with North by Northwest to tell the story of Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest who were forced to relocate during the internment. The film was funded in part by the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

Dilley returned to Africa to tell the story of a war-torn country in the documentary, "Sudan: The Path to Peace." She spent six years as a child growing up in Africa, where her parents were missionaries. Her younger brother had returned to Sudan doing medical-aid work, and she encouraged him to get video footage of the people's struggles. She believed that Americans need to know about Sudanese civil war and genocide.

"I felt like it was an important story that needed to be told," Dilley said.

Her more recent work includes "3 on 3," which followed three teams through Hoopfest. Dilley and director David Tanner wanted to capture the spirit of Spokane's annual three-on-three basketball tournament. Film crews followed a team of 10-year-old boys from North Spokane, teenage girls from a Spokane Indian reservation and middle-aged black men from Atlanta.

Along with working on a project about vocation and calling for Whitworth, Dilley is currently working on a documentary about prison mothers in Baltimore. The film will tell the stories of incarcerated women who have or are expecting children and the measures they have to take to rehabilitate and rebuild their lives.

Dilley enjoys her work because it allows her to work with people and tell their stories. She considers it a way she can apply the gifts God has blessed her with.

"I feel called to my work because it utilizes skills God has given me, skills and gifts I love using," Dilley said.