TELLING STORIES

Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin is an award-winning Cree filmmaker, writer, scholar, and educator. She is a member of Attawapiskat First Nation in the MoshKeKoWok Territory (Northern Ontario). A member of the Directors Guild of Canada, she is dedicated to creating Indigenous-led stories that honour relationships, community, and the responsibilities inherent in carrying stories forward. Her doctoral research, MooNaHaTihKaaSiWew: Unearthing Spirit, explored Indigenous documentary practices, storytelling protocols, and positionality through an InNiNeWak (Swampy Cree) lens.

Since time immemorial, the peoples of MoshKeKo AsKi have shared stories across generations. InNiNeWak storytelling is a living practice that carries cultural knowledge, values, protocols, ceremony, and our relationships to one another, the land, and spirit. Storytelling is also an act of preservation and resurgence, protecting our histories, affirming our presence, and ensuring that Indigenous experiences are represented with integrity both on screen and beyond.

Through her interdisciplinary media arts practice, Jules works across film, documentary, photography, creative writing, and installation. Grounded in her ancestral connections to MoshKeKo AsKi, her work is guided by InNiNeWak teachings and the belief that stories are living entities. Through these stories, she honours the voices of her Ancestors while creating pathways for future generations to see themselves reflected in the stories we tell.