Seen and Scene Leah X Rathe’s storytelling lens

BY CHELSEA ORNELAS | photos contributed

Leah X Rathe knows representation matters. As a Chinese adoptee growing up in Montana and, eventually, Brainerd, Minnesota, the little bits of relatable representation she saw on TV and in movies as a kid gave her a sense of belonging and purpose. Today, she’s an award-winning filmmaker who is committed to using her skills as a storyteller and documentarian to amplify underrepresented voices and experiences, including those in rural communities.

Feeling loved but different

“I was born in China and raised in the U.S.,” Leah explains. “I grew up in majority Caucasian communities and spaces. I was raised by a Caucasian mother, and had an African-American adoptive brother. Growing up, my brother and I were the only people of color in our family, as well as the only adoptees.”

Throughout childhood and into early adulthood, Leah had a hard time identifying, understanding, and expressing her feelings about being a transracial adoptee and connecting with her Asian-American identity. While others would identify her as Asian, she struggled with feeling “Asian” enough, and worried that her race and how she appeared to others would set her apart from those she was surrounded by and loved. As a result, she felt both loved and different.

Leah looked to movies and TV shows that featured people and/or stories she could relate to.

“‘Lilo & Stitch’ is my favorite Disney movie,” she says. “I didn’t see a lot of families like mine in the media, so the idea of ‘found family,’ and the bond that creates really spoke to me.”

Loss, isolation, and reconnection

In 2018, Leah’s brother, tragically passed away at the age of 25.

“Prior to his passing, we had never really connected or discussed our experiences in depth of being transracial adoptees,” Leah says. “So, in addition to losing a brother, someone I had known and loved my whole life — I felt very sad and isolated in knowing that there was no one else in my family to relate to in that experience.”

In December 2022, as Leah continued to process and reflect on her brother’s death, as well as with questions of identity and belonging, someone from her past reached out. Jade Reagan, another Chinese adoptee who was part of the same infant adoption cohort as Leah, contacted her via social media. The two immediately clicked.

“We like to say we were adopted together, raised separately, and reunited 30 years later,” Leah explains.

Together, they processed and explored their transracial adoptee identities and experiences through long deep conversations and creativity.

“Jade is truly an inspiration and an incredible friend. We connect on a multitude of levels, and being able to go on this personal and artistic journey together has been healing, cathartic and honestly life changing. Connecting with her has felt like a new breath of life.”

Shortly after, the idea for expressing Leah’s own journey using film began to form.

Leah X Rathe and Jade Reagan at the 2024 DisOrient Asian American Festival of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, where “CHOPSTICK” had its film festival premiere. Photo by Mitch McCallson.

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Igniting conversations and connection with ‘CHOPSTICK’

In early 2023, at the encouragement of her husband, Mitch McCallson, Leah applied for and was awarded a spot in the Ignite Rural Artist Residency, a Department of Public Transformation program, a six-month “at-home” artist residency that prioritizes supporting emerging BIPOC rural artists. During the residency, Leah created “CHOPSTICK,” an animated short film based on her own experiences growing up as a Chinese adoptee.

The film is about a chopstick who is adopted into and navigates a world of forks. Her intent with the film is to foster connections and spark discussions about transracial adoption and representation.

“I chose a chopstick and forks because I’ve had experiences where I go to an Asian restaurant, and I get handed chopsticks, while my white friends get forks,” Leah explains. “I thought it would be a whimsical and relatable way of communicating the idea of race in the short film.”

“CHOPSTICK” premiered at the 2024 DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, where it earned a nomination for Best Animation. It’s been shown at several film festivals across the country and was recently selected for the SWAN Perth International Women in Film Festival in Perth, Australia.

Amplifying ‘The Accelerators’ success

Leah also directed and edited the short documentary, “The Accelerators: Brains, Braids, & Bots,” which she filmed with her husband, Mitch. The documentary spotlights the 2023 season for the Accelerators, an allgirls FIRST Robotics team from Cass Lake-Bena High School. Like “CHOPSTICK,” the film is making the rounds at festivals across the country this year, earning the Independent Spirit Award at the 2024 Ely Film Festival this past February.

More importantly to Leah, the film has significantly boosted the team’s visibility. In March, the Accelerators earned 4th place at the Grand Forks Regional and received the prestigious Impact Award, qualifying them for Worlds.

“The coaches shared that to submit for awards, you include a video,” Leah explains. “They submitted the documentary, and they said it helped push them over the edge to get that award, which is just really cool.”

Leah X Rathe signing “The Accelerators: Brains, Braids, & Bots” posters for the team at the 2024 Ely Film Festival in Ely. Photo by Mitch McCallson.

After qualifying for Worlds, the team had just one month to raise funds to cover travel expenses. During that time, Leah showed the film at the Minnesota Film Festival in Duluth, made some key connections, and drummed up some donations to help the team reach their financial goals.

“The team’s persistent hard work paid off, and they eventually made it to Worlds in Houston, Texas, which is amazing,” Leah explains. “And, they got the Gracious Professionalism Award there, which only eight teams in the entire world get…there are 3,341 robotics teams in the world. They have a story that was worth telling and telling in an authentic way and it has impacted their journey.”

New stories, new voices

Leah’s getting ready to start two new creative projects. One is a short narrative script about an adoptee reflecting on celebration and loss on their birthday, which she will be developing as a 2024 StorySeeds Fellow supported through Mamá Papaya. The other is a documentary about a local Japanese-American transracial adoptee.

She sees film as a powerful medium for storytelling and impactful representation.

“Film is a sustainable resource you can share with multiple people,” she explains. “I believe rural stories matter just as much as any other stories. A lack of resources shouldn’t diminish the value or visibility of those stories.”

Follow Leah’s work at leahxrcreative.com.

Chelsea Ornelas is a wife, mama to two little boys, full-time marketer, and movement junkie. She loves connecting with people and learning their stories (which means she asks a lot of questions). In 2017, she and three friends hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim in a single day. Her favorite phrase is, “Clear is kind.”