Contemporary Films The films in this section look back at different aspects of feminist activism from the 1970s to 1990s. Although not created during this era, many include archival footage and feature interviews with those involved. A Struggle to Remember: Fighting for Our Families Aaron Floresco2012 | 20 min English (English and French subtitles) A Struggle to Remember: Fighting for our Families examines the decisive role that organized labour, working together with Canadian feminists, played in winning over public opinion and achieving improvements in maternity leave and other family leave benefits. The film starts with the changes underway in women’s role in society and the workplace through the 1960s, then uses interviews with key leaders and archival footage to highlight the pivotal role of struggles led by the Common Front in Quebec, the 1980 strike by members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the 1981 strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Early gains by public sector unions opened the door to wins by private sector unions, as well as pressure for government legislation to cover those not protected through a collective agreement. Over the years, unions have continued the fight to extend these early gains to cover fully paid leave, parental leave, adoptive families, and care and nurturing leave. Abortion Caravan CBC: A People’s HistoryKarin Wells: “The Women are Coming”2011 | 3 minon behalf of Marcy Cohen This short video on the Abortion Caravan features news clips, photos, film, banners, and headlines of the protest against Canada’s abortion laws as it travelled across Canada from Vancouver to Ottawa in late April/early May 1970. Constitute! Produced by Susan Bazilli and Brenda RooneyDirected by Robert Rooney2010 | 33 min Constitute! profiles the largest social mobilization of women in Canadian history. Led by the Ad Hoc Committee of Canadian Women and the Constitution, activists across the country descended on Ottawa on February 14, 1981 to ensure that there would be stronger equality sections of the newly patriated Constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Constitute! Sharon McIvor Talk Centre for Feminist Legal Studies, University of British Columbia2010 | 1 hr 8 min In Constitute!, Sharon McIvor talks about the challenges experienced by Aboriginal women in Canada in trying to achieve equality. In this talk, she describes her 23-year legal battle to get status for her son Jacob Grismer. Dec 6th, 2009 – 20th Anniversary of Montreal Massacre CAW Women2009 | 12 min The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Women produced a video to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre on December 6, 1989. This video includes archival footage as well as interviews with activists working to end violence against women today. Dykes in the Street To view this film on Vimeo , use the link Dykes In The Streets (from Almerinda on Vimeo.) Almerinda Travassos2019 | 38 mins Dykes In The Streets is a documentary that examines the rise of Lesbian visibility in Toronto over the past thirty-five years. Lesbians Against The Right (LAR) organized the first Toronto dyke march called ‘Dykes In The Streets’ in 1981. I was there and documented five minutes of the historic march on S8 film. The project recalls the the personal and political ramifications of the march through the voices of some of the original 300 participants/organizers. It also demonstrates the growth of the Toronto Lesbian and LGBTQ+ community by way of its visibility and street activism. The video premiered in Toronto at the Inside Out Festival in 2019. How JFK Fuelled a Feminist Movement at U of T Old School Stories – Episode 2 A President and protest come to Hart HouseUniversity of Toronto | 6:12 min Linda Silver Dranoff was thrilled to attend U of T in the 1950’s but was surprised when she was told that she could not attend a debate because she was a woman. In that moment she knew she had to take a stand in order to make positive change. “The first time I fought for the rights of women was when we were forbidden from attending a debate at Hart House featuring then Senator John F. Kennedy and student orator Stephen Lewis. It was 1957 and I was in my first year at the University of Toronto. We protested outside the open Hart House Debates Room window, seeking fairness for women.” It’s Not Over Yet – Saskatchewan Working Women Susan Risk2004 / 27 min Saskatchewan Working Women (SWW) was a province-wide organization operating from about 1977 to 1990. This 2004 video was filmed at the SWW reunion in 2003 and provides an overview of SWW with reflections by many of its activists, as well as some archival footage. IWD Vancouver Events/Exhibits 1985-1987 Onni Milne2017 | 14:25 min This Youtube video features an 1986 “On the Air” interview and call-in show with Onni Milne about the Vancouver International Women’s Day. The video also includes a series of photos related to Vancouver IWD events and exhibits from 1985-1987. Justice and Dignity for All: Stories From the Struggle for Pay Equity Description from the CUPW/ STPP website For decades, the sisters and brothers who delivered the mail in rural and suburban Canada were forced to work without any benefits — just like gig-workers today. No sick leave; no maternity leave; no holiday pay. They made less than minimum wage. The vast majority of them were women. Federal legislation made it illegal to form a union. Then CUPW entered the fight. CUPW is proud to share its latest documentary on the resolute persistence of these workers to organize, achieve rights and benefits, and to become an integral part of the union itself. This is the inspiring story of the sisters who struggled to gain the most significant pay equity settlement in Canadian history. In Justice and Dignity for All, you’ll relive that struggle as these activists tell the story, in their own words, of the victories, defeats, and setbacks, and the persistence that comes from knowing your cause is just. Making Movie History: Alanis Obomsawin Joanne Robertson2014 | 5 minNational Film Board of Canada Website Alanis Obomsawin talks about how she got her start at the NFB and the overarching importance of sound/story in her work. