Jennifer Holness

Jennifer Holness, producer, screenwriter, director (born 1969 in Montego Bay, Jamaica). Jennifer Holness is the president and co-founder of Hungry Eyes Film & Television, which specializes in telling stories that engage with social issues and representations of Black Canadians. Her credits as producer include the award-winning Love, Sex, and Eating the Bones (2003), Home Again (2012), the Gemini Award-winning miniseries Guns (2009) and the award-winning feature documentary Stateless (2020).

Holness co-directed the NFB documentary Speakers for the Dead (2000) with Sutherland. The film, which examines a struggle to restore an African Canadian cemetery in Priceville, Ontario, displayed Holness’s commitment to challenging sanitized images of Canada. “I was raised in Canada, and I was acutely aware that my culture was not part of the historic context; that Black history was just not being taught,” she said in an interview during the film’s release. She has also asserted that “we can’t be smug about Canada's place in history when it comes to racism.” (See Racism; Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada.)

Her next production — and major breakthrough — was Sutherland’s feature directorial debut, Love, Sex, and Eating the Bones (2003). Starring Hill Harper as a photographer/security guard with a porn addiction, the fun and sexy film was a breakout hit at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF); its premiere sold out in half an hour thanks to early buzz. “Love, Sex And Eating the Bones may be the sexiest, funniest movie to come out of Toronto,” wrote NOW magazine’s Cameron Bailey. “True, there aren't a lot of auteurs lining up to take that title, but Bones is still a welcome hot breath in a pretty chilly film culture.” The film won the award for Best Canadian First Feature at TIFF; it was also named one of the Top 10 Canadian films of 2003 in a poll conducted by TIFF. It went on to earn three Genie Award nominations, including a Best Motion Picture nod for Holness.

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferholness/