Ed Borgnis is a freelance Production Manager who has worked extensively with Border Crossings since 2019, particularly on ORIGINS events. He Production Managed the 2019 Festival, including INO MOXO at the Southbank, and then supported the company through the adjustments required by Covid-19 to present the 2021-22 Festival. Projects included DOVER BEACH, REMEMBRANCES, MAGNETIC NORTH and TOTEM LATAMAT. Ed discusses how these encounters with Indigenous cultures changed his sense of the cultural industries, raising his awareness of other cultures and giving him a sense of being honoured by the exchange.
John Cobb is a videographer and photographer, who has worked with Border Crossings on many occasions, particularly on the company's films. The interview explores John's career as a freelance photographer and his interest in the work the company does. It looks at his first filming for the company at ORIGINS 2015, and how that led to HIDDEN HISTORIES, a project which changed his views on how documentary films should be made. He goes on to discuss a range of projects, particularly POCAHONTAS AND AFTER, on which he worked with young people and volunteers to make their own self-portraits in response to an informed and critical analysis of historical photographs of Indigneous people.
Nick Moran is a Lighting Designer, who has had a long association with Border Crossings, beginning with his design for BULLIE'S HOUSE in 2004. Since then he has lit THE DILEMMA OF A GHOST (2007), RE-ORIENTATIONS (2010), CONSUMED (2013), WHEN NOBODY RETURNS (2016), THE MOUTH OF THE GODS (2024), and the CHECKPOINT celebration event in November 2025. Nick has also worked at Central School of Speech and Drama, and is the author of Performance Lighting Design and The Right Light.
Kelsey Yuhara has worked with Border Crossings in Project Management on two projects. She was the Volunteer Co-ordinator for CHECKPOINT itself! However, the bulk of the interview concentrates on the much larger role she undertook on the 2024 project THE MOUTH OF THE GODS. As Project Manager, Kelsey worked very closely with Michael on realising the artistic vision, and with Lucy on outreach and community engagement. She also engaged with the master embroiderer and puppeteer, the choreographers, musicians, stage management and volunteers. Kelsey discusses the achievements and challenges of this work, emphasising that, while running a large-scale project is always difficult, she always learns a huge amount about the world. A particularly striking observation which she makes might apply to much of Border Crossings' work: "The show was a show but it was so much more than a show”.
