kourtney jackson

making films and figuring it out!

about    films    early works





Kourtney Jackson is a Toronto-based writer and filmmaker interested in hybridized, experimental forms of storytelling. As a self-taught filmmaker, she wrote, directed, and shot her first short film 1 vers[us] 1 in the spring of 2018. The film had its World Premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival where she won the Emerging Directors Spotlight Pitch Competition to fund and create her second film, Wash Day—an award-winning short documentary that indicted her as one of ten 2020 Sundance Ignite Fellows. She also served as a Story Editor in the second season development room of CBC Gem’s Next Stop, as well as the Story Coordinator/Writer for the second season development room of KindaTV’s Gay Mean Girls.

Outside of filmmaking, Kourtney continues her videography practice in theatre, integrating documentary media and community outreach to ideate accessible storytelling in the performance arts, particularly through Theatre Passe Muraille’s Accessibility Lab series.

Through film and other lens-based media, Kourtney continues to explore the nuances in her ethnic, cultural, and spiritual identity.


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Education

2016-18    Concordia University, BA Communication Studies 

Films

Wash Day (2020)

Festivals:

2021   Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Kassel, DE

2021   RIDM (Montreal International Documentary Film Festival), Montreal, QC

2021   CineFAM Film Festival, Toronto, ON

2021   Enguage Experimental Film Festival, Seattle, USA

2021   Queer City Cinema, Regina, SK

2021   Future of Film Showcase, Toronto, ON

2021   Columbus Black International Film Festival, Columbus, USA

2021    Fairytales Queer Film Festival, Calgary, AB

2021    International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, DE

2021    Black Film Festival Zurich, Zurich, CH

2021    Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, USA

2021    Dawson City International Short Film Festival, Dawson City, YT

2021    CineYouth Festival, Chicago, USA

2021    Reelout Queer Film Festival, Kingston, ON

2020    National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), Seattle, USA

2020    Black Femme Supremacy Film Festival, Baltimore, USA

2020    BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia, USA 

2020    Breakthroughs Film Festival, Toronto, ON 

2020    AfroPrairie Film Festival, Winnipeg, MB

2020    TIFF Next Wave, Young Creators Showcase, Toronto, ON

Screenings:

2021    TIFF Digital - Black Futures on Film, Black Canadian Shorts (VOD)

2021    Ignite x Adobe Shorts Screening, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, USA

2021    FEMTASTIC Film Club, Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA), Winnipeg, MB

2021    Hairstory Short Film Drive-In, African American Museum, Dallas, USA

2020    SKIN DEEP, Pleasure Dome, Toronto, ON

2020    Manifesto Festival, Toronto, ON

2020    Black History Month Programme, Civic Theatre, Nelson, BC

2020    All Things Hair, Plump! Sessions, London, ON

2019    what if media looked like us? london edition, sisterhood media, London, ON


1 vers[us] 1 (2018)

Festivals:

2019    Insomniac Film Festival, Toronto, ON

2019    Breakthroughs Film Festival, Toronto, ON

2019    AfroPrairie Film Festival, Winnipeg, MB

2018    Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto, ON

Screenings:

2021    Bring it Black: Films by Black Artists in Canada (VOD), Cinema Politica, Montreal,             QC

2019    DON’T @ ME, Black Artists Union, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON

2019    what if media looked like us? scarborough edition, sisterhood media,                                 Scarborough, ON

Awards

2021    Best Cinematography, Wash Day, Future of Film Showcase, Toronto, ON

2021    Best Short Documentary, Wash Day, Columbus Black International Film Festival,               Columbus, USA

2021    Best Experimental 2020 Award, Wash Day, CineYouth Festival, Chicago, USA

2020    Best Canadian Film, Wash Day, Breakthroughs Film Festival, Toronto, ON

2020    Audience Choice Award, Wash Day, Breakthroughs Film Festival, Toronto, ON

2018    Emerging Directors Spotlight Award, Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto, ON

Credits

Next Stop: Season 2 - Story Editor

Gay Mean Girls: Season 2 - Story Coordinator, Writer

IPHIGENIA AND THE FURIES (ON TAURIAN LAND), Saga Collectif and lemonTree Creations - Associate Producer

Residencies & Fellowships

2022    Silence Awareness Existence, Arteles Creative Center, Tampere, FI

2020-21    Fellow, Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, Park City, USA

2019    Resident, Black Women Film! Canada Leadership Program, Toronto, ON

Grants

2020    Sundance Ignite x Adobe Artist Grant, Sundance Institute, Park City, USA

2019    CUE Artist Grant, CUE Toronto, Toronto, ON

Exhibitions

2019    Stick It To The Man, Margin of Eras Gallery, Toronto, ON

Artist Talks & Panels

2021    Sundance Ignite x Adobe Shorts Screening, Q&A, Park City, USA

2021    Cartography and Hybridism of the Female Body, Art Without Borders - Black                     Brazil Art, Brazil

2020    Short Film Distribution Panel, sisterhood media at Bend Film Festival, Bend, USA

2020    What A Time To Be Black Artist Panel, Our Women’s Voices X Black Women With              Wings, Toronto, ON

Professional Activities

2021 -      Pleasure Dome - Board Director

2021 -     FEM Script Lab - Creative Producer

2020-21    Charles Street Video - Assistant Equipment and Programming Coordinator

2020-21    Youth In Focus, Ryerson Image Centre - Workshop Facilitator

2019-21    Accessibility Labs, Theatre Passe Muraille - Videographer





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