Actor, writer, director and filmmaker, Mieko Ouchi trained at U of A’s BFA Acting Program, Women In the Director’s Chair Program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and the National Screen Institute.
Mieko wrote/directed the award-winning documentaries Minor Keys (NFB/CBC’s The Nature of Things), Shepherd’s Pie and Sushi (NFB), as well as shorts: Assembly, Paper Cut, By This Parting and Samurai Swing which have screened at over thirty festivals across North America and Europe. Other writing includes the feature script Saffron for Vision TV’s DiverseTV Program and 3 episodes of X-Weighted for Slice. She has been nominated six times for Outstanding Director or Fringe Director at the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Theatre Awards in Edmonton, winning for 2000’s Slowly, An Exchange Is Taking Place.
Film roles include Nori Sato in Global TV’s The Guard, The Orange Seed Myth and Other Lies Mothers Tell (AMPIA nomination for Lead Performance Female), Fear Itself, A People’s History of Canada, Trouser Accidents, For The Love of A Child, Two, Silent Cradle and the lead in Anne Wheeler’s MOW The War Between Us. Currently Artistic Director of Edmonton’s Concrete Theatre, she has performed at the Citadel, Workshop West, Northern Light, Alberta Theatre Projects, Lunchbox, Persephone, Prairie Theatre Exchange, The Globe, Tarragon, the Banff Centre and the National Arts Centre.
Mieko is the past president of the Alberta-based film co-op, FAVA, and the Edmonton International Film Festival.
Awards & Nominations
Minor Keys (short documentary)
2005 Nomination, Best Documentary, Best Director and Best Cinematography, AMPIA Awards
2004 Best Biography Documentary, Golden Sheaf Award for Yorkton Short Film Festival
The Red Priest (Eight Ways To Say Goodbye)
2004 Nomination, Governor General’s Literary Award, Best Drama
2003 Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal presented by the Lieutenant Governor General of Alberta for excellence in the arts
By This Parting
2000 Best Experimental Film, San Diego Asian Film Festival
2000 Best Experimental Film, Best Soundtrack, Golden Sheaf Awards, Yorkton Short Film Festival
1999 Nomination, Best Canadian Director of a Short Film, Vancouver International Film Festival
1999 Best Experimental Film, Canadian International Annual Film and Video Festival
1999 Best Film, Asian Canadian Excellence Award
1999 Best Experimental Film, Non-Dramatic Editing, Best of Festival Jury Prize, APMIA Awards
Samurai Swing (short)
2000 Nomination, Best Short Film, Ammy Award, U.S. Asian American Entertainment Awards
1999 Nomination, Best Director Non-Dramatic, Best Production under 60 min, AMPIA Awards