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Anne Claire Poirier Making Movie History: Anne Claire Poirier, Denys Desjardins, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Denys Desjardin2014 | 7 min National Film Board of Canada Website Anne Claire Poirier blazed a trail for women filmmakers, introducing a distinctly female gaze into Quebec cinema with compelling personal films that balanced rigorous film craft with feminist analysis. Beginning her career in the ’60s, when few women were making films, she persevered, insisting on directing her own work. The experience of making De mère en fille (1968), Quebec’s first feminist film, would steel her resolve to bring more women into the NFB. Tenacious and generous, she initiated and produced En tant que femmes (1972), a six-film series directed by various women. Her own work, including the unrelentingly powerful Mourir à tue-tête (1979), continues to resonate. Her final film for the NFB, perhaps her bravest and most painful, was Tu as crié LET ME GO, dealing with the tragic loss of her own daughter. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Anne Wheeler Making Movie History: Anne Wheeler, Joanne Robertson, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Joanne Robertson2014 | 6 min National Film Board of Canada Website Director and editor Anne Wheeler reflects on her early documentaries with the NFB, the birth of the North West and Prairie Studios and working with Donald Sutherland. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Bonnie Sher-Klein Making Movie History: Bonnie Sherr-Klein, Joanne Robertson, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Joanne Robertson2014 | 5 min National Film Board of Canada Website Bonnie Sherr-Klein recalls the early days of Studio D, the women’s studio, and the birth of the seminal film Not a Love Story which she co-directed. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Carol Geddes Making Movie History: Carol Geddes, Joanne Robertson, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Joanne Robertson2014 | 5 min National Film Board of Canada Website Director and writer Carol Geddes reflects on telling stories from an aboriginal perspective as a filmmaker in the NFBs North West studio. Her first film with the NFB was Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Monique Fortier Making Movie History: Monique Fortier, Denys Desjardins, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Denys Desjardins2014 | 6 min National Film Board of Canada Website Monique Fortier was one of the few women to make her way in the male world of the NFB in the 1950s. But make her way she did. Beginning as a secretary, she graduated to editing and in 1963 she became the first francophone woman to direct her own film, À l’heure de la décolonisation. Her NFB colleague Anne Claire Poirier would make her first film the same year. Fortier subsequently returned to editing, quietly labouring at the Steenbeck, shaping films that helped define Direct Cinema. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Paule Baillargeon Making Movie History: Paule Baillargeon, Denys Desjardins, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Denys Desjardins2014 | 6 min National Film Board of Canada Website Paule Baillargeon was among the members of the Grand Cirque Ordinaire, an adventurous theatre collective that burst onto the scene in 1969. Shifting to cinema, she had roles in Entre tu et vous (Groulx, 1969) and Le temps de l’avant (Poirier, 1975), in which her character confronts the issue of abortion. The role set the tone for her career: feminist by necessity, she would approach cinema as a form of rebellion. With La cuisine rouge (1979), she directed her first feature film, and with Vie d’Ange, she shared a writing credit with Pierre Harel. The ’80s brought a string of strong roles–in films by Jutra, Pool, Rozema, Leduc–but she gravitated to directing with Sonia (1986) and Le sexe des étoiles (1993). Her most recent documentary is Trente tableaux (2011), an autobiographical work that draws upon her multiple talents. