Dana Inkster is a Canadian media artist and filmmaker.

Biography

Inkster grew up in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. She focused on political studies during her undergraduate education at

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

, and has a Graduate Diploma in Communications Studies from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. She currently lives and works in Lethbridge, Alberta where she lives with her partner and their son.

Artistic career

Inkster's work often experiments with narrative while exploring the complexities of identify, which stem in part, from her experiences as a black,

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

, feminist. Her first film, ''Welcome to Africville'', was released in 1999. In 2008 her film ''24 Days in Brooks'', which documents a 2005 labour strike at

Lakeside Packers Lakeside Packers is a beef producer based in Brooks, Alberta. It is owned by JBS Canada, a subsidiary of JBS S.A., a Brazilian protein company. History BSE Aid As of June 2004, Lakeside Packers had received roughly $33 million Canadian dollars in ...

, won an Alberta Motion Picture Industry Award for best production reflecting cultural diversity. The film examines the lives of recent immigrant workers drawn to Brooks by numerous entry-level, unskilled labour jobs. Inkster has directed a television ad in a Canadian Race Relations Foundation anti-racism campaign. She has won the best Canadian female film director prize from the Toronto Images Film Festival. ''The Art of Autobiography'' was awarded Best Short or Medium-length Documentary by the Association of Quebec Cinema Critics.

Filmography

*''Welcome to Africville'' (1999) *''The Art of Autobiography: Redux'' I (2001) *''24 Days in Brooks'' (2007) *''The Writer's Room'' (in development)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inkser, Dana Living people Artists from Ottawa Canadian women film directors Canadian women artists Canadian documentary film directors Black Canadian filmmakers Film directors from Ottawa Canadian LGBT artists Canadian LGBT film directors Black Canadian women Black Canadian LGBT people Black Canadian artists Canadian women documentary filmmakers 21st-century Canadian LGBT people Year of birth missing (living people)