Ariella Pahlke

Ariella Pahlke is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, media artist, curator and teacher living in Terence Bay, Nova Scotia. For almost 30 years she has directed, written and produced feature documentaries, short films, installations and media projects that have been shown on television, at festivals, online, at community screenings and in galleries across Canada and in many countries. With a background in philosophy, women's studies and ethics, Ariella Pahlke does not shy away from asking difficult questions. She has extensive experience in facilitating collaborative projects, and the participatory process is central to her documentary approach. Her work is grounded in a subjective investigation of women's issues, diversity and equality. In an essay for the MSVU Art Gallery exhibition, Roots and Shoots, Kathleen Tetlock writes: "Her dynamism is a highly controlled vehicle for the provocation of chaos, which unerringly destabilizes the status quo." Her most recent project, Conviction (2019), created with filmmakers Nance Ackerman and Teresa MacInnes, is a feature film made in collaboration with women in prison, and those fighting on the front lines of the anti-prison movement. Ariella is the Atlantic representative on the Board of Directors of the Documentary Organization of Canada and is Vice President of DOC-Atlantic.