Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Born1986 (age 39–40)
Cardston, Alberta, Canada
Parents
  • Bjarne Store-Jakobsen (father)
  • Esther Tailfeathers (mother)
Awards
  • Skábmagovat Prize 2020[1]
  • Canadian Screen Award for Best Director 2019[2]
  • Rogers Best Canadian Film Award 2019[3]
Websiteelle-maija-tailfeathers.com

Elle-Máijá Apiniskim Tailfeathers (born in 1986[4]) is a Canadian filmmaker, actor, and producer.[5][6][7][8]

She has won several accolades for her film work, including multiple Canadian Screen Awards.[9][10][11] For co-directing The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, she shared the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director and the Toronto Film Critics Association's Rogers Best Canadian Film Award with Kathleen Hepburn.[2][3]

Early life

Tailfeathers was born to Bjarne Store-Jakobsen, a Sámi rights activist and journalist from Norway, and Kainai activist and doctor Esther Tailfeathers.[12][13] Her parents met at a global Indigenous peoples' conference in Australia, and married sometime after.[14] Tailfeathers was born in Cardston, Alberta, and grew up on the Blood 148 reserve.[15][11]

Career

Tailfeathers studied acting at the Vancouver Film School.[16] She then went to the University of British Columbia where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in First Nations studies and a minor in women and gender studies in 2011.[17][18]After acting for a period of time, Tailfeathers shifted her focus to filmmaking and began to work as a writer, director, and producer.[19]

Her work has garnered attention for its focus on women of colour and First Nations issues. Tailfeathers has worked in "mediums including narrative fiction, docudrama, documentary, mockumentary, and experimental film."[5] Her film projects are often staffed primarily with Indigenous cast and production members.[5]

One of Tailfeathers' primary focuses as a filmmaker is activism and social justice;[9] she approaches film as "a form of nonviolent direct action against issues like violence against women and degradation of Indigenous land."[17] Her film work and activism both focus on issues affecting Indigenous women and their communities.[17]

Bloodland

Bloodland (2011) is an experimental short film about fracking practices in Canada and across the world. It was made public on YouTube in 2013 in solidarity with the Idle No More movement. The short film uses metaphoric imagery of a woman being held down and drilled into. This project was funded by the Kainai Nation Chief and Council through a distribution cheque, and as a result was indirectly funded by the proceeds of various gas and oil companies as well as KRI Resources.[17] The film was well received at its premiere in Lethbridge and was the subject of a greater national debate regarding the practice of fracking in Indigenous lands.

The film was selected for the following film festivals:

  • Vancouver International Film Festival 2011[20]
  • ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival 2011[11]
  • American Indian Film Festival 2011
  • L.A. Skins Festival 2011
  • Tulsa International Film Festival 2011[21]
  • Yellowknife International Film Festival 2011[20]
  • Riddu Riđđu International Indigenous Peoples Festival 2011[21]
  • Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival 2011[22]
  • Skábmagovat Film Festival 2012
  • Vancouver Women in Film Festival 2012

A Red Girl's Reasoning

A Red Girl's Reasoning (2012) is a short film that was created in response to the growing numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. This film centres around a survivor of sexual assault and her quest to bring justice to the perpetrators of violence against Indigenous women. The film was the winner of the 2012 Vancouver Crazy8s Competition, where filmmakers were challenged to create a film in under eight days.[17][23]

Rebel (Bihttoš)

Rebel (Bihttoš) is an experimental documentary where a young woman (played by Tailfeathers) explores her complex "relationship with her father through an examination of family photos and the family lore surrounding her parents’ courtship and marriage."[5][24] Bihttoš combines "animation, re-enactments, and archival photos."[5]

Bihttoš first screened at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival in 2014.[25]

cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city

cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city (2017) is a feature film on the history of the land now known as Vancouver.[26] Made in partnership with Musqueam First Nation, the film was part of a larger exhibition in partnership with the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, the Museum of Vancouver, and the Musqueam Cultural Centre.[19]

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

Co-directed with Kathleen Hepburn, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open centres on the interaction between Áila (Tailfeathers), a middle-class Indigenous woman, and Rosie (Violet Nelson), a more impoverished First Nations woman who is a victim of domestic abuse, after they meet in the street. The majority of the film consists of one long, unbroken shot.[27]

The film premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival in the Generation program[28] and had its Canadian premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[29] It was nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture, and won three.[2] Tailfeathers shared the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director with Hepburn.[2] The film also won the Toronto Film Critics Association's $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.[3]

Awards and recognition

Tailfeathers received a Kodak Image Award, the mayor of Vancouver's Arts Award as an emerging filmmaker.[5] She was included in the CBC's "Young Indigenous Leaders: 5 Under 30 To Watch in 2015."[25]

Rebel (Bihttoš) was named one of the top ten short films at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[25] It was also awarded best documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2015.[6]

In 2017, Tailfeathers won a Canadian Screen Award for best lead actress in a dramatic program or limited series for her work in the CBC movie Unclaimed. The same year she also won an award for that performance at the Vancouver Women in Film Festival.[30]