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: Sylvia Hamilton Making Movie History: Sylvia Hamilton, Joanne Robertson, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Joanne Robertson2014 | 5 min National Film Board of Canada Website Director Sylvia Hamilton reflects on her work with the NFBs Atlantic Studio and the birth of New Initiatives in Film – a Studio D initiative for women of colour and Aboriginal women. This interview is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Making Movie History: The Women Making Movie History: The Women, Denys Desjardins, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Denys Desjardins2014 | 11 min National Film Board of Canada Website This short documentary profiles a selection of pioneering French female filmmakers from the history of the NFB, including Paule Baillargeon, Aimée Danis, Mireille Dansereau, Marthe Blackburn, and Anne Claire Poirier. These women speak frankly of the challenges and joys of making films for, by, and about women. This short documentary is part of Making Movie History: A Portrait in 61 Parts. Nurses defy with illegal strike in 1988 United Nurses of Alberta 2004 | 3:55 min On January 25, 1988, faced by employers demands for major concessions, 14,000 members of the United Nurses of Alberta walked off the job in defiance of a 1983 Alberta law that put nurses in the category of essential services workers. They also defied a ruling by the Alberta Labour Relations Board stating that it was even illegal for them to hold a strike vote. They stayed out for 19 days, despite bitter cold and huge fines for contempt of court. A collective agreement was ratified on February 13, 1988, after employers dropped demands for concessions and rollbacks. Play Fair Donna Gail2015 | 1 hr 5 min PLAY FAIR is a compelling, unflinching and visually rich documentary that questions the assumption that women’s fight for full rights in the world of sports is over. The film explores five decades of activism and legal challenges that women fought to ensure they would have equal access and rights to compete in sports on elite and community levels. There have been many victories but has equity really been achieved? There is still a lack of women in leadership positions in the sporting boardrooms and on the fields. The sexualization and objectification of women athletes persists as does the economic disparity between male and female professional athletes. More girls are playing hockey now than ever before but they still have to fight for ice time. Eugenie Bouchard wins an important match at the Australian Open only to field questions from reporters about her outfit. Just five years ago in Vancouver, women were told they couldn’t compete in the Olympic ski-jump. Today, Kaillie Humphries competes in the 4 Men Bobsled with 3 men because there is no such equivalent for women. While there are many victories to celebrate, can we say that women have full equity in the world of sports? What will it take to ensure that all female athletes have an equal right to play? And, most importantly, what does the future hold for female athletes in Canada? Who are tomorrow’s activists who will continue to strive for equity while making sure the gains of the past aren’t lost? Queerstory: Chez Moi Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 9:01 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca There were few social spots for women when the Chez Moi opened in 1984 and it marks a cusp moment in Toronto’s lesbian bar scene, as women moved from dark basements and women’s community centre dances , to the above-ground Chez. But who can blame the fictional narrator of your walk along Hayden street in search of both company and an elusive lesbian imaginary, for missing those basements more than just a bit? Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: Lesbian Organization of Toronto (LOOT) Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 4 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca In 1976 gay activism was predominantly male-centric, until a group of women gathered together and decided they needed to create a place of their own. A place where lesbians and feminists could meet and support each other, make music, and make history. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: The Brunswick House Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 1 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca In October 1974, this working class beer-hall, and social setting for frat brats and engineers, was turned on its head when four lesbian feminists took to the Open Mike Night and sang their own rendition of Rogers and Hammerstein’s “I Enjoy Being a Girl” titled “I Enjoy Being A Dyke” – just to make things clear to the boys. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: The Sapphire Tavern and Jackie Shane Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 3:20 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca Silky voiced, gender-queer singer Jackie Shane added glitz and glamour to Toronto’s Yonge Street music scene in the 1960s. Her album, Jackie Shane Live, was recorded here, with his song “Any Other Way” hitting number two on the charts for a full nine week Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: The Power of the Pussy Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 2:26 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca The Power of the Pussy – Witness the outcomes of the Pussy Palace Raid; the community consultation; the benefits and some funny classroom antics. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: The Pussy Palace Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 3 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca When Club Toronto was rented out for a Pussy Palace on September 14th, 2000, the events that occurred that night would bring the broader queer community together to change an institution forever, and drag the Toronto Police Services into the 21st century. