Thirza Cuthand
Thirza Jean Cuthand was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up in Saskatoon. Since 1995 they have been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, youth, love, and race, which have screened in festivals internationally, including the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, Mix Brasil Festival of Sexual Diversity in Sao Paolo, Hot Docs in Toronto, ImagineNATIVE in Toronto, Frameline in San Francisco, Outfest in Los Angeles, and Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in Germany where their short Helpless Maiden Makes an ‘I” Statement won honourable mention. Their work has also screened at galleries including the Mendel in Saskatoon, The National Gallery in Ottawa, and Urban Shaman in Winnipeg. They completed their BFA majoring in Film and Video at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and their Masters of Arts in Media Production at Ryerson University. In 1999 they were an artist in residence at Videopool and Urban Shaman in Winnipeg, where they completed Through The Looking Glass. In 2012 they were an artist in residence at Villa K. Magdalena in Hamburg, Germany, where they completed Boi Oh Boi. In 2015 they were commissioned by ImagineNATIVE to make 2 Spirit Introductory Special $19.99. In the summer of 2016 they began working on a 2D video game called A Bipolar Journey based on their experience learning and dealing with their bipolar disorder. It showed at ImagineNATIVE and they are planning to further develop it. They have also written three feature screenplays and sometimes does performance art. They are of Plains Cree and Scots descent, a member of Little Pine First Nation, and currently reside in Toronto.
Videography
2020, 05:00 minutes, colour, English
2020, 09:33 minutes, colour, English
2019, 09:24 minutes, colour, English
2018, 11:00 minutes, colour, English
Thirza Cuthand is an Indian Within the Meaning of the Indian Act
2017, 08:56 minutes, colour, English
2017, 04:21 minutes, colour, English
2017, 04:56 minutes, colour, English
2 Spirit Introductory Special $19.99
2015, 04:47 minutes, colour, English
2013, 07:38 minutes, colour, English
2012, 09:32 minutes, colour, English
2012, 03:33 minutes, colour, English
2010, 53:00 minutes, colour, Cree and English
Thirza Cuthand Compilation - for educational sales
2008, 42:00 minutes, B&W/colour titles, English
2008, 03:17 minutes, B&W/colour titles, English
2008, 08:09 minutes, B&W, English
2004, 09:00 minutes, colour, English
1999, 09:30 minutes, colour, English
Helpless Maiden Makes An "I" Statement
1999, 06:00 minutes, colour, English
1999, 13:54 minutes, colour, English
1998, 04:14 minutes, colour, English
1997, 02:30 minutes, colour, English
Working Baby Dyke Theory: The Diasporic Impact of Cross-Generational Barriers
1997, 06:00 minutes, English
1996, 05:00 minutes, colour, English
1995, 03:00 minutes, Colour, English
Critical Writing
by . Toronto: V tape, 2014.
by . Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans in Film, 2011. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011.
by and . NOW, Oct. 9, 2008, v. 28, no. 6.
by . Xtra!, Oct. 14 Fall, 2004, no. 521.
by . Video Primer, 2001. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2001.
Born Under Surveillance, 1998. Vancouver: Video in Studio, 1998.