I will never forget the impact, personal and political, when almost twenty years ago, I encountered an exceptional body of work at the NFB. These were the feminist films produced primarily out of the renowned Studio D and they would become an integral part of my work in the women’s movement. Many of the films were ground breaking in that they provided us with a vision of what a society dedicated to justice could be.
Negative cutters Marion Meadows and Glenn Borbridge use a 4-way synchronizer. The 4 films (visual, music, commentary, sound effects) are matched so that all come in their proper places in final print. (1946)
Animator Evelyn Lambart in her studio in the 1950s. Working first alongside Norman McLaren, Lambart later developed her own unique animation style, often combining stop motion with paper cut-outs.
Studio D filmmaker Beverly Shaffer (at the camera) on the set of I’ll Find a Way, her Oscar®-winning doc about Nadia, a little girl with spina bifida who wants to attend a regular school despite knowing other kids will mock her. (1976)
Filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin at the NFB. Since joining the NFB in the late 1960s, Obomsawin has tirelessly worked to give Canada’s Aboriginal people a voice, one hard-knocking documentary after another.
Editor, producer Studio D founder Kathleen Shannon at the NFB. Created in 1974, with the mandate to make films by, for and about women, Studio D oversaw the production of over 125 films – including 3 Oscar® winners – before closing its doors in 1996.
Filmmaker Bonnie Sherr Klein at the NFB. Sherr Klein was part of both Studio D, where she directed the anti-porn doc Not a Love Story and Challenge for Change, the NFB’s iconic citizen media project.
Tahani Rached at the NFB. A staff filmmaker between 1981 and 2004, Egypt-born Rached directed tough, unabashed docs about the Third World, immigration and exclusion, exposing injustice, poverty and suffering both at home and abroad.
Filmmaker Loretta Todd, on set. A central figure in what might be called the second wave of Aboriginal directors, Todd has directed srong docs addressing Native issues, from residential schools to Aboriginal veterans.
On the set of Goddess Remembered (1989). Directed by Studio D’s Donna Read, this doc pays homage the goddess-worshipping religions of the ancient past.
Studio D Filmmaker Cynthia Scott (right) on the set of The Company of Strangers, a film both heart-warming and radical about 7 elderly women – all non-professional actors – stranded at a deserted farmhouse.
Norma Bailey on the set of The True Story of Linda M (1995). A prolific filmmaker, Bailey notably produced and co-directed Daughters of the Country, a historical drama series about Métis women in Canada.
Anne Claire Poirier on the set of Tu as crié LET ME GO (1996). Her doc about the murder of her daughter Yanne. A celebrated filmmaker, Poirier was the first French Canadian woman to ever direct a feature film: De mère en fille, shot in 1967.
Filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz, on the set of Me and The Mosque. Nawaz, who uses comedy to explore the rapport between Muslims and their neighbours in contemporary North America, is the writer behind the hit CBC television show Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Animator Michèle Cournoyer at work. Through a body of work centered on confrontational relationships between men and women, Cournoyer addresses themes as deep and varied as incest (The Hat), sexual desire (Accordion) and the impact of war on women (Robes of War).
Filmmaker and web creator Katerina Cizek. An innovative mind working across many platforms, Cizek has documented the digital revolution and indeed become part of it. Her most recent undertaking is HIGHRISE, an interactive doc about vertical living in the global suburbs.
Léa Pool on the set of Pink Ribbons, Inc., her doc on the industry of breast cancer fundraising. Through her oeuvre, mainly composed of fiction works, Pool deftly tackles the topics of love, homosexuality and search of meaning.
Animator Martine Chartrand in her NFB studio. Celebrated for animated shorts that marry paint-on-glass technique and social commitment, Chartrand is the director of Black Soul, winner of 22 awards, including the Golden Bear for best short film in Berlin.
Actress, screenwriter and filmmaker Sarah Polley (with camera) and producer Anita Lee on the set of Stories We Tell (2012), a courageous film about Polley’s immediate family and a big secret that haunted it for years.
Women in Animation: Facts and Perceptions
by animation producer Julie Roy
The Oscars® recently won by Suzie Templeton (Peter and the Wolf, 2006) and Torill Kove (The Danish Poet, 2006) suggest that women now occupy a privileged place in the world of animation. The Cristals won in Annecy by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis (When the Day Breaks, 1999), Suzie Templeton, Michaela Pavlatova (Tram, 2012) and Regina Pessoa (Tragic Story with a Happy Ending, 2005) give the same impression. Yet did you know that, since 2000, fewer than 20% of short films selected for official competition at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival have been by women?
Women and Film: A tribute to the female pioneers of the NFB
By Marc St-Pierre, Collection Curator
At the time of the NFB’s founding in 1939, there were no women on staff. But as the Second World War intensified and founder John Grierson was faced with the prospect of a long conflict and large numbers of male employees leaving for the European front, he brought women into the Board. In a 1968 interview, Grierson stated that women made up “the other half” of the NFB’s creative workforce during the War. While it is certainly true that women were a creative force, they certainly were not half the staff. At most, they made up 20 percent of the production team – and very few played key creative roles…
