Joella Cabalu

Joella Cabalu is a Filipino-Canadian documentary filmmaker based in Vancouver. Her films lay bare narratives about intimacies, identities, and relationships. It Runs in the Family (2015) was her first mid-length documentary as a producer and director, receiving Audience Choice Awards at the Seattle Asian Film Festival and Vancouver Queer Film Festival. Since then, she has developed a track record as a creative and collaborative producer working with emerging women directors on compelling short documentaries, including Biker Bob’s Posthumous Adventure (Lunenburg 2019), Do I Have Boobs Now? (Slamdance 2017), and FIXED! (DOXA 2017). Her most recent producer credit is the Telus supported short documentary On Falling which celebrated its World Premiere and a Best Short Documentary nomination at Tribeca 2020. Currently, she is producing her first feature documentary Back Home with support from the Telefilm Talent to Watch fund and leading the curated photography project First Photo Here with the National Film Board Digital Studio.