Filmmaker of the Month - May 2024 - Marie Clements

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1 What are the specific qualities that, in your opinion, make a film great?

I started as a writer, and I’ve always believed that the quality of writing is what sets a film apart from others. It’s not just the craft of it but the voice of the story and the energy of  it. A great script and a great story allows directors, actors, and all the creative leads to be able to see it and feel it, and I think it ignites their creative minds in a different way rather than beginning by problem-solving. The challenge then becomes how to be responsible to the story, creating up to the story which is exciting and sets a bar.  

2. What’s harder? Getting started or being able to keep going? And what drives you to continue making films?  

For many independent filmmakers, it’s almost the same thing. You are always starting from ground zero. I guess the difference is that you’ve done it before and know that you can. The drive is the story. There are so many stories that haven’t been told, so many stories that haven’t been allowed to be told, and there is so much out there that is set in motion to separate us. Film allows us to connect even despite ourselves. It allows us to feel and see another perspective in the world, and I think this is the real power that this simple act as a human being can and does create dialogue, a curiosity about something other than what we know. A film can become an experience and an invitation to change.  

3. How do you know when your story’s finished and when to walk away?

I’m usually the very first person on a story and the very last to walk away and I don’t necessarily believe I am the one to walk away. I feel the story does. It takes on its own life.  That said, it’s a very long process, and the business of it all dictates a lot of it, though it doesn’t dictate the depth of what you put in, or the intensity you put in, or the passion in which you do so. When you take a story that is from inside you, write it, raise money so it can happen, direct it, assemble the best producing and creative teams, hire the best performers and editing teams, shoot it despite all challenges, and edit it for months. You can see the cells of a story. You can see the extraordinary will and talent of everyone’s contribution. So, in many ways, I know a story is finished when I have absolutely nothing left to give, and I also know it’s just beginning… 

4. What is your favorite aspect of film production? 

I love every aspect of film production, but there is something outrageous about getting a green light and being able to make it happen. Before this, it feels like you are living with the project like you live with a dream – it’s real to you, but it can only be true when it goes into production. Every aspect has a kind of energy that is unique and demanding, but carving a story for years and then being able to tell it ignites a new reality and possibility.  

5. What are the next project or projects you are beginning work on?

I am working on a number of projects on my slate, including a feature film titled Tombs that looks at the social and political movements that were happening in the 70s in L.A. and how that impacts three Native sisters who have been separated from each other, a Native Western limited series inspired by true events, and a three-part music doc series that looks at how Native women lost their authority and how they are reclaiming their rightful place.

Official Film Handles: Bones of Crows

Marie Clements – Writer/Director/Producer:

MARIE CLEMENTS 

A renowned writer, director, and producer whose decorated career has spanned film, TV, radio, and live performance. Marie’s current slate as director includes the NFB documentary feature Lay Down Your Heart (Audience Award at The Vancouver International Film Festival) and as a writer, director and producer, her feature film Bones of Crows, which premiered at TIFF 2022, opened VIFF, and has screened at over 34 film festivals worldwide, garnering over 60 nominations and 34 awards. The release of her mini-series by the same name on CBC/SRC and APTN was the highest watched dramatic premiere this fall and won Best International Series at Seriesfest in Denver. Her dramatic feature debut Red Snow received numerous awards, including Most Popular Canadian Feature at VIFF, Best Canadian Feature at EIFF, Best Achievement in Film at LA Skins Fest in Los Angeles and Best Director at the American Indian Film Festival and Best ProducBon, Best Director, and Best Writer at the Women in Film & TV Festival. Marie’s 2017 feature music documentary The Road Forward, produced by the NFB, premiered at Hot Docs, opened the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, closed the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, and received multiple awards for production, directing, and screenwriting.

Aside from her many film credits, nominations, and awards, Marie has been personally honored with nominations from the Writer’s Guild and the Directors Guild of Canada. She is also a recipient of the WFF Women on Top Award, the WIFTV Spotlight Impact Award, the 2019 Telefilm Canada Birks Diamond Tribute, the DGC Impact Award 2023 and the APTN filmmaker Award 2023 and has been nominated for two Governor Generals Awards (Burning Vision/Copper Thunderbird). 

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