HELENE KLODAWSKY

Helene Klodawsky has been writing and directing social, political and arts documentaries for 20 years. Her films have been screened and televised around the world, and have received more than 25 awards, including honours from the Chicago International , the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Jerusalem International Film Festival, the Mannheim International Film Festival, Hot Docs, Les Rendez-vous du Cinema Quebecois and the Academy of Canadian Cinema. Painted Landscapes of the Times (1986), Motherland (1994), What If (1999) Undying Love (2002) No More Tears Sister (2005), and Family Motel (2007) are some of her credits. Her newest feature documentary Malls R Us will be released in 2009.

She is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Helene Klodawsky is a member of Doc Organization, the Director’s Guild of and the Writer’s Guild of Canada.

Contact: [email protected] FILMOGRAPHY

RESEARCHER, WRITER AND DIRECTOR

PRIMAL LOVE (feature film script in development)

Set in the early 1970s, PRIMAL LOVE follows the adventures of troubled teenager Naomi Grossman as she discovers Primal Scream, a book that promises a revolutionary cure for “Neurosis”.

Scriptwriting Grant, SODEC 2008.

MALLS R US (to be released in 2009)

A critical look at the global phenomenon of the shopping mall, explored through the eyes of mall developers, architects, labour organizers, environmentalists, dead mall activists, and an international cast of shoppers. Filmed in Canada, US, Europe, , Dubai and Japan.

Producer: Ina Fichman and Luc Martin-Gousset Instinct Films (Canada), Pointe du Jour () Feature Documentary, HD, 78 minutes Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Tele Quebec, Canal+ (France), SBS Australia, Belgian TV, NYC Premiere in 2009 at the Museum of Modern Art, Icarus Films theatrical launch planned in selected American cities, 2009

COMPLETED WORKS

FAMILY MOTEL (2007)

In FAMILY MOTEL a Somali refugee and her teenage daughters, confront the unexpected when they are evicted from their apartment for arrears in rent. The film follows their subsequent move to a beaten down motel for the homeless on the “other side” of town.

Producer: Ina Fichman, Instinct Films and The National Film Board of Canada Alternative Drama Shot in HD with non professional cast, 89 minutes

Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance Through Film, Les Rendez-vous du Cinema Quebecois, 2008 Canadian Front 2008, Museum of Modern Art, NY (one of eight new Canadian features) Drama Finalist: International Festival of Audiovisual Programs, Biarritz, France, 2008 Borsos Competition for Best New Canadian Feature Film, Whistler Film Festival, 2007 World Film Festival, Montreal, 2007, Durban International Film Festival () 2008, St. John’s Women’s Film Festival 2008, Minneapolis Film Festival, 2008, African Diaspora Film Festival, 2008, Cinema Politica Film Screening Series, 2008

2 Broadcaster: Super Channel NO MORE TEARS SISTER: ANATOMY OF HOPE AND BETRAYAL

NO MORE TEARS SISTER: ANATOMY OF HOPE AND BETRAYAL tells the dramatic story of Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, a renowned Sri Lankan Human Rights activist who was gunned down at the age of thirty-five in Jaffna. Fifteen years after her death, Rajani’s sister, a former Tamil Tiger, and husband, a Sinhalese revolutionary, reveal the story of Rajani’s courageous life and brutal assassination.

Producer: The National Film Board of Canada Feature Documentary, 16mm film and Beta cam, 80 minutes, April 2004

Chris Awards, Honorable Mention, Columbus International Film Festival, USA, 2005 Second Prize, Tri Continental Film Festival, India, 2006 Spirit of Freedom Award Best Documentary, Jerusalem International Film Festival, 2006 Nomination, Best Political Documentary, Academy of Canadian Cinema, 2006 Best Cinematography, Gemini Awards, Academy of Canadian Cinema, 2006 Cine Eagle Award, USA, 2006 One of Ten Audience Pics at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, 2005

Broadcasters to date: Opening 2006 season of P.O.V.- PBS, The Documentary Channel, Australian TV (SBS), Finnish Public Television, CBC Newsworld, Knowledge Network