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: The Church Street Mural Project: Kiss & Tell Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 2:51 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca Inspired by artist/activist collective Gran Fury’s “Kissing doesn’t kill” poster, Natalie Wood’s mural of kissing couple silhouettes embody book covers that resonate with underrepresented queer communities. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: The Continental House Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 2:41 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca In the early 1950’s the sensational tabloid press, such as Justice Weekly and Hush, reported on a lesbian invasion of Chinatown where butch broads and gorilla girls at the Continental Hotel held the fort.. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Queerstory: We’re Funny That Way Produced by Year Zero One for Queerstory2014 | 2:41 min Explore more of Toronto’s queer history at Queerstory.ca Fabulously funny queer comedian Maggie Casella, founder of ‘We’re Funny That Way’ Canada’s long running International Queer Comedy Festival, takes us on a two-minute tour of the performances from 15 years of queer comedy history. Shared here with permission of Michael Alstad,, Director. Full credits. Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada, Karen Cho, provided by the National Film Board of Canada Karen Cho2012|1 h 27 min National Film Board of Canada Website Feminism has shaped the society we live in. But just how far has it brought us, and how relevant is it today? This feature documentary zeroes in on key concerns such as violence against women, access to abortion, and universal childcare, asking how much progress we have truly made on these issues. Rich with archival material and startling contemporary stories, Status Quo? uncovers answers that are provocative and at times shocking. The Historic Victories of the 1980s on Reproductive Rights and Pay Equity: Looking Back and Forward These four recordings are from a public meeting on March 31 2014 sponsored by the Centre for Social Justice, Socialist Project. Moderated by Leo Panitch This forum commemorates two of the greatest achievements of the modern Canadian feminist movement, when thirty years ago, working closely together with the labour movement, the historic legislative and judicial victories on pay and workplace equity and women’s reproductive rights were both won. This meeting brings two of the leading feminists who acted as the link and buckle with the labour movement in those victories of the mid-1980s together with two women activists who are engaged in a new generation of struggles on women’s reproductive rights and pay and workplace equity to discuss the legacy of these victories and assess their continuing impact and relevance today. Presentations by: * Carolyn Egan was a founding member of the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics which sparked the campaign to overturn the federal abortion law by opening an illegal abortion clinic with Dr. Henry Morgentaler. She continues to be active in the struggle for reproductive justice for all women, and is president of the Steelworker Toronto Area Council.* Mary Cornish is a senior partner in Cavalluzzo Shilton McIntyre & Cornish, a Toronto public interest law firm. As a feminist human rights lawyer, she continues to chair the Equal Pay Coalition, a broad based Ontario civil society coalition which successfully lobbied for the implementation of Ontario’s proactive pay equity laws. * Stephanie Ross is Associate Professor of Work and Labour Studies in the Department of Social Science and co-director of the Global Labour Research Centre at York University. She is president of the Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies and has edited two books: Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada and Public Sector Unions in the Age of Austerity.* Anjali Kulkarni is a fourth year medical student at the University of Toronto. She is the current National Officer of Reproductive and Sexual Health (NORSH) with the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS). Previously she was the co-president of Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) at the University of Toronto. Tilco Striker Matthew Hayes2014/2min 47secText and film from RankandFile.ca The short film created by Matthew Hayes, is the story of women workers in a Peterborough, Ontario plastics factory who unionized and struck in the mid-1960s against management harassment and low wages. The strike also led to an infamous injunction against the strikers, while highlighting the problems of a labour movement dominated by men but with increasing numbers of women in its ranks. Historian Joan Sangster has written the about the Tilco Strike for Labour/Le Travail, Canada’s premiere labour history journal. Here is the introduction to Sangster’s “We No Longer Respect the Law”: The Tilco Strike, Labour Injunctions, and the State: “The Tilco affair is the story of this second tier of women workers whose desperate struggle to unionize a factory of just less than 60 employees in a small-town Ontario city sparked a malestrom of wider labour protest, led to the state’s successful criminal court cases against 26 other workers after their support picket, and eventually spawned a Royal Commission on labour disputes, itself a storm of controversy, chaired by Justice Ivan Rand, one of the initial legal architects of the Fordist compromise. This “woman’s” strike, ultimately defeated by a small-town cowboy capitalist employer, provides a fascinating, intricate narrative well worth telling for its own sake. The wider