At the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival, Tailfeathers and her co-director Kathleen Hepburn received the $25,000 Best BC Film Award for their film The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open. Tailfeathers also won the $17,500 BC Emerging Filmmaker Award.[31]

In 2020, Tailfeathers was awarded the Skábmagovat Prize, a Sámi film award, for contributions she has made to Sámi culture and communities.[32]

At the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022, she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress for her performance in Night Raiders and her documentary film Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy won the award for Best Feature Length Documentary.[33]

Controversy

At the 29th annual Toronto Film Critics Association awards ceremony, Tailfeathers was awarded Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Canadian Film, but she was not in attendance.[34] Her pre-taped acceptance speech had been edited at the ceremony, purportedly for length, but Tailfeathers alleged that the edit was made for political reasons, as the end of her speech contained supportive remarks about the Palestinian people.[34]

Unable to attend the ceremony in person, Tailfeathers' video message included the statement "my heart continues to be with the people of Palestine who are experiencing th[e] ongoing genocide and thank you to anyone in this industry who's been brave enough to say anything." Tailfeathers said that she was "disgusted and ashamed" by the Toronto Film Critics Association's decision to cut that portion of her speech. In an email sent to TFCA members, Tailfeathers condemned the organization for censorship and vowed to return her award. Tailfeathers added that she was not interested in receiving an apology, writing, "I do not know how this rupture can be repaired. The moral injury I carry with me cannot be undone."[35]

In response to her letter, Toronto Film Critics Association president Johanna Schneller said that Tailfeathers' speech had only been edited "to maintain the timing of the awards show" and not for political reasons, and that the decision was hers as president, but would nevertheless resign as the organization's president, writing, "In light of this outcome, I will be tendering my resignation."[35]

Personal life

Tailfeathers previously divided her time between Vancouver, the Blood 148 reserve in Alberta, and Sápmi territory in Norway.[9][17] She lives in Winnipeg.[36]

In 2011, she was arrested for participating in a peaceful blockade at the entrance of a drilling site in the Blood 148 reserve.[17]

Tailfeathers is queer.[37]

Filmography

Acting

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2008 Another Cinderella Story Amazonian model girl [11]
2016 Unclaimed Nikki Taylor [38]
2019 Blood Quantum Joss [39]
2019 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Áila Also co-director [27]
2021 Night Raiders Niska [40]
2022 Stellar Woman [41]
2022 Three Pines Isabelle Lacoste [42]
2024 Sweet Angel Baby Toni [43]
2025 The Abandons Oma Serra Recurring role [44]
TBA Sterling Point Kate Upcoming series [45]

Filmmaking

Year Title Role Ref.
2011 Bloodland Writer, director, producer [21]
2012 A Red Girl's Reasoning Writer, director [23]
2012 Colonial Gaze Sámi Artists’ Collective Co-writer, co-director [46]
2013 Hurry Up, You Stupid Cripple Producer, co-director [47]
2014 Rebel (Bihttoš) Writer, director, co-producer [48]
2017 cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city Director [19]
2019 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Co-director with Kathleen Hepburn [3]
2021 Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy Director [49]
2023 Little Bird TV series; co-director [50]

