Métis filmmaker Gil Cardinal has passed away after a lengthy illness, aged 65.

Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Cardinal was known for tackling tough subject matter in his filmmaking such as cultural identity, substance abuse, and foster care.

Among Cardinal’s most recognized work is CBC miniseries Big Bear, starring Gordon Tootoosis and Tantoo Cardinal, which he directed in 1998 and for which he was nominated for a Gemini Award. Ten years earlier, in 1988, he won the Gemini Award for Best Direction for a Documentary Program for Foster Child, a National Film Board (NFB) doc charting the filmmaker’s search for his family roots.

In a variety of roles including researcher, writer, editor and freelance director, Cardinal spent much of his early career working for the NFB, and his other NFB credits include Children of Alcohol (1983), The Spirit Within (1990) and his exploration of fetal alcohol syndrome David with F.A.S., released in 1997.

That same year, he was recognized with the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Film and Television. As well, less than three weeks ago, he won the David Billington Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to Alberta’s production industry. The Gil Cardinal Legacy Fund was also established this year by a group of Edmonton filmmakers to support first-time Indigenous film or doc makers who are trying to get their demo produced.

Among Cardinal’s other CBC directing credits are Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis (1990) and half-hour drama Bordertown Café (1988), as well multiple episodes of North of 60 and The Rez. Cardinal also penned the pilot for Blackstone in 2009, and in 2003 his film Totem: The Return of the G’psgolox Pole screened in TIFF’s Perspective Canada program.

See one of his docs, Foster Child, courtesy of the NFB website, below.

Foster Child by Gil Cardinal, National Film Board of Canada