Independent filmmaker Helene Klodawsky is passionate storyteller committed to portraying political and social struggles, as well as to exploring the documentary art form. Her work, spanning over thirty-five years, is screened, discussed and televised around the world in venues as diverse as New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Kenyan refugee camps.

Helene is known for poignant, daring films such as Undying Love (2002), which explores stories of romance and marriage that emerged from the Holocaust, No More Tears Sister (2004) about a slain Sri Lankan human rights activist and Family Motel (2007) a riveting alternative drama about Canadian immigration and homelessness. Malls R Us (2009) artfully deconstructs the global shopping mall. In Come Worry With Us! (2013) Helene followed the Canadian music cult sensation Thee Silver Mt. Zion, confronting the complexities of economic precarity, political engagement and gender. Grassroots in Dry Lands (2015), a cinéma vérité feature, takes us into low income, “off the radar” Middle East neighbourhoods, where a network of social workers strives to transform despair into hope – one family at a time.  From Janet With Love (2017) a digital photo-essay, follows the love story of a Filipina immigrant and care worker.  The Invisible, Everywhere ( 2019)  is a short essay, web based project on the global crisis of care.  Painted Landscapes of the Times (1986) a documentary short on the influential political artist Sue Coe, was restored and re-released in 2021. 

In 2022 director writer Klodawsky is once again joining forces with Intuitive Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada to create a new a feature documentary, LTC (working title) on long term care.

Her work has received awards and nominations from the Academy of Canadian Cinema, Hot Docs, Les Rendez-vous du Cinema Québécois, World Press Photo Festival, the Jerusalem International Film Festival, and the San Francisco International Film Festival, to name a few.  Reviews and articles about her work have appeared in numerous publications, including the Globe and Mail, National Post, New York Times, Newsweek International, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, La Presse, Le Devoir, Nouvelle Observateur, The Independent, BBC News Service, Asian Tribune, Art in America, and Art Forum.  Helene’s films appear in university curricula worldwide.

A graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Klodawsky is a member of Doc Organization, the Writers Guild of Canada, Film Fatales and Réalisatrices Équitables.  Helene and her partner live in Montreal. They have two daughters.

Contact:                         heleneklodawsky@gmail.com