Helene Klodawsky is a Montreal-based filmmaker who is motivated by a desire to shed light on the experience of people and subjects that mainstream entertainment overlook. A graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art, she has been writing and directing social, political and arts documentaries for 20 years. Klodawsky's films have been screened and televised around the world and have received more than 25 awards, including honours from the Chicago International Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Mannheim International Film Festival, Hot Docs and the Academy of Canadian Cinema.

Her 2004 film, No More Tears Sister: Anatomy of Hope and Betrayal, is an award-winning feature documentary about Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, the courageous human rights activist who was assassinated in her native Sri Lanka. The film circulated widely in the international festival circuit, from London's Human Rights Watch Film Festival and the Jerusalem International Film Festival to Hot Docs, and opened PBS's signature documentary series POV in 2006.

Motherland: Tales of Wonder (1994), a wry assessment of post-war North American motherhood, won top honours on the festival circuit, as have a trio of titles highlighting various aspects of women's lives: Painted Landscapes of the Times (1986), No Time to Stop (1991) and What If (1999).

Klodawsky has experience working in conflict zones. In 1988, immediately prior to the first intifada, she spent time in Israel and the Occupied Territories, filming Shoot and Cry (1988), an exploration of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict as seen through the eyes of two young men, an Israeli conscript and a Palestinian worker. Following its premiere on Channel 4in the U.K., it was televised around the world.

In the alternative drama Family Motel (2007). Klodawsky worked closely with housing activists and representatives of Ottawa's Somali community. This feature-length work follows Ayan, a refugee from Somalia, and her two children after they are evicted from their Ottawa apartment and end up in a motel for homeless families. There they are confronted with people and situations that will change their lives forever.