Leah X Rathe is a filmmaker and freelancer based in Minnesota. She holds a B.A. in Digital Media Arts with a Paralegal Certificate from Hamline University. Leah is deeply committed to the power of film as a unifying medium that bridges different perspectives. Her passion lies particularly in crafting documentaries, which she sees as a compelling means to authentically connect narratives and amplify voices that have long been unheard. Leah is a 2023 Ignite Rural Artist-in-Residence, a 2024 StorySeeds Screenwriting Fellow, and is a member of the 2024 CAAL MOVEE Asian American Leadership Cohort.
Her debut animated short film CHOPSTICK, centered around her own experiences as a Chinese adoptee, has screened in film festivals across the U.S. and beyond, including the Adoptee Film Fest, Cucalorus, the City of Angels Women’s Film Festival, and the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. CHOPSTICK has also received awards for Best Writing and Best Animated Film.
Leah directed The Accelerators: Brains, Braids, & Bots, a featurette documentary spotlighting an all-girls First Robotics team in Cass Lake, MN, located on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservations. The film earned the Independent Spirit Award at the 2024 Ely Film Festival and received the Top 10 Best of the Fest Award at the Show Low Film Festival.