References

  1. ^ "Skábmagovat Prize to Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". Skábmagovat. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Scott, Katie (26 May 2020). "2020 Canadian Screen Awards winners: 'Mary Kills People,' 'Vikings' win big". Global News. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Toronto film critics award 'The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open'". CityNews Toronto. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Blackfoot filmmaker talks Sundance Institute honour, telling Indigenous stories". CBC News. 6 February 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Film Screenings: Banchi Hanuse and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  6. ^ a b Tailfeathers, Elle-Máijá Apiniskim (21 December 2016). "A Conversation with Helen Haig-Brown, Lisa Jackson, and Elle-Máijá Apiniskim Tailfeathers, with Some Thoughts to Frame the Conversation". Biography. 39 (3): 277–306. doi:10.1353/bio.2016.0038. ISSN 1529-1456.
  7. ^ Decolonization with Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Video). Indigenous Youth Wellness. 2 November 2016 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Dowell, Kristin L. (30 April 2015). "'The Future Looks Rad from Where I Stand': A Review of 'Claiming Space: Voices of Urban Aboriginal Youth' at the UBC Museum of Anthropology". Anthropologica. 57 (1): 239–246. ISSN 2292-3586.
  9. ^ a b c "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". BC Nurses' Union. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". Academy.ca. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  11. ^ a b c d Boyko, John (26 August 2025). "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  12. ^ Rasmus, Linnea (25 January 2020). "Čáhppesjuolgi-sápmelaš Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers oaččui Skábmagovat-bálkkašumi: 'Mun lean nu hirpmástuvvan, dat lea stuorra gudni'" [Blackfoot-Sámi Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers received the Skábmagovat Prize: "I am so surprised, it is a great honor"]. Yle Sápmi (in Northern Sami). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Sámi National Day//Sámi álbmotbeaivi | Scandinavian Cultural Center". Pacific Lutheran University. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Filming your family's past". CBC Radio. 31 July 2015.
  15. ^ Edwardson, Lucie (6 February 2018). "Blackfoot filmmaker talks Sundance Institute honour, telling Indigenous stories". CBC News.
  16. ^ "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". Future Pathways Fireside Chats. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Chiu, Joanna (Fall 2012). "Fracking fuels filmmaker: interview with Elle-Maija Tailfeathers". Herizons: 8.
  18. ^ "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". Faculty of Arts. The University of British Columbia. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  19. ^ a b c Exner, Dusty (8 September 2017). "c'əsnaʔəm: the city before the city : Interview with filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". CiTR: Discorder Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  20. ^ a b Bonar, Thane (4 November 2011). "Recent Graduate's Film Accepted into International Film Festivals". Indigenous Portal. The University of British Columbia. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  21. ^ a b c Fedosenko, Katie (31 August 2011). "Meet Elle-Maija Tailfeathers: Her film 'Bloodland' accepted into international festivals". Faculty of Arts. The University of British Columbia. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  22. ^ "Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival" (PDF). VIMAF. November 2011.
  23. ^ a b Quan, Danielle Ng See (22 February 2012). "Crazy8s announces short film competition winners". Playback. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  24. ^ "Native Cinema Showcase 2016" (PDF). Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  25. ^ a b c Bellrichard, Chantelle (25 January 2015). "Young indigenous leaders: 5 under 30 to watch in 2015". CBC News. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  26. ^ Furminger, Sabrina (24 December 2018). "Five Vancouver indie filmmakers who've got us excited about #BCFilm". Tri-City News. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  27. ^ a b Jason Asenap (24 June 2019). "No happy ending in 'The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open'". High Country News.
  28. ^ Clarke, Stewart (19 September 2018). "Berlin Film Festival: First Generation Section Films Unveiled". Variety.
  29. ^ Peter Howell (31 July 2019). "Indigenous films highlight Canadian slate at TIFF 2019". Toronto Star.
  30. ^ Takeuchi, Craig (13 March 2017). "Vancouver's Women in Film Festival awards On the Farm's Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Lutine, and more". Georgia Straight. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  31. ^ Bollwitt, Rebecca (9 October 2019). "VIFF 2019 BC Spotlight Gala Awards". Vancouver Blog Miss604. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  32. ^ Helander, Astrid (28 January 2020). "Skábmagovat-bálkkašupmi Elle-máijá Tailfeathersii". Ávvir (in Northern Sami). Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  33. ^ Bresge, Adina (10 April 2022). "Film 'Scarborough,' TV series 'Transplant' and 'Sort Of' top Canadian Screen Awards". CP24. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  34. ^ a b Nino Gheciu, Alex (4 March 2026). "Actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers returns award to Toronto film critics group, says her speech was censored". The Canadian Press. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  35. ^ a b Benzine, Adam (4 March 2026). "Canadian Actress Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Returns Toronto Film Critics Award in Response to Censorship of Pro-Palestine Speech". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  36. ^ Tracy, Andrew (14 November 2025). "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, David Errington join NSI board". Playback. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  37. ^ Canada Reads 2026: Day Two (Video). CBC. 14 April 2016. 30 minutes in – via YouTube.
  38. ^ Marchand, Francois (14 July 2016). "On The Farm: A story of survival". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 16 August 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  39. ^ Brown, Todd (5 April 2018). "Michael Greyeyes Anchors The Cast Of Jeff Barnaby's BLOOD QUANTUM". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  40. ^ Townsend, Kelly (22 October 2019). "Goulet's Night Raiders brings its dystopian world to Toronto". Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  41. ^ Grater, Tom (21 June 2021). "Indigenous Love Story 'Stellar' Begins Filming; John Landis Locarno Honor; Altitude Boards 'Wolf Creek 3' & 'Titane' – Global Briefs". Deadline. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  42. ^ Horton, Tom (2 September 2021). "Three Pines image offers glimpse of Alfred Molina as police detective". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  43. ^ Cutruzzola, Annemarie (16 August 2024). "TIFF Top 20: Our Most Anticipated Films at the 2024 Festival". SheDoesTheCity. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  44. ^ Cordero, Rosy (19 March 2024). "Kurt Sutter's Netflix Series 'The Abandons' Casts Patton Oswalt, Sarah Grace White, Michael Ornstein & Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Among 10". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  45. ^ Petski, Denise (8 September 2025). "'Sterling Point' Adds 4 To Cast Of Megan Park's YA Prime Video Series". Deadline. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  46. ^ "The Colonial Gaze Sámi Artists' Collective". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  47. ^ "New in this week's NSI Online Short Film Fest: Elijah the Prophet + five more films". NationTalk. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  48. ^ Takeuchi, Craig (6 April 2016). "Vancouver filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers' emotional memoir screens at the Reel 2 Real Film Fest". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  49. ^ Robb, Jessica (26 April 2021). "The meaning of empathy: Documentary examines the opioid crisis and community work being done on Blood Tribe". Global News. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  50. ^ Szklarski, Cassandra (19 July 2023). "'60s Scoop grief and Holocaust trauma entwine in limited series 'Little Bird'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
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