A member of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation and originally from Mashteuiatsh, Manuel Kak’wa Kurtness is a teacher by training and a multidisciplinary artist with deep roots in his Indigenous culture. In 2005, he exhibited a few paintings for the first time, and quickly gained notoriety when he won a distinction for artistic creation at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. One of the few Indigenous chefs, his creativity extended beyond the kitchen when he started hosting a 26-episode cooking show and authored an award-winning cookbook. Starting in 2021, Manuel trained with Wapikoni, which enabled him to make the films KAK, Transmission intergénérationnelle d’une famille ilnu, and UT: The silence of the canoes.