Festivals to date: Hot Docs, Seattle International Film Festival, New York Human Rights Watch Film Festival, FILMI South Asian Toronto Film Festival, San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Vermont International Film Festival, Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival (screenings in approximately 40 North American cities), Dochouse and Docspace (an alternative film circuit of 14 UK art houses), Calgary Film Festival, Vancouver Amnesty International Film Festival, Global Visions Film Festival, Tri-Continental Film Festival (South Africa), Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival, Tri Continental Film Festival (India: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata) Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal, Human Rights Watch Film Festival Amnesty International Film Festival, Amsterdam, St. John’s Amnesty Film Festival, 2006, Tongues on Fire Film Festival, London, South Asian Film Festival, Nepal, 2007, Ulster Incore Conflict Documentary Film Festival, Global Justice Film Festival, British Columbia, Dallas South Asian Film Festival, Marda Loop Justice Film Festival (Alberta), New Jersey International Film Festival, Katmandu Film Festival, Nepal

The film has been shown at human rights conferences, universities and museums in Australia, Europe, Canada, USA, and Asia

UNDYING LOVE/ A TOI POUR TOUJOURS

UNDYING LOVE tells the poignant, enduring, and often-miraculous love stories of several survivors of World War II. Against the brutalized landscape of war-torn Europe, the film 3 focuses on how survivors in their twenties and thirties struggled to reconstruct personal identities and forge intimate relationships.

Producer: Productions La Fête Feature Documentary, 16mm film and Beta cam, 90 min. 2002

Broadcasters: CTV, Télé-Québec, Dutch TV, TV5 Europe, Australian TV, Finish TV, Israeli Television, PBS, OMNI,

Best Documentary Screenplay of 2004, Writer’s Guild of Canada. Best Camera, Canadian Society of Cinematographers, 2002 Special Mention, Jerusalem International Film Festival, 2003 Gemini, Best Television History Documentary in Canada, Gemini Awards, 2003 Chris Award, (Best Humanitarian Film) Columbus International Film Festival, USA, 2003 Nominee, Prix Gemeaux, Best Documentary of the Year, Quebec, 2003 Best Feature Documentary, Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, Poland, 2003

Festivals: Palm Springs International Film Festival, Festival des films du monde (Montréal), Cleveland International Film Festival, Minneapolis International Film Festival, Jerusalem International Film Festival, Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival (Florida), Brandeis Jewish Film Festival (Boston), Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Jewish Film Festival of Montréal; Festival of Jewish Cinema Australia, Brighton Jewish Film Festival - UK, Miami Jewish Film Festival, Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival, St. John’s Women’s Film Festival, Los Angeles semi-theatrical release, Mexican Jewish Film Festival.

SURVIVORS INC. (PARTITION POUR VOIX DE FEMMES)

In 2001, Helene Klodawsky directed a short film entitled, SURVIVORS INC. as part of a series and feature length documentary by Sophie Bissonnette, PARTITION POUR VOIX DE FEMMES/SCORE FOR WOMEN on grass roots activism among women’s groups throughout the world. SURVIVORS INC. looks at a fiery group of anti-poverty activists in Boston.

Producer: Les Productions Virage Coordinating Director: Sophie Bissonnette Documentary, Beta cam, 25 min. 2001

Broadcaster: Télé-Québec, TV5

PARTITION POUR VOIX DE FEMMES was a finalist for the Prix Gémeaux 2002 for Best Documentary. Festivals: Festival des films du monde à Montréal as well as festivals in Argentina, France and Italy.

4 IN SEARCH OF LUCILLE

In 2000, Klodawsky directed IN SEARCH OF LUCILLE, a biographical documentary on Dr. Lucille Teasdale, the altruistic Canadian surgeon who devoted her life to the care of Ugandans during dictatorship and civil war.

Producer: Motion International Documentary, Beta cam, 48 min. 2000 Broadcasters: CTV, TVA, Italian and African Television.

HIRE LEARNING

In 1999 Helene Klodawsky co-produced and co-directed HIRE LEARNING, an independent documentary about three unemployed youth and their attempts to find full time work over the course of one year. It premiered on Canadian television nationally and is used by community groups around the country.

Producer: Productions Grand Nord Documentary, Beta cam, 52 min. 1999

Broadcasters: CFCF TV, Vision Television

WHAT IF... A FILM ABOUT JUDITH MERRIL

WHAT IF... A FILM ABOUT JUDITH MERRIL is a one-hour documentary, which explores Science Fiction’s “golden age” of the forties and fifties through the eyes of radical thinker and SF pioneer, Judith Merril.

