May 2010
 Marie-Hélène Cousineau has been integral to the development of women's video in Igloolik, Nunavut. In 1991, she founded Tarriaksuk Video Centre, with Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn, and Arnait Video Productions, the first women’s collective independent production company in the Arctic, with Mary Kunuk and Madeline Ivalu. Cousineau produces and directs works with Arnait, including the personal documentary Unakuluk, Dear Little One and collaborative works with Mary Kunuk. Cousineau wrote the screenplay for and, with Madeline Ivalu, co-directed Before Tomorrow, Arnait’s first feature film, produced as the third of a ground-breaking cinema trilogy by Igloolik Isuma Productions. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Best Canadian First Feature award. In 2010 it was nominated for nine Genie awards, including a nomination for Best Director. She also coordinated the Nunavut tour of Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first film of the trilogy, and was the still photographer for the film.
Cousineau served as consultant in the development of the Nunavut Film Commission. From 2002 - 2004, she was the vice-president of Ajjitt, the Nunavut Filmmakers Association. She has also sat on the board of Studio XX, a feminist art organization in Montreal. Cousineau has taught media courses at the Collège Jean de Brébeuf and Concordia University in Montreal. Cousineau's video Women in Black won the Alcan Best Documentary Award at the Festival international du jeune cinéma de Montréal. She received an MFA in Communication Studies and Production from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and an MA in Art History from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She received a BA in Art History from Université Laval in Québec City, Québec. In addition to video production and teaching, Cousineau works as a freelance journalist for Radio Canada International and newspapers such as Nunatsiaq News and La Presse. Cousineau was born in Montreal, the city where she currently lives.
"I was in the North, people were really fun to work with
, they were interested, I was curious, we got along and there
you go!"
Screened by NMAI
Image credit:
Marie-Hélène Cousineau - courtesy of the filmmaker
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