Rose Stiffarm

Filmmaker, Artist, Educator

“I remember when Smoke Signals came out and my mom took us to the theatre to go see it and it meant a lot to see people who looked like us on all spots of the screen, not just some token or someone coming up saying HOW, it was people with depth, people with character and different emotions. That’s why representation is so important to me. ” Rose Stiffarm

Siksika, Cowichan, Saanich, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine

Instagram: @rosestiffarm

Biography

Rose Stiffarm is a Blackfoot Filmmaker, Artist, Educator, from the Siksika Nation, with family from Cowichan, Tsartlip, A’ninin, and Nakoda Nations. Ms. Stiffarm was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. From a young age, her dad would give her cameras to take pictures, and she would fight to make home movies with the VHS recorder. Rose made her first short documentary in an afterschool film program through Ijo Arts, and later became involved with Longhouse Media as a board member and youth film mentor. Rose moved to Vancouver, BC in 2009 to formalize her film training and to work in film and television. Rose Stiffarm is alumna of Capilano University where she received her Diploma in Indigenous Independent Digital Film, Certificate in Cinematography for Film & Video, and Bachelor Degree in Motion Picture Arts. In 2018, after working on a number of independent and industry film and television projects in BC and the US, Rose moved to Montréal to further advance her education. Rose Stiffarm is now a member of the Director’s Guild of Canada and working towards her Masters in Film Studies at Concordia University.