Film About
Jen Walden is a Yellowknife filmmaker and one of northern Canada’s most noted painters. Her unique eye for aesthetic detail and captivating storylines has resulted in 4 award-winning short films since her move into film and media in 2015. She now creates visually stunning full-length features with substance, character and heart.
Walden’s first feature film, Elijah and the Rock Creature was shot entirely on location in the Northwest Territories with a northern cast and crew. The film premiered at the Yellowknife International Film Festival in September 2018 and then went on to screen at the Whistler Film Festival, Julien Dubuque Festival in Iowa, FIFEM in Montreal and more. The film screened and was nominated for best Canadian Feature at RIFFA – the Regina International Film Festival, and it was awarded a bronze Remi Award at Worldfest Houston.
Walden’s first short film, Painted Girl, appeared on CBC’s Short Film Faceoff as one of nine national finalists in 2016. Follow-up Preserved took cinematography and editing awards at that year’s Dead North Film Festival. Her short film, Dal Segno, earned a Northern Lights Emerging Talent award from the Alaska International Film Awards as well as an award at Canada Shorts – Canadian and International Short Film Fest. Walden’s most recent short “Mother” was nominated for both best script, and best female actress at the 2020 Dead North Film Festival in Yellowknife. This newest short is currently being adapted into a full-length feature script.
In 2017, Walden became one of six women selected for the inaugural Academy Apprenticeship for Woman Directors run by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and in 2018 she was selected for WIFT -V screen and market preparation mentorship at the Whistler Film Festival. She has also been mentored by award winning director Marie Clements, working as a director’s shadow on her award wining film Red Snow. Walden has also worked with director/writer Kirsten Carthew as production designer and head of art on her award winning 2016 film The Sun at Midnight.