Sonia Boileau is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

filmmaker belonging to the Mohawk Nation of the

Haudenosaunee Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

Biography

Sonia Bonspille-Boileau was raised between Oka, where her French-Canadian father hails from, and

Kanesatake Kanesatake () is a Mohawk (''Kanien'kéha:ka'') settlement on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains in southwestern Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers and about west of Montreal. People who reside in ''Kan ...

, the community of her Mohawk mother. Her 2010 film, ''Last Call Indian'', focuses on her personal connections to her Kanesatake, government intervention into Indigenous life, and her family's ties to the

Shingwauk Indian Residential School Shingwauk Indian Residential School was a Canadian residential school system, Canadian residential school for First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children that operated in Canada between 1873 and 1970 in Sault Ste. Marie, Onta ...

. Boileau is bilingual, and has created, directed, and produced works in both English and French.

Education

Bonspille-Boileau has received an extensive and well-rounded education in multiple facets of creative performance and film production. She honed her craft and acquired her first degree in dramatic arts from College Lionel Groulx. Shortly thereafter, she attended the Université de Montreal securing a minor in film studies. From here, she continued to round out her knowledge of film production at the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

at La Femis, scenography studies at Université de Quebec a Montreal and a bachelor's degree in film production at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Career

Boileau's debut feature, ''

Le Dep ''Le Dep'' is a 2015 Canadian psychological drama film directed by Sonia Boileau. Set in a fictional Innu community, the film's dialogue is mostly in French, with some Innu language, Innu-aimun. ''Le Dep'' is the first First Nations production of ...

'', was shot for under $250,000 from a grant provided by

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...

. The movie premiered at the 2015

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

. Boileau also took part in the 2016 Native Slam, working with Mike Jonathan, a Rotorua filmmaker, and Jeremiah Tauamiti. In 2017 she wrote and directed a short film called ''We'll Always Have Toynbee'' with Cheri Maracle and David Julian Hirsh which won Best Live Short at the 2018 American Indian Film Festival. Her sophomore feature film '' Rustic Oracle'', starring

Carmen Moore Carmen Moore (born 24 December 1972) is a Canadian actress known for her work in television. She is known for her role as Loreen Cassway on ''Arctic Air'' (for which she was nominated for a Leo Award in 2012) and the lead role of Leona Stoney, ...

, Lake Delisle and Kevin Parent. premiered at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival. Carmen Moore won Best Supporting Actress and Lake Delisle won Best Lead Actress at the 2019 American Indian Film Festival.

Accolades

In 2017, Boileau won the Women in the Director's Chair (WIDC) Feature Film Award. The funding from this award will support Boileau's work on her film ''Rustic Oracle.'' Boileau's Rustic Oracle project has also been invested in by Telefilm Canada. Boileau was awarded an Honourable Mention in the BC Spotlight and Canadian Images Awards for her feature film ''Le Dep'' for "telling the story of a whole community within one small, detailed space." Le Dep premiered at VIFF 2015, and was also screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2015, imagineNative 2015, Montreal's First Peoples Film Festival 2015, the 2015

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

, and received awards for best actress at the 2015

American Indian Film Festival The American Indian Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the world's oldest venue dedicated solely to Native American/First Nations films and prepared the way for the 1979 formati ...

and best narrative feature at the

Santa Fe Independent Film Festival The Santa Fe International Film Festival (SFiFF), formerly known as the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, is an American film festival held annually in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, Violet Crown Cinema, Center for C ...

in 2016. Boileau's 2010 documentary ''Last Call Indian'' received a nomination for best feature-length documentary at the 2011

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

, was nominated for best point-of-view documentary at the 2011

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

, was nominated for best music in a documentary and won the Diversity Prize both at the Gala des Prix Gémeaux in 2011. ''Mouki'', Boileau's French language children's series, was nominated for the best French children's program at the Rockie Awards, part of the 2011 Banff World Media Festival.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boileau, Sonia 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations women 21st-century First Nations people Canadian documentary film directors Canadian film actresses Canadian Mohawk actresses Canadian women documentary filmmakers Canadian women film directors Canadian women screenwriters Concordia University alumni Film directors from Quebec Canadian Mohawk filmmakers First Nations screenwriters Francophone Canadians Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Living people Mohawks of Kanesatake people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian Mohawk women writers Canadian Mohawk writers Screenwriters from Quebec