Monica Cheema (she/her) is a filmmaker raised on the lands of the Katzie, Semiahmoo and Kwantlen Nations. She works at the intersection of cultural research, harm reduction, community organizing, and arts education. Her most recent short film is an experimental portrait of Paldi, a historic mill settlement often described as a ghost town on the East Coast of Vancouver Island, now home to a rich community archive housing stories about labor, loss, discrimination, cultural memory, and resilience. Monica is most excited by new media works that transgress traditional film genre conventions, threading fiction and non-fiction to create something new and surreal in the process. She is incredibly grateful to be currently participating in & supported by DOXA's Kris Anderson Connexions mentorship, VIFF's Catalyst program, and Gallery Gachet's BIPOC New Media Screen cohort.