B.Sc., BFA (Hons), MA (in progress)
Curriculum Con/Instr. - SMPA, Student Liaison Convenor/Instructor
School of Motion Picture Arts
School of Motion Picture Arts - Motion Picture Arts Program
604.990.7868 ext. 7868
suzannefriesen@capilanou.ca
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), Film Production, Simon Fraser University, 2017.
Bachelor of Sciences, General Sciences, University of Manitoba, 2015.
Diploma in Professional Photography, Willis College, Prairie View School of Photography, 2011.
Bio
Suzanne Friesen (BFA, Simon Fraser University, 2017) is a Canadian/Polish cinematographer and filmmaker based in Vancouver, B.C. She is an Associate Member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC). Her work is recognized internationally and has exhibited at the Polygon Gallery, Sundance Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, Toronto International Film Festival, Cannes Marche du Film, Palm Springs Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival.
Most recently, Friesen was shortlisted for the Lind Prize in 2021 in recognition of her body of work in the visual arts, received a Leo nomination in 2022 in the category of Best Cinematography in a Motion Picture for the feature film Be Still, and, as a director, won Best Film at the Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival in 2022 and Best Canadian Filmmaker at the Toronto International Women Film Festival in 2023 for her film tu. In 2022, 2023, and 2024 she was nominated for a Teaching Excellence Award at Capilano University.
Friesen's cinematography and filmmaking career spans a broad range of productions, genres and creative techniques. Her film industry experience also extends to a variety of camera crew roles, specifically on film productions working with 16mm and 35mm. Whether working on shorts, features, animations, installations, narrative, hybrid, documentary, or commercial projects, Friesen most frequently collaborates with Canadian independent productions seeking unique, alternative and experimental approaches to the cinematic language.
Friesen's written and directed pieces explore the translation of inter-generational experience and memory through visual poetry imbued by formal qualities of artistic analog practices.
In my teaching practice, I seek to recognize and support a student's academic journey as one that is necessarily interwoven with the complex experience of personal growth, and through it, the discovery of their personal creative voice and vision.
Together in studio, we focus on learning the basics of optics, light, composition, camera and film equipment. I am also alongside the student as a fellow artist in development; guiding the intricate process of defining and deconstructing the creative vocabulary of cinematographic language.
I aim to help students gain confidence at the intersection where film equipment meets creative ambition, such that they may freely translate their ideas to the screen with meaning and intention.
CSC (Canadian Society of Cinematographers) Education Committee Member, 2024/2025
Nominee, Teaching Excellence Award, Capilano University, 2024.
tu, Best Canadian Filmmaker, Toronto International Women Film Festival, 2023.
Nominee, Teaching Excellence Award, Capilano University, 2023.
Be Still, Nominee, Best Cinematography in a Feature Motion Picture, Leo Awards, 2022.
Associate Member CSC (Canadian Society of Cinematographers), 2022.
Nominee, Teaching Excellence Award, Capilano University, 2022.
tu, Best Film, Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival, 2022.
Exhibitor at the Polygon Gallery, Short List Nominee, Philip B. Lind Prize, 2021.
tu, Best Poetry Short, Dreamer of Dreams Film Festival, 2021.
As The Smoke Rises, Best Cinematography, South Film and Arts Academy Festival, 2020.
Student Society Award, Simon Fraser University, 2017.
Bice Caple Award, Simon Fraser University, 2016.
Nominee, Philip B. Lind Prize, 2016.
Richard Patton Annual Undergraduate Scholarship, Simon Fraser University, 2016.
Smoke, Top Ten Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), 2015.
John Driftmier Memorial Award, Simon Fraser University, 2015.