Martha Cooley

Martha Cooley (she/her) is a filmmaker and cultural worker based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Originally from Ontario, she is an alumnus of Dalhousie University and NSCC’s Screen Arts program. Martha is the current Executive Director of the Atlantic International Film Festival, a position she’s held since May 2022. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director of the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative for 10 years. She is a founding board member of the Light House Arts Centre, has sat on the boards of WIFT-AT and the Independent Media Arts Alliance, and is currently a member of the board of Screen Nova Scotia. Martha produced her first feature film, Murmur (2019), with writer-director Heather Young, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize for the Discovery Programme, was the Opening Night Gala at the Atlantic International Film Festival, and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance and a Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature. Their second feature, along with producer Britt Kerr, There, There, received production support through Telefilm Canada and will go to camera in the spring of 2023.