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 Jennifer Podemski was born and raised in Toronto, where she received extensive performing arts training. From 30 second television commercials and national public service announcements, to feature length films and prime time series, Jennifer has crafted every role with her distinctive trademark. Jennifer launched her on-screen career landing a variety of small roles which included Maniac Mansion (a YTV television series), CBC's Wonderstruck show and a two part made-for-TV movie, Conspiracy of Silence.
The eldest of three sisters, Jennifer, is daughter to an Israeli-born father and Canadian Aboriginal mother - truly a unique blend of tradition, religion and culture. In 1992, while in the process of completing a Kibbutz programme in Israel, Jennifer was hustled back to Toronto to accept the coveted supporting role of Pique in the made-for-TV adaptation of The Diviners, by famed Canadian author Margaret Laurence. With previous theatre programs at the Banff Centre already to her credit, Jennifer returned to Banff in February 1998, after being accepted as an actor in the Women in the Director's Chair Program. Throughout the calendar year, she continued to speak at Native Youth Conferences, providing a positive role model for youth across the nation.
Additional film and television credits include Annette Maangard's Fish Tail Soup; Norman Jewison's Bogus (with special training from Franco Dragone of Cirque du Soleil); Going Clean, directed by Akim Triebsch; and the recently completed independent feature, Short for Nothing. Theatre credits include the Baby Blues, staged at Pennsylvania Centre Stage and Sunraiser, staged at the Banff Centre. Jennifer received the Horizon Award for Outstanding Performance [American Indian Film Festival] and the James Bulier Award [Centre for Indigenous Theatre] as Female Performer of the Year.
Jennifer was appearing annually at the Aboriginal Achievement Awards, participating in theatre work-shops and performances at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and doing pre-recorded radio drama. In 1992 she auditioned for director Bruce McDonald, and competed for a principal role in a high-profile Canadian film project, Dance Me Outside, the feature film based on the W.P. Kinsella story. Produced by Norman Jewison and directed by McDonald, Jennifer personified the role of Sadie Maracle, a pivotal lead character. A year later she would recreate the same character for a television adaptation, The Rez. Jennifer's characterization delivered not only a Gemini Award Nomination for Best Actress in a dramatic series, but also a Dreamspeakers Award for best performance in a lead role.
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