Michelle Latimer is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, writer and activist. Her films have screened internationally, including such festivals as Cannes, Berlin, Toronto International, Sundance, Oberhausen and Rotterdam. Her video work has been acquired by numerous art galleries, including the National Gallery of Canada. She is currently showrunning and directing the scripted series Trickster (Sienna Films/Streel Films/CBC) that she co-created and adapted from bestselling author Eden Robinson’s trilogy, as well as completing production on the documentary feature adaptation of Thomas King’s book Inconvenient Indian (National Film Board of Canada/Crave) and the documentary feature The Untitled Annie Mae Aquash Project (Participant Media/Impact Partners). In 2016, Michelle documented on the ground during the Standing Rock occupation against the Dakota Pipeline as part of the breakout Indigenous resistance series RISE (Viceland), for which she was also Showrunner and director of all 8 parts. The series premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won the 2018 Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary Series, and went on to screen internationally in over 35 countries. To this day, the Standing Rock films of the RISE series are upheld as seminal works documenting this historic occupation. Her latest film Nuuca (Field of Vision) examines how the oil industry has perpetuated violence against Indigenous women and girls. Nuuca premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and screened at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and Berlinale Film Festival, was shortlisted for an International Documentary Association award, and was published online as part of an investigative journalism expose by The Intercept. In 2020, Michelle was named the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs, and was awarded the Chicken and Egg Breakthrough Award, a prize given to five international filmmakers for their work in social justice filmmaking. She is a previous Field of Vision Fellow, mentoring under acclaimed filmmaker, Laura Poitras, and in 2018 she participated as a Ted X speaker where she addressed issues around Indigenous knowledge and climate change. Michelle’s Métis/Algonquin heritage informs her filmmaking perspective, and much of her work is dedicated to the pursuit of Indigenous rights and sovereignty. She splits her time between Toronto and Treaty 9 Territory in Northern Ontario, Canada.

Speaking on: Trickster: working towards narrative sovereignty