Film Categories: Work by Women

  • Light in Our Lizard Bellies, The

    Through choreography and performance by Susanna Hood, and editing and effects in exposure caused by hand-processing, “The Light in Our Lizard Bellies” reflects the intensities that discombobulate us as we go through change and face parts of ourselves previously denied or unknown. “A beautiful capturing of the triumph of the human spirit.” – Barbara Goslawski (Toronto film critic) “I have never seen a dance film work so magically. It is cinematic instead of just choreographic. The hand processing is rich, pushing the film past time. The texture and contrast do that poetic thing of transporting you. Transcendent.” – James Herbert…

  • After Morning

    Things the filmmaker forgot and learned about birth control on her trip to America.

  • Switch

    Set in 1949 Toronto, this film tells the story of Isabelle, a telephone operator who is leading a double life. She is having a clandestine affair with another operator, Alice, while her boyfriend Ricky is secretly making plans to elope with her to Niagara Falls. “Switch” is a camp forties-style thriller in which the desires of a lusty femme fatale lead to double-crossing, broken hearts and murder.

  • Larry’s Recent Behaviour

    One of Joyce Wieland’s earliest works, shot in 8mm and finally blown-up to 16mm, “Larry’s Recent Behaviour” has been described by Simon Field as an “irreverent and wilfully juvenile examination” of a nasty habit that Larry has recently acquired.

  • Chloe

    “Unfortunately, not a lot of research has been done on woman-to-woman transmission,” says the Planned Parenthood Counselor. Chloe is a lesbian who discovers that her ex-girlfriend’s ex-lover has tested HIV positive. Chloe is faced with the realization that though she knows the facts about AIDS, she never thought it posed a threat to her. This frightening scenario serves as a wake-up call to lesbians who haven’t thought enough about female-to-female HIV transmission.

  • Marquesa – Portrait of a Dominatrix, The

    This film sets the focus sharply on the often maligned and misunderstood world of sadomasochism. It gives us a glimpse into the life of the Marquesa, a Toronto Dominatrix who guides the audience on a journey through the SM community, its rituals and motivations. The marquesa explores and examines her own relationship to SM, and to the submissives that make the scenes possible. There is not a deliberate attempt to justify the practices of this unique sub-culture to the mainstream, but nonetheless, this piece and the Marquesa dismantle the myths and fallacies surrounding it by straightforward and frank talk. The…

  • Mothers of Me

    “‘Mothers of Me’ is a visually glorious, abstract study in which the filmmaker explores, partly out of fear, the women in her family, their history of insanity and their response to a repressive environment. Through the use of close-ups and fragmented composition we are compelled to participate in her examination.” – Stacey Donen, Toronto Intenational Film Festival, 1999 Awards: 2nd Prize Danzante de Plata, Festival de Cine de Huesca, Spain; Marian McMahon Award, Images Festival, 2001

  • One Small Step

    Set in South Carolina on the eve of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon walk, “One Small Step” is a dramatic comedy about a rambunctious 8-year-old tomboy, Ernestine “Teen” Miller. Taught by her parents that she can be anything she wants to be, Teen learns that there is one exception to this rule when she announces to her mother that she is determined to “marry” the neighbour girl. Told from the point of view of an extremely creative and self -confident young girl, the film is a visual mixture of Teen’s real family interactions juxtaposed against her fanciful daydream life. Teen’s…

  • Snailfingers

    On her immigration flight to Canada, Lailey, a young Iranian woman, encounters Snailfingers, an ancient aboriginal water-spirit. When Lailey and Snailfingers make contact, their stories become intertwined and unfold simultaneously. The drama chronicles a slice from the lives of Lailey and her sister Parvaneh, attending ESL school. Here Lailey meets Claire, the teacher’s assistant, a disillusioned lesbian of colour who represents the Sapphic voice. The secular lives of the three women are juxtaposed with Snailfingers’ spiritual existence. A poetic narrative presents glimpses of Snailfingers as she embarks on a healing quest. Several montages featuring water as the quintessential Yin element…

  • Rude Girls & Green Bananas

    A black comedy about the trials and tribulations of party-going through the eyes of a woman remembering a traumatic childhood birthday party. Seven-year-old Brenda, longing to be cool and popular, shows up at Camilla Brown’s 8th birthday party. She is greeted by ridicule and taunting, not only at the hands of the other children, but also Mrs. Brown, Camilla’s mom. A twist in the story may lead the viewer to wonder whether the fear of parties we have as children ever really ends. Do we all still have a seven-year-old lurking inside us?