battle over injunctions which emerged from the strike, including the state’s royal commission, serve as a useful prism through which to view labour-capital relations in this period.” Trailblazers: Black Women in Canadian Politics Malinda Smith, University of Alberta2:20 minutes University of Alberta political scientist Malinda Smith launched an “excavation project” aimed at bringing to light the stories of Canada’s trailblazing black heroines. To ensure those stories spread as widely as possible, she is putting together a series of social media-friendly videos. This video, the first in the series, features a dozen black female Canadian politicians. “What they all share in common is a deep and abiding commitment to human rights and social justice, to education, and to public service and giving back to the broader community,” says Smith. Read more at https://www.folio.ca/u-of-a-researche… We Are the Union – Women’s Work Point Blank Creative The video was produced by the Provincial Executive Women’s Committee. For more information, go to www.bcgeu.ca. British Columbia General Employees’ Union’s (BCGEU) female members have been a powerful voice since before they were able to hold elected positions. Through the passionate work of hundreds of women, the union has achieved incredible strides towards gender equity, both within the organization and for its members. This film celebrates some of their stories. Where is Marlene Green? (Akua Benjamin Legacy Project) Ella Cooper2016 | 6:30 minExecutive Produced by Alison Duke. This insightful short documentary captures the activism of Marlene Green in Toronto around educating black youth and immigrant youth. It was directed by Ella Cooper as one of several films for the Akua Benjamin Legacy Project celebrating fifty years of black activism in Toronto. The Akua Benjamin Legacy Project The Akua Benjamin Legacy Project was instituted by Ryerson University’s president, Sheldon Levy, to honour the tremendous contributions of activist, academic, and community leader Dr. Akua Benjamin. The primary objectives of the legacy project are to host an annual Akua Benjamin Public Lecture and organize an Anti-Black Racism Conference. The Akua Benjamin Public Lecture focuses on anti-Black racism and resistance, and seeks to instill a sense of history and pride for the significant contributions of Black Canadians to the younger generation of activists and/or activists-to-be. The overall goal is to promote the kind of educational work and activism that builds a just, inclusive community and society. The Anti-Black Racism Conference aims to promote dialogue and critical reflection aimed at mobilizing for change and policy effectiveness, share research and advance understandings, develop shared practices of resilience that resist the harms of anti-Black racism, and advance anti-Black racism theory and research. NOTE: All five films in this series are also available for viewing through Vimeo Women in Canadian History: Mary Two-Axe Early A Project of Historica Canada2:44 minutes Mary Two-Axe Early was a Mohawk leader from Kahnawake, and an activist who founded the organization Equal Rights for Indian Women. She was key in fighting the Indian Act’s discriminatory policy that denied Status Indian women treaty rights if they married non-Status men. She was the first woman to have her status reinstated when the policy was reversed. Download the Women in Canadian History Education Guide and accompanying Supplementary Worksheets from the Teaching section of this website. Also available through Historica Canada’s Education Portal at http://education.historicacanada.ca/e… View the guide and worksheets in Flipping Book format at http://fb.historicacanada.ca/education Women in Canadian History: Michelle Douglas A Project of Historica Canada14:40 minutes Michelle Douglas joined the Canadian military in 1986 but was dismissed in 1989 for being “Not Advantageously Employable Due to Homosexuality.” She sued the Department of National Defence. In 1992, just before her case went to trial, the Canadian military abandoned its policy banning gays and lesbians and settled out of court. Download the Women in Canadian History Education Guide and accompanying Supplementary Worksheets from the Teaching section of this website. Also available through Historica Canada’s Education Portal at http://education.historicacanada.ca/e… View the guide and worksheets in Flipping Book format at http://fb.historicacanada.ca/education Women in Canadian History: Rosemary Brown A Project of Historica Canada7:08 minutes Rosemary Brown has the distinction of being Canada’s first Black female member of a provincial legislature and the first woman to run for leadership of a federal political party. Download the Women in Canadian History Education Guide and accompanying Supplementary Worksheets from the Teaching section of this website. Also available through Historica Canada’s Education Portal at http://education.historicacanada.ca/e… View the guide and worksheets in Flipping Book format at http://fb.historicacanada.ca/education Women’s Health in Women’s Hands: A Worthy Fight Women’s Health in Women’s Hands DocumentaryOctober 4, 201916.29 min In celebration of our 25th Anniversary, Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre released this documentary entitled A Worthy Fight, which features the history of Women’s Health in Women’s hands CHC and footage of the “sit in” by our tenacious founding members in order to secure funding for the Centre!
