Charlie Buhler

In 2008, Buhler was the first African-American woman to be crowned Miss South Dakota USA. She later represented South Dakota at the Miss USA 2008 pageant.

• Name — Charlie Buhler • Birthplace — Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, U.S. • Education — University of Notre Dame • Occupation — Film director, photographer, producer

Charlie Buhler was born on Minot Air Force Base in Minot, North Dakota, to Darlene (Tinsley) Buhler and Dr. Carey Buhler, a radiologist. She is mixed-race, and often cites her diverse background as a major source of inspiration for her work. She spent her childhood in Rapid City and Mitchell, South Dakota, and then went on to study film and American politics at the University of Notre Dame, where she was the first African-American woman to be elected class president. She graduated in 2010. In 2016, Buhler had a role in Eric Stoltz's debut feature, Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. A coming of age dramedy about young Jehovah's Witnesses discovering sex, drugs and rock and roll in the 80's. She played Jasmine. In 2020, she made her directorial debut with the pandemic thriller, Before the Fire, which she also produced. It starred Jenna Lyng Adams, Ryan Vigilant and Jackson Davis, and premiered in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film made its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival newsworthy due to its eery similarities to the ongoing crisis, and received positive reviews. Buhler is also a documentarian and photographer. Her most notable work was the photography series, ROSEBUD which she shot over two years on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations in South Dakota. It was published in the Photographic Journal in 2018.