ABOUT
Mia Boccella is a filmmaker, photographer, artist, life coach and equestrian.
Mia received a BFA cum laude from Carnegie Mellon University, studied Italian language at E.N.A.I.P. BOLOGNA in Bologna, Italy and Life Coach certification from Coach Training Alliance. Mia is a member of the Blind Equestrian Community, Documentary Filmmakers with Disabilities (FWD-Doc) and the Italian American Advisory Council at the Heinz History Center. She has previously volunteered with Blind and Visual Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh, Native American Democratic Caucus of New Mexico, Pittsburgh Public Schools where she taught a documentary film class “Movies with a Message” and served on the board of the New Mexico Women’s Foundation.
Mia’s four grandparents emmigrated from Italy to Pittsburgh, PA where she was born and raised. She began her film career in Pittsburgh before moving to Santa Fe, NM where she worked for ten years on feature films. She founded Boccella Productions in 2005, produced two full length documentary films and In 2019 was invited to photograph at the inauguration of the first two Native American Congresswomen at the U.S. Capital in Washington D.C.
Most recently Mia was awarded a grant from The Dressage Foundation to support her current documentary in development. In 2022 she was the recipient of the Getty Images Creative Grant and won 2nd prize for her proposal about The Blind Equestrian Community, of which she is a founding member. She also edited a photographic volume “Pittsburgh Streets 1950s” which was launched at the Heinz History Center.
Mia has been losing her vision for the past 30 years and she is now legally blind. Her visual limitations have challenged her but ultimately fueled her determination and creativity. Mia loves to ride horses and when she has the opportunity to ride she regains her confidence and balance and can feel the pure joy and ultimate freedom that the horse shares with her.
Another source of her joy comes from intentional allyship and respectful advocacy for cultural preservation of Indigenous communities. She has a relationship with Diné (Navajo) and Pueblo tribes of New Mexico that spans 30 years.
Her films have been screened and broadcast Internationally in Australia, South Korea, China, Turkey and many other countries across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Her films have also been used as educational tools by thousands of people in schools, universities, treatment and rehabilitation centers, prisons and Indigenous communities in the US and around the world.
Boccella Production’s first film, “When Your Hands are Tied” premiered at the Native American Film Festival in San Francisco in 2006 and received the Empowering Youth Award at the Sin Fronteras Film Festival and Best Native Women in Film and TV award at The Red Nation Film Festival. Her film “Elefamila” was a finalist at the International Wildlife Film Festival and was included in The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.