Instagram story viewer> @ashleyinezz> Posts

Ashley Reese-Meanus

@ashleyinezz

1.1K

followers

1259

following

Oglala Lakota ✨
Film & Photography ~ Institute of American Indian Arts
PNW raised 🌲

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Seattle. Home of great food. Great coffee. Great views. Great times. Great friends & J. Cole. 🫶🏽🌲✨

Also, @ienenharihshon has easily become one of my favorite travel buddies 🫶🏽✨ taken in Seattle, Washington by @ashleyinezz

3

6

a month ago

I’m honored and excited to share that my thesis film “The Light That Stays” will be screening at two festivals this weekend! I’m so grateful to be able to show this film next to my amazing IAIA cohort who have amazing stories to tell! Where ever you end up, come check them out! ✨

🎬 Pathways Indigenous Art Festival
Saturday Aug. 15th 2:30pm
📍Buffalo Thunder Resort - Caldera room

🎬 Get Indigenous Film Festival
Saturday Aug. 15th 3:00pm
📍New Mexico History Museum Auditorium

Wopila ✨ by @ashleyinezz

3

2

2 months ago

Did that! ✨🎓

4 years later & I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Cinematic Arts and Technology! 🎬

4 years ago I made a decision that was easily the best decision I ever made for myself. Not only did I get my degree but I made films, community, and friendships that will last a lifetime! I have so much gratitude for my time at IAIA and everyone who supported me in my time there. It wasn’t always easy, but it was so worth it! I’ve felt so much love recently and my biggest hope is that I can reciprocate that love back! Thank you to everyone who reached out and showed up, you made this accomplishment so special! Thank you to Cannon Ross for capturing the photos of me with my family!

Congrats to everyone who got their degrees! I’m honored to know such amazingly talented individuals! ✨

Wopila ✨ taken in Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) by @ashleyinezz

3

40

5 months ago

It’s official! My thesis film will have its premiere tomorrow at Sky Cinemas in the Railyard at 6:30pm!

This films means the world to me and I’m so excited to share it with the world! Thank you to my cast and crew for believing in this story and helping bring it to fruition! ✨

Starring:
@natalie_benally
@lil.dancer_nyasimoneeteeyan
@worldsshittiestindian

Crew:

Producer: @tsedideeh
Dir: yours truly
DP: @razellebenally
AD: Michael Bozzuto
AC: @fuzvision
Editor: @brandonmtz.film
Scripty: @coho.keesh
Sound: @chrisjrios10
Art Dept: @lilnative7 @hello_idunnoyou @calicolakota
Grip: @ghostinthefruitcake @antonioisthegoat Sam Sandoval, Cannon Ross
Colorist: @rauldaood
PA: @tristanabe65

Wopila ✨ by @ashleyinezz

3

32

5 months ago

BTS 📸 1/2 - The Light That Stays
Written & Directed by yours truly ✨
Photography by Cannon Ross
Filmed November 2025
.
.
We made a film y’all! I couldn’t say thank you enough to everyone who had a hand in bringing this vision to life! It’s been such a beautiful experience working with other creatives and I’m so excited to share the film with the world very soon! ✨🫶🏽 More to come!

(Photos are from the first weekend of shoots and missing some cast and crew members!)

✨ Big thanks to Cannon Ross for taking these photos! by @ashleyinezz

3

9

6 months ago

Caves n friends are cool 🫶🏽🌵 by @ashleyinezz

63

2

7 months ago

“Education as Reclamation”

8x10 and 4x5 B&W Film

This photo series came from a narrative assignment for my Alternative Camera-Work class last fall. It’s much more than an assignment to me and I’m so grateful to everyone who showed up to be apart of this narrative.

At the time I had been thinking a lot about how western education was forced upon native people some years ago, yet here we are, still participating in a western ideology. I did a lot of reflecting on this and came to realize that in choosing to continue into higher education, indigenous people are reclaiming knowledge and power in order to succeed in the world we inevitably live in.
I wanted to reclaim this power for myself and mimic old black and white photographs of indigenous people who were stolen and exploited, but this time we are claiming our own image and education. As I reach closer to my graduation, I’m grateful to have attended a native institute that allows us to grow into this knowledge with an indigenous framework.

