Jesse Wente

Jesse Wente is a First Nations Canadian arts journalist and chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts. He is an Ojibwe member of Serpent River First Nation.

Background

Jesse Wente was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1974. His maternal grandmother Norma was Indigenous from the Serpent River First Nation.[1] His paternal grandparents were executives.[1] He attended the Toronto private school Crescent School.[1] He received funding from the federal government through the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (later Indspire)[1] to attend the University of Toronto where he studied cinema studies. He graduated in 1996.[2]

Career

Wente broadcast for CBC Radio One's Metro Morning on films and pop culture for 20 years,[3] and was appointed as chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts in 2020.[4]

An outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art,[5] Wente is active in a number of areas in the sphere of Canadian media.

He has been a culture critic with Metro Morning for more than 20 years and on CBC Radio One's national Unreserved program.[6][7] Wente is actively involved in Canadian film in a number of roles and is an advocate for increasing the presence of underrepresented voices.[8] He previously served as director of film programmes at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, where he oversaw theatrical, Cinematheque and Film Circuit programming.[9]

Wente was named as the first director of Canada's new Indigenous Screen Office in January 2018.[10][11] This program of the Canadian federal government is intended to support the development, production and marketing of Indigenous screen content and storytelling in Canada.[10]

He was appointed to the board of the Canada Council for the Arts in 2017 and became its chairperson in July 2020.[4] Previously, he served as director of the Toronto Arts Council.

Wente's memoir, Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance was published in September 2021.[12]

Awards

Authored books
  • Wente, Jesse. (2021). Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance. Allen Lane. ISBN 9780735235731[12]

References
  1. Wente, Jesse (2021). Unreconciled. Toronto: Penguin. p. 27.
  2. Kuprel, Diana (2 February 2018). "Indigenous Rights Advocate Jesse Wente: Turn your passion into your career". University of Toronto. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. "Jesse Wente". CBC. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. "Jesse Wente Appointed Chairperson of Canada Council for the Arts". Canadianart. 28 July 2020.
  5. "Board Members". Canada Council for the Arts. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. "iN18 Industry: Insider and Outsider: Developing New Collaboration Models". imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  7. "Jesse Wente - CBC Media Centre". Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  8. "Jesse Wente awarded first-ever Reelworld Reel Activist award". Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  9. "Jesse Wente | Broadcaster, Advocate & Diversity Speaker". National Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  10. "Jesse Wente appointed director of Canada's new Indigenous Screen Office". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  11. "Jesse Wente appointed Director of Canada's Indigenous Screen Office - eBOSS Canada". eBOSS Canada. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  12. "Unreconciled by Jesse Wente". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
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