Danis Goulet | |
---|---|
Born | 1977 (age 46–47) |
Occupation(s) | Director and screenwriter |
Notable work | Night Raiders |
Parent |
|
Danis Goulet (born 1977) is a First Nations ( Cree- Métis) film director and screenwriter from Canada, [1] whose debut feature film Night Raiders premiered in 2021. [2]
Goulet is originally from La Ronge, Saskatchewan. [3] Her non-Indigenous mother worked in the education department of First Nations University. Her Nehinuw (Cree) father, Keith, was an MLA, [4] and is a fluent Nehinuwehin (Cree) speaker who grew up living a trapping, hunting, fishing and gathering lifestyle in the Cree community of Cumberland House. [5]
After graduating high school, Goulet backpacked abroad. She returned to Regina in 1998. [4]
Goulet's first experience in the film industry was in 1998. She was assistant to the casting director for a CBC miniseries about the life of Chief Big Bear that was filming in Regina, a job she got when her mother was asked for help finding extras for the film. She worked in the film industry in Saskatchewan and Alberta for the next two years. [4]
Goulet moved to Toronto in the early 2000s to study at the Canadian Film Centre. [4] After being asked to cast a " Pocahontas type" for an American television pilot, convincing her that Indigenous people needed more creative control over their own stories, [1] Goulet began to realize the importance of Indigenous people taking key creative roles in film and changing narratives about Indigenous people. She attended a filmmaking workshop in New York, which led to her creating her first short film. [4] She has since directed a number of films, including Spin (2004), [6] Divided by Zero (2006), Wapawekka (2010), [3] Barefoot (2012), [7] Wakening (2013), [8] and Night Raiders (2021). [9]
In 2013, Goulet co-authored a report for Telefilm Canada about the lack of Indigenous feature film production in the country. [4] She served for a number of years as artistic director of the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. [10] [11] She was also a consulting producer on the 2020 television series Trickster, but resigned from the show after the emergence of allegations that series creator Michelle Latimer had misrepresented her Indigenous identity. [12]
Goulet began writing Night Raiders in 2013 after her science-fiction short Wakening inspired her to experiment more with the genre. She shot the film in 2019 in Ontario. [5] Post-production was completed in New Zealand. [4] Night Raiders had the largest production budget of any Indigenous-led Canadian film. The record was previously held by Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum. [13] Goulet stated that the film was inspired in large part by Indigenous resistance movements. [9]
Night Raiders, directed by Goulet, was produced by New Zealand film director Taika Waititi. It premiered at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021, [14] though Goulet was unable to attend the premiere. [15] Night Raiders was one of the first 13 films announced for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. [16] She was also announced as the 2021 recipient of TIFF's Emerging Talent Award. [17] The film was nominated for 11 awards at the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards, tied with Scarborough for the most nominations for one film that year. [18] Goulet was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022, winning Best Original Screenplay. [19] The film was also a nominee for both Best Picture and the John Dunning Best First Feature Award. [20]
In its year-end review of Canadian film and television in 2021, the trade magazine Playback named Goulet the Director of the Year. [21] Goulet directed the fourth episode of the second season of Reservation Dogs. [22]
In the same year Goulet was announced as the director of Ivy, an upcoming Netflix thriller film slated to star Brazilian actress Alice Braga. [23]
Goulet is married to Tony Elliott. [4] She has a son and a daughter. [24]
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | DGC Discovery Awards | n/a | Night Raiders | Won | [25] | |
2021 | Vancouver Film Critics Circle | Best Director of a Canadian Film | Won | [26] | ||
Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film | Nominated | [27] | ||||
2021 | Toronto International Film Festival | TIFF Emerging Talent Award | Won | [28] | ||
2021 | Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Rogers Best Canadian Film Award | Nominated | [29] | ||
2022 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Picture | Nominated | for Tara Woodbury, Paul Barkin, Ainsley Gardiner, Georgina Conder, Danis Goulet | [30] [20] | |
Best Director | Nominated | |||||
Best Original Screenplay | Won | |||||
John Dunning Best First Feature Award | Nominated |