Thank you to these beautiful souls, I couldn’t have done this without you! Wopila ✨
@odo.ishkiin
@northernbear13
@n8vrunr
@_sunshineea_
@slayersol.702
@hello_idunnoyou
@axpililxoni
& Trenton Devore

These images are up for you to see in the Balzar Gallery hallway as part of the IAIA art competition showcase! taken in Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) by @ashleyinezz

3

8

7 months ago

So grateful to have spent the last week with such amazing people ✨

Thank you @firstpeoplesfilmlab for the opportunity to be an apprentice on this project! I loved being on set and being mentored by my badass mentor @1942morningstar 🫶🏾✨ by @ashleyinezz

100

9

9 months ago

2025 ✨

This year felt long but worth it. Love y’all 🫶🏾 by @ashleyinezz

3

5

10 months ago

Next stop, LA Skins Fest! 🎬✨

Thank you to @skinsfest for selecting my short film, Condomania to screen at this year’s festival. I am so thrilled and honored to be headed to LA this week for another festival screening at the legendary TCL Chinese theater!

Fri, Nov 21st 2025 7-10pm by @ashleyinezz

3

6

a year ago

I am very honored and excited to share that the short film I wrote & directed, Condomania, was officially selected to screen at this year’s Santa Fe International Film Festival! I would like to extend my gratitude to the @santafeintlfilmfest for the opportunity to screen at the festival!

“A quirky store clerk’s day takes a turn when she must assist a teenage boy in buying condoms for the first time.”

This short film was the final project for the NYU Tisch Empowering Indigenous Voices Directing Workshop I attended back in August 2024. I am immensely grateful for the cast and crew that helped on this production, as well as the NYU instructors who guided me along the process!

Screening:
Sat. Oct 18th, 2025 3pm @ Kathryn O’Keeffe Theater at Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC)

Wopila ✨

Cast:
Anpa’o Locke @anpa.o
Ahbedoh White Eagle @daw.wave
Anthony Aguilar @ant_inater

Writer & Director: @ashleyinezz
DP: Brandon Martinez @thejokerfan15
AD: Petyr Xyst @softbeveraged
AC: Michael Bozzuto
Sound: Hannah Waller
Editors: Desmond Hayes @fuzvision & Ashley Reese-Meanus
PA: Antonia Hatch @ghostinthefruitcake
Music: Trenton Devore @a.pot.of.earl.grey taken in Santa Fe, New Mexico by @ashleyinezz

3

16

a year ago

27 solar rotations later ✨
.
So far, I’ve learned that life is best lived with gratitude and love. Not every moment has one or the other, but choosing to find it and hold onto it is the beauty of life. Each year comes with new mistakes to be made and new lessons to be learned. I love this little life of mine & everyone in it. 🫶🏾

Something’s I’m grateful for today;
1. My strength to continue choosing myself & my future everyday.
2. Mni. She heals me everytime we sit for a chat.
3. The women in my family who remind me to stand tall and continue forward.
4. My dear friends that I love like my brothers & sisters. 🫶🏾
5. Summer days & sunshine
6. Spontaneous adventures to the video library
7. Solo travel & the power that comes from being an independent girlie.
8. The moments of pure joy with people you love.
9. The homelands. You keep me resilient by reminding me of who I am and the people I come from.
10. Nights I get to feel like princess, even for a moment.
11. The skies and the clouds that keep me present.
12. My roomie that helps keep me sane in my times of crisis. 🫶🏾
13. The hundreds of miles of roads that have keep me wondering what’s next.
14. My family. My biggest supporters. My heart.
15. Him. For keeping me grounded and grateful for the little things in life.
16. My dad, little brothers, & Andrea 🫶🏾 by @ashleyinezz

3

13

a year ago