11. Kat Cizek: Making Everything From Scratch

Katerina Cizek is an innovative documentary storyteller who works across many media platforms. She’s currently the director of the National Film Board of Canada’s multi-year project entitled HIGHRISE, which examines life inside residential skyscrapers in suburbs around the world. Since it launched in 2009, HIGHRISE has generated interactive documentaries, mobile productions, live presentations, installations and films that have garnered Emmys, a Peabody, Webby Awards and recognition from the World Press Photo and IDFA Doc Lab, among others. On June 2, 2015, Kat and the NFB released the latest and final HIGHRISE project, “Universe Within,” that explores people’s digital lives online. In episode 11 of She Does podcast, Kat talks about her life growing up in Waterloo in the late 60’s, after her parents escaped the Russian invasion of what was then Czechoslovakia. About being at the frontlines of the Oka Crisis in Canada, a defining moment in her career and first-nations history. And her nearly 11-year relationship with the National Film Board of Canada through the Filmmaker in Residence and HIGHRISE projects. Kat helps us realize new ways to approaches technology in meaningful ways, and challenges us to evaluate our methods and ethics as storytellers. Our featured musicmaker this week is Audrey Ryan.