Ajuawak Kapashesit

Ajuawak Kapashesit

EXPERIENCE

Contributing Writer                                                                                 Tallboyz (CBC) Season 2-3

SELECTED WRITINGS

The Walking Red (Co-written with Jenn Hall) (Short Play – Comedy)
For two mixed blood people, not being seen as ‘Real Indians’ has its advantages during a zombie apocalypse where the infected begin to consume anything they see as native. Performance: New Native Theatre National Ten Minute Play Festival, New Native Theatre, St. Paul, MN, 2016; Audio Version 2020

Rites of Passage (Short Play – Comedy)
The Native male actor experience is given a spotlight when one receives an ultimatum by a production: cut his hair or miss out on his big break. Performance and Award Finalist: Native Voices Seventh Annual Short Play Festival, The Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA, 2017

Caleb (Short Film – Drama)
Based upon a feature in development, Caleb searches for a runaway cult member when he comes across a figure from his past who has been helping other victims escape. Premiered at the Canadian Film Centre Actors Conservatory Showcase, Toronto, ON, 2020.

Seeds (Co-Written with Morningstar Angeline) (Short Film – Dramedy)
Two young sisters try to process the recent passing of their parents while figuring out how to move forward through life’s challenges, including a potential pregnancy. Funded by Vision Maker Media, currently in post-production.

Untitled Sandpiper Documentary (Short Documentary)
This short doc focuses on the Water Protectors who helped defeat the Sandpiper Pipeline in Northern Minnesota and their return to the territory to help combat Line 3. Funded by the Climate Advocacy Lab, currently in post-production.

EDUCATION

CBC Actors Conservatory (2019) – Canadian Film Centre
National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation (2018) – Pangea World Theater/Prof. Izumi Ashizawa
National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation (2017) – Pangea World Theater
Intro to Creative Writing (2010) – Macalester College/Prof. Peter Bognanni

AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS

Indigenous Film Opportunity Fellow (2018) – Sundance Film Institute
Jay Switzer Indigenous Creator Award (2019) – Comweb Group/Whites
Vision Maker Media Short Film Fellow (2020) – Vision Maker Media
4th World Indigenous Media Lab Fellow (2021) – Nia Tero

Ajuawak Kapashesit is an actor, director, and writer for the stage, film, and television. As a writer, his plays have been performed at theatres in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. In 2018, Ajuawak was chosen as an Indigenous Film Opportunity Fellow with the Sundance Film Institute and was a finalist for their 2018 Native Filmmakers’ Lab. In 2019, he was a story editor on the second season of the CBC sketch comedy series TALLBOYZ, and is currently working as a contributing writer on season 3. His short story, A FRESH START, was a finalist at the Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Short Story Contest in 2019. Ajuawak is an alumnus of the CBC Actor’s Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre where he wrote and starred in the short CALEB (2020). He is also an alumnus of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota where he studied Linguistics and Hispanic Studies. He is of Ojibwe, Cree, and Jewish descent.