Draft:Alison McAlpine

Alison McAlpine is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Vancouver, who now lives in Montreal. Originally a poet, playwright and theatre director. Alison moved into documentary filmmaking in 2005 with the film Second Sight, a mid-length film which screened at more than 35 international film festivals. BBC Alba and BBC 2 Wonderland commissioned her to make two different versions of Second Sight. Ghostman of Skye for Wonderland (2009), was “Pick of the Day” or “Critics Choice” in every major UK newspaper.

Cielo, McAlpine’s first feature film, premiered at the New York Film Festival Spotlight on Documentary in 2017. Released in its final version in 2018, Cielo has since been presented in over 300 international film festivals and cinemas, and has won several awards. Named as “One of the 10 best documentaries of 2018” by Esquire and “The best films of 2018…that you didn’t see” by The Guardian, Cielo has also been critically acclaimed by Variety, The Village Voice, The Globe and Mail, American Cinematographer, Roger Ebert, Le Devoir, NOW, among others.

McAlpine has taught documentary filmmaking at Toronto Metropolitan University and Harvard University. She was the 2020 Mordecai Richler Writer in Residence at McGill University where she also co-taught a course in documentary filmmaking. She was a 2021 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship.

Films

 * 2005: An Da Shealladh
 * 2008: Second Sight
 * 2009: Ghostman of Skye
 * 2018: CIELO
 * 2024: Perfectly a Strangeness

Awards and nominations

 * 2009: Special Jury Mention, Slamdance
 * 2018: American Cinematographer Award, Salem Film Fest, US
 * 2018: Premio Kinêma, SANFIC, Chile
 * 2019: Best Cinematography, Byron Bay International Film Festival, Australia
 * 2018: Creative Excellence Award, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Canada
 * 2019: Audience Award, Best Full-Length Film, Trento Film Festival, Italy
 * 2019: Best Director, Patagonia Eco Film Fest, Argentina
 * 2019: Best Cinematography, BBK Mendi Film Bilbao, Spain
 * 2019: Four Prix Iris nominations at the 21st Quebec Cinema Awards: Best Documentary Film; Best Cinematography; Best Sound; Most Successful Film outside Québec