Danis Goulet | |
---|---|
Born | 1977 (age 46–47) |
Occupation(s) | Director and screenwriter |
Notable work | Night Raiders |
Parent |
|
Danis Goulet (born 1977) is a First Nations ( Cree- Métis) film director and screenwriter from Canada, [1] whose debut feature film Night Raiders premiered in 2021. [2]
Goulet is originally from La Ronge, Saskatchewan. [3] Her non-Indigenous mother worked in the education department of First Nations University. Her Nehinuw (Cree) father, Keith, was an MLA, [4] and is a fluent Nehinuwehin (Cree) speaker who grew up living a trapping, hunting, fishing and gathering lifestyle in the Cree community of Cumberland House. [5]
After graduating high school, Goulet backpacked abroad. She returned to Regina in 1998. [4]
Goulet's first experience in the film industry was in 1998. She was assistant to the casting director for a CBC miniseries about the life of Chief Big Bear that was filming in Regina, a job she got when her mother was asked for help finding extras for the film. She worked in the film industry in Saskatchewan and Alberta for the next two years. [4]
Goulet moved to Toronto in the early 2000s to study at the Canadian Film Centre. [4] After being asked to cast a " Pocahontas type" for an American television pilot, convincing her that Indigenous people needed more creative control over their own stories, [1] Goulet began to realize the importance of Indigenous people taking key creative roles in film and changing narratives about Indigenous people. She attended a filmmaking workshop in New York, which led to her creating her first short film. [4] She has since directed a number of films, including Spin (2004), [6] Divided by Zero (2006), Wapawekka (2010), [3] Barefoot (2012), [7] Wakening (2013), [8] and Night Raiders (2021). [9]
In 2013, Goulet co-authored a report for Telefilm Canada about the lack of Indigenous feature film production in the country. [4] She served for a number of years as artistic director of the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. [10] [11] She was also a consulting producer on the 2020 television series Trickster, but resigned from the show after the emergence of allegations that series creator Michelle Latimer had misrepresented her Indigenous identity. [12]
Goulet began writing Night Raiders in 2013 after her science-fiction short Wakening inspired her to experiment more with the genre. She shot the film in 2019 in Ontario. [5] Post-production was completed in New Zealand. [4] Night Raiders had the largest production budget of any Indigenous-led Canadian film. The record was previously held by Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum. [13] Goulet stated that the film was inspired in large part by Indigenous resistance movements. [9]
Night Raiders, directed by Goulet, was produced by New Zealand film director Taika Waititi. It premiered at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021, [14] though Goulet was unable to attend the premiere. [15] Night Raiders was one of the first 13 films announced for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. [16] She was also announced as the 2021 recipient of TIFF's Emerging Talent Award. [17] The film was nominated for 11 awards at the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards, tied with Scarborough for the most nominations for one film that year. [18] Goulet was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022, winning Best Original Screenplay. [19] The film was also a nominee for both Best Picture and the John Dunning Best First Feature Award. [20]
In its year-end review of Canadian film and television in 2021, the trade magazine Playback named Goulet the Director of the Year. [21] Goulet directed the fourth episode of the second season of Reservation Dogs. [22]
In the same year Goulet was announced as the director of Ivy, an upcoming Netflix thriller film slated to star Brazilian actress Alice Braga. [23]
Goulet is married to Tony Elliott. [4] She has a son and a daughter. [24]
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | DGC Discovery Awards | n/a | Night Raiders | Won | [25] | |
2021 | Vancouver Film Critics Circle | Best Director of a Canadian Film | Won | [26] | ||
Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film | Nominated | [27] | ||||
2021 | Toronto International Film Festival | TIFF Emerging Talent Award | Won | [28] | ||
2021 | Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Rogers Best Canadian Film Award | Nominated | [29] | ||
2022 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Picture | Nominated | for Tara Woodbury, Paul Barkin, Ainsley Gardiner, Georgina Conder, Danis Goulet | [30] [20] | |
Best Director | Nominated | |||||
Best Original Screenplay | Won | |||||
John Dunning Best First Feature Award | Nominated |