Studio D: The Women’s Film Studio (National Film Board)

In 1974, the National Film Board (NFB) established Studio D, the first publicly funded production unit dedicated to making films by and for women. Studio D produced dozens of films centred on women’s lived experience and dealing with the complex social issues faced by women. At Studio D, women worked in all areas of film: editing, sound, sets, directing, producing, etc. The studio grew more inclusive in 1991 with the New Initiatives in Film program, which provided film training to women of colour and Indigenous women.

More about Studio D: The Women’s Film Studio (National Film Board)

In 1974, the National Film Board (NFB) established Studio D, the first publicly funded “production unit dedicated to making films by and for women.”  Kathleen Shannon and Anne Claire Poirier led the fight for more resources for women’s filmmaking within the NF, and following the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, a growing movement added to the pressure on government to act on women’s equality, especially within government agencies themselves.

At first, Studio D operated as a tiny studio of staff filmmakers, technicians, and support staff, along with a network of freelancers across the country, all of whom were women. Even with a relatively small budget, Studio D produced dozens of films centred on women’s lived experience and dealing with the complex social issues faced by women. At Studio D, women worked in all areas of film: editing, sound, sets, directing, producing, etc. The studio grew more inclusive in 1991 with the New Initiatives in Film program, which provided film training to women of colour and Indigenous women.

Studio D produced many innovative films, including three films that won Oscars and a number of other awards. The Oscar winners include Beverly Shaffer’s I’ll Find a Way (1977), Terre Nash’s If You Love This Planet (1982), and Cynthia Scott’s Flamenco at 5:15 (1984). Other notable films include Not a Love Story, Wisecracks, Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives, Sisters in the Struggle, Towards Intimacy,  and the series 5 Feminist Minutes.

In 1989, despite protests from many women’s groups, funding for Studio D was drastically reduced, resulting in the Studio having to let all staff filmmakers go, to be replaced by freelancers. These cuts were part of a swathe of larger cuts to the NFB and other social programs