Producer: Imageries Documentary, Beta cam, 52 min. 1998

Broadcasters: Space TV, Bravo! Télé Québec, Dutch Arts Channel.

Gold Prize, The Chicago International Television Festival, 1999. Prize for Best Portrait at the 17th International Festival Of Films On Art (Montreal) 1999, Honourable Mention at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival, 1999

MOTHERLAND: TALES OF WONDER

The film casts a critical eye at the North American institution of motherhood over the latter half of this century. While poking fun at the modern–day fairy tale of the perfect family, MOTHERLAND asks the persistent question that still challenges many women today; what does it take to be a good mom?

Producer: National Film Board of Canada Documentary: 16mm 90 min. 1994 5 51 min. international video broadcast version, 1995

Broadcasters: Canada: The Women's Television Network, SCN, Vision TV International: Sold to twenty-one countries

Nominee, Best Feature, Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival, Toronto, 1995 Nominee, Genie Award for Best Feature Length Documentary, Montréal, 1996 First Prize - National Council on Family Relations Media Awards, USA 1995 Bronze Apple Award, National Educational Film and Video Festival, Oakland, 1995

NO TIME TO STOP / PAS LE TEMPS D'ARRÊTER This documentary examines the struggles and aspirations of Canadian immigrant working women.

Producer: National Film Board of Canada Documentary: 16 mm, 28 min., 1991. Broadcasters: educational television across Canada. Best Documentary, La Mondale de films et vidéos du Québec, 1991. Honourable Mention, Columbus Film Festival, USA, 1991.

SHOOT AND CRY / DES ARMES ET DES LARMES

Shot in and the West Bank just prior to the first Intafada, this hour–length film explores the Palestinian/Israeli conflict through the eyes of two young men – an eighteen year old Israeli conscript about to serve in the West Bank and a Palestinian worker in Israel who comes from Jenin.

Producer: The National Film Board of Canada and Channel Four Television/UK Documentary: 16mm 52 min. 1988

Broadcasters: Channel Four Television (UK), CBC, CBC News Channel, Vision TV, Knowledge Network, Finnish TV, Argentine TV, Singapore TV, Spanish TV.

Premiered at the Festival des Films du Monde de Montréal, and shown in the following cities: Tel Aviv, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London England, Los Angeles, Boston and Toronto.

PAINTED LANDSCAPES OF THE TIMES: THE ART OF SUE COE / PORTRAITS DE NOTRE TEMPS: SUE COE ET SON OEUVRE

This short film is a portrait of the controversial New York painter and illustrator, Sue Coe.

Producer: Productions du Regard Art Film: 16mm 27 min. 1986 6 Broadcasters: TV Ontario, Bravo! PBS, YTV, French Public Broadcasting

Gold Ducat for Best Film – Mannheim International Film Festival, 1987 Jury Prize for Best Educational Film, Mannheim International Film Festival Gold Apple Award, National Film and Video festival, Oakland California, 1987 Gold Prize in the Fine Arts Category, Yorkton Film Festival, , 1987 Gold Prize for Best Original Music Score, Yorkton Film Festival, Saskatchewan, 1987 Special Jury Prize (second prize) Visual Arts, San Francisco Intl. Film Festival, 1987

LOVE'S LABOUR

Powerful stories of women and adult children who care for aged loved–ones make up this one–hour documentary.

Producer: TV Ontario Documentary: 16mm 58 min. 1986 Broadcaster: TV Ontario

Gold Prize in its Category, Columbus International Film Festival Ohio, 1987 Bronze Prize, International Film and Video Awards, New York Media Award from the Ontario Senior Citizens Coalition, 1987

CO-PRODUCER, WRITER, RESEARCHER

ALL OF OUR LIVES/CHACUNE SA VIE

This film is a half–hour documentary about women and the problems of aging.

Producer: Sky Works Documentary: 16mm. 30 min. 1984

First Prize in its Category, Canadian Film and Television Awards, 1985 First Prize in its Category, American Film Festival, USA, 1985 Certificate of Merit, Athens International Film Festival, Ohio 1985 Second Prize, National Council of Family Relations, NYC 1985

Broadcasters: Educational Television across Canada and Scandinavia

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, 1979 - 2006

Helene Klodawsky has worked as a consultant, researcher, writer, co-producer and assistant director on approximately 45 independent documentaries and broadcast programs.

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