Danis Goulet

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Danis Goulet
Born1977 (age 46–47)
La Ronge, Saskatchewan
Occupation(s)Director and screenwriter
Notable workNight Raiders
Parent
  • Keith Goulet (father)

Danis Goulet (born 1977) is a First Nations (

Métis) film director and screenwriter from Canada,[1] whose debut feature film Night Raiders premiered in 2021.[2]

Early life

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]

Career

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

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]

Personal life

Goulet is married to Tony Elliott.[4] She has a son and a daughter.[24]

Awards

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][31]
Best Director Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Won
John Dunning Best First Feature Award Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b Chris Knight, "Danis Goulet's film a first for New Zealand-Canada Indigenous co-operation". National Post, June 26, 2020.
  2. ^ Barry Hertz, "Indigenous filmmaker Danis Goulet's Night Raiders pulls from Canada's past to create a terrifying future". The Globe and Mail, March 3, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Cam Fuller, "'Wapawekka' in festival". Regina Leader-Post, December 18, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Levy, Bryn (2021-10-07). "Indigenous storyteller Danis Goulet drives change in Canada's film industry". Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  5. ^ a b Ahearn, Victoria (2021-10-08). "'Night Raiders' filmmaker Danis Goulet explores colonization through sci-fi lens". Global News. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  6. Canadian Press
    , January 18, 2004.
  7. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
    , September 11, 2012.
  8. Canadian Press
    , January 14, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Crisolago, Mike (September 17, 2021). "Danis Goulet Talks Indigenous Sci-Fi and How Resistance Movements Inspired Her First Feature Film, Night Raiders". Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Cassandra Szklarski, "Aboriginal women take centre stage at indigenous film festival". The Daily Gleaner, October 18, 2008.
  11. ^ Karpati, Joshua (2022-02-22). "An Interview with Night Raiders Director Danis Goulet — Air Canada enRoute". EnRoute (Air Canada). Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  12. ^ Barry Hertz, "Latimer resigns from CBC's Trickster after questions about Indigenous ancestry". The Globe and Mail, December 22, 2020.
  13. ^ Ward, Dennis (2021-12-07). "Danis Goulet and the re-writing 100 years of Hollywood misconceptions". APTN News. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  14. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (February 11, 2021). "XYZ Boards World Sales On Sci-Fi 'Night Raiders', Berlin Fest Entry Exec-Produced By Taika Waititi — EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Banning, Jolene (2021-12-14). "Director of the Year: Danis Goulet". Playback. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  16. ^ Eric Kohn and Kate Erbland, "TIFF 2021: ‘Dune’ and ‘Last Night in Soho’ Among First 12 Films Confirmed for Fall Festival". IndieWire, June 23, 2021.
  17. ^ Selome Hailu, "Dionne Warwick and Danis Goulet to Receive TIFF Tribute Awards". Variety, August 26, 2021.
  18. ^ Kennedy, Jill (2022-02-15). "Cree-Métis director, Danis Goulet's film Night Raiders recognized at Canadian Screen Awards". 95.7 ELMNT FM Ottawa. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  19. ^ "Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 8, 2022.
  20. ET Canada
    , February 15, 2022.
  21. ^ "Director of the Year: Danis Goulet". Playback, December 14, 2021.
  22. ^ Simonpillai, Radheyan (2022-08-16). "Reservation Dogs is made for community by community". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  23. ^ Rebecca Rubin, "‘Queen of the South’ Actor Alice Braga to Star in Netflix Thriller ‘Ivy’". Variety, June 17, 2021.
  24. ^ Simonpillai, Radheyan (2021-03-02). "Night Raiders and the future of Indigenous storytelling". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  25. ^ Nick Krewen, "Directors Guild of Canada reveals feature, doc and short film winners". Playback, October 25, 2021.
  26. ^ Dana Gee, "The Power of the Dog named year's best feature by Vancouver Film Critics Circle". Vancouver Sun, March 8, 2022.
  27. ^ Gee, Dana (2022-02-22). "The Power of the Dog, Night Raiders lead Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards nominations". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  28. ^ Grobar, Matt (2022-08-25). "'Women Talking' Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir & 'The Swimmers' Filmmaker Sally El Hosaini Set As 2022 TIFF Tribute Award Honorees". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  29. ^ Pat Mullen, "Drive My Car Leads TFCA Award Winners". That Shelf, January 16, 2022.
  30. ^ Adina Bresge, "'Scarborough' top film winner at Canadian Screen Awards". CP24, April 10, 2022.
  31. ET Canada
    , February 15, 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danis_Goulet&oldid=1194836436"