Jennifer Podemski
Jennifer Podemski is an award winning Film and Television Producer and Actor born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Of mixed First Nations and Israeli descent, Jennifer began her acting career as a teen. Her career blossomed when she was cast as Pique in CBC's The Diviners followed by a starring role in Bruce McDonald's Dance Me Outside. As her career in front of the camera exploded, Jennifer began to notice the inequity behind the lens. Although all of the roles she was awarded as actor were First Nations characters, she rarely, if ever, saw any First Nations writers, producers or directors. By 25, with a solid career under her belt, Jennifer opened her first production company, Big Soul Productions (BSP) with fellow burgeoning producer Laura Milliken. BSP became the first Aboriginal owned and operated, full service production company in Canada, producing hundreds of hours of television including three seasons of the award winning Dramatic Series Moccasin Flats for Showcase and APTN. In 2005, Jennifer branched out on her own and founded Redcloud Studios, Inc. Although Jennifer has maintained a successful career as an actor, with roles in Degrassi, Republic of Doyle, Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz and Jimmy P alongside Benicio Del Toro, she is most proud of her starring role in her own film Empire of Dirt for which she was nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as well as Best Feature Film for her work as producer. Empire of ...
Dance Me Outside
(1995)
Explores the sensitive, and tense, relationship between life on an First Nations reservation and life in the outside world. When Native Canadian Silas Crow is forced to write a personal essay in order to get a much-desired job, he tells the story of the rape and ... (more)
Explores the sensitive, and tense, relationship between life on an First Nations reservation and life in the outside world. When Native Canadian Silas Crow is forced to write a personal essay in order to get a much-desired job, he tells the story of the rape and ... (more)
Distant Drumming: A North of 60 Mystery (2005)
Teevee Tenia has a plan - he intends to persuade Lynx River to dump the RCMP and establish an all Dene Police Force. But Corporal Michelle Kenidi is concerned: will a Dene Police Force in Lynx River be answerable to Canadian law, or to Teevee? When an elderly ... (more)
Teevee Tenia has a plan - he intends to persuade Lynx River to dump the RCMP and establish an all Dene Police Force. But Corporal Michelle Kenidi is concerned: will a Dene Police Force in Lynx River be answerable to Canadian law, or to Teevee? When an elderly ... (more)
Empire of Dirt
(2013)
Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was ... (more)
Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was ... (more)
Jimmy P.
(2013)
At the end of WWII, Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France, suffers from unexplainable symptoms and is admitted to a military hospital. When doctors suspect schizophrenia, an eccentric psychoanalyst takes up the case and starts a ... (more)
At the end of WWII, Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France, suffers from unexplainable symptoms and is admitted to a military hospital. When doctors suspect schizophrenia, an eccentric psychoanalyst takes up the case and starts a ... (more)
The Robber Bride (2007)
Journalist Zenia Arden has disappeared. When her finger turns up on the shores of Lake Ontario next to her blood-soaked car, the police believe they've uncovered a homicide. (more)
Journalist Zenia Arden has disappeared. When her finger turns up on the shores of Lake Ontario next to her blood-soaked car, the police believe they've uncovered a homicide. (more)
Take This Waltz
(2011)
Twenty-eight-year-old Margot is happily married to Lou, a good-natured cookbook author. But when Margot meets Daniel, a handsome artist who lives across the street, their mutual attraction is undeniable. (more)
Twenty-eight-year-old Margot is happily married to Lou, a good-natured cookbook author. But when Margot meets Daniel, a handsome artist who lives across the street, their mutual attraction is undeniable. (more)
Fire Song (2015)
Shane, a gay Anishnabe teenager in Northern Ontario, is struggling to support his family in the aftermath of his sister's suicide. If he fails, he will be forced to choose between his family's home and his own future. (more)
Shane, a gay Anishnabe teenager in Northern Ontario, is struggling to support his family in the aftermath of his sister's suicide. If he fails, he will be forced to choose between his family's home and his own future. (more)
Mouthpiece (2019)
Based on a stage play of the same name by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, the story follows Cassandra, who is portrayed by the two women, expressing the opposing voices that exist inside the modern woman's head, during a 48-hour period as she tries to organize the ... (more)
Based on a stage play of the same name by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, the story follows Cassandra, who is portrayed by the two women, expressing the opposing voices that exist inside the modern woman's head, during a 48-hour period as she tries to organize the ... (more)
Bogus
(1996)
Recently orphaned, a young boy is taken in by his godmother who is shocked to realize that she can see the boy's imaginary friend: a flamboyant, French magician named Bogus. (more)
Recently orphaned, a young boy is taken in by his godmother who is shocked to realize that she can see the boy's imaginary friend: a flamboyant, French magician named Bogus. (more)
Akilla's Escape
(2021)
In a crime-noir about the urban child-soldier, Akilla Brown captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery. Over one gruelling night, Akilla confronts a cycle of generational violence he thought he escaped. (more)
In a crime-noir about the urban child-soldier, Akilla Brown captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery. Over one gruelling night, Akilla confronts a cycle of generational violence he thought he escaped. (more)
ONE NINE (2021)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, nine filmmakers isolating in different parts of the world join to make a film. A 9-chapter anthology, this collection created by women filmmakers from South Africa, Germany, Spain, China, United States, and across Canada. ONE(NINE) is ... (more)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, nine filmmakers isolating in different parts of the world join to make a film. A 9-chapter anthology, this collection created by women filmmakers from South Africa, Germany, Spain, China, United States, and across Canada. ONE(NINE) is ... (more)
The Diviners
Morag Gunn (Sonja Smits), a writer who is having trouble with her teenage daughter, examines her own relationship history, which includes a period of turbulence with Jules (Tom Jackson). While she and Jules have known each other since childhood, he is no rock of ... (more)
Morag Gunn (Sonja Smits), a writer who is having trouble with her teenage daughter, examines her own relationship history, which includes a period of turbulence with Jules (Tom Jackson). While she and Jules have known each other since childhood, he is no rock of ... (more)
Heritage Minutes: Tommy Prince (2005)
A eulogy is given for Tommy Prince, Canada’s most-decorated Indigenous war veteran. (more)
A eulogy is given for Tommy Prince, Canada’s most-decorated Indigenous war veteran. (more)
Rehab
A First Nations man takes a famous actor back to the reserve to help him cope with his drug addiction. (more)
A First Nations man takes a famous actor back to the reserve to help him cope with his drug addiction. (more)