Born in Igoolik, Nyla Innuksuk spent much of her childhood in Iqaluit, Nunavut before moving to Southern Ontario. In 2009 she graduated from Ryerson University with a degree in film production. She continued her studies in 2019 when she joined the Department of Theatre and Film through the Geoffrey & Margaret Andrew Fellowship.
After obtaining her undergraduate degree, Innuksuk began working as a producer at the Aboriginal-owned Big Soul Productions from 2009 to 2015. She directed the short documentary, Breaths (2016), which explored cultural shifts in Inuit life in the last 50 years. She also worked as a writer/director on the short film Kajutaijuq: The Spirt That Comes (2014). The film was met with praise at the Toronto International Film Festival and was listed as one of Canada's Top Ten Short Films in 2014.
Her first feature length film, Slash/Back (2022) premiered at the South by Southwest Festival. It was the first feature length film ever shot in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.
Innuksuk is the CEO of Mixtape, which produces virtual and augmented reality content. She has also worked for Marvel Comics, co-creating Snowguard, a member of Marvel's Champion League and the first superhero from Nunavut.
As well as working on her second feature, Nyla is currently working on a short horror film that will be shot with eight cameras and will be shown on a 270 degree, 24K screen at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
Currently living in Toronto, she sits on the Board of Directors of Ontario Creates and the Gould Foundation. She is an ambassador for the Northern Indigenous Film Funding Northway and was the 2018 imagineNATIVE artist in residence.
Filmography:
Slash/Back (2022)