Chelsea McMullan is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, best known for their 2013 film '' My Prairie Home'', a film about

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

musician Rae Spoon."Interview with My Prairie Home Director Chelsea McMullan"
''

Filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

'', January 19, 2014. McMullan is non-binary, and uses they/them pronouns.

Early life

McMullan grew up in Langley, British Columbia as an avid basketball player. They received a basketball scholarship to play at Brookswood Secondary School and were scouted to play at the university level in Canada, but eventually decided to pursue an interest in film.

Career

McMullan's early film credits include the documentary films '' Derailments (Deragliamenti)'' and ''The Way Must Be Tried'', and the short films ''Plume'' and ''Bath Time''. McMullan has worked on several projects with the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. In addition to ''My Prairie Home'', their prior films ''Mise en Scène'' and ''Deadman'' were made for the NFB; they first met Spoon when they wanted to secure rights to one of Spoon's songs as background music for ''Deadman''. ''My Prairie Home'' competed in the World Cinema Documentary program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival,"Chelsea McMullan doc to compete at Sundance"
''

Playback Playback or Play Back may refer to: Film * ''Playback'' (1962 film), a British film in the ''Edgar Wallace Mysteries'' series * ''Playback'', a 1996 film starring Shannon Whirry * ''Playback'' (2012 film), an American horror film by Michael A. N ...

'', December 4, 2013. and was shortlisted for the

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...

for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards."Canadian Screen Awards: Orphan Black, Less Than Kind, Enemy nominated"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...

, January 13, 2014. McMullan's 2015 film ''

World Famous Gopher Hole Museum ''World Famous Gopher Hole Museum'' is a 2015 Canadian short documentary film directed by Chelsea McMullan and Douglas Nayler. The film centres on the Torrington Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, Alberta, a museum in which stuffed gophers are p ...

'' was shortlisted for the Canadian Screen Award for Best Short Documentary at the

4th Canadian Screen Awards Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. In 2022, McMullan and Tanya Tagaq collaborated on the film '' Ever Deadly''. The film '' Crystal Pite: Angels' Atlas'', profiling a dance work by ballet choreographer Crystal Pite, was also released in 2022. In 2023, McMullan released ''

Swan Song The swan song ( grc, κύκνειον ᾆσμα; la, carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful so ...

'', a documentary film profiling Karen Kain as she prepares to retire from her career in dance.Manori Ravindran
"Neve Campbell Boards TIFF-Bound Ballet Documentary ‘Swan Song’ as Executive Producer"
'' Variety'', July 25, 2023. McMullan's forthcoming projects include a documentary film, ''Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John'', and a narrative feature film, ''Swan Killer''.

References

External links

*
''Mise en Scène''
at NFB.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:McMullan, Chelsea Canadian documentary film directors Film directors from British Columbia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Langley, British Columbia (city) Canadian non-binary people Canadian LGBT film directors 21st-century Canadian LGBT people