James Motluk was born in Brockville Ontario. He is a Canadian filmmaker of Ukrainian descent. He graduated with a degree in Philosophy and English from Trent university in Canada. After working briefly as an assistant director for the CBC TV show Seeing Things, he produced and directed an indie feature titled Nasty Burgers, named by EYE Weekly magazine as one of the best underground films of 1994. After working as a writer for the TV series Road To Avonlea and the German Canadian co-pro Blauvogel, he produced and directed the feature documentary Life Under Mike which was funded by Oscar winning filmmaker Michael Moore and featured music by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan on the soundtrack. It also featured interviews with the late leader of the NDP, Jack Layton. In 2003, he directed Whose University Is It? about corporate influence on universities, followed in 2009 by Jajo's Secret, which explored the imprisonment of Ukrainians by the Canadian government during World War One. In 2011, he produced and directed his fourth documentary Living in the Shadow about the humanitarian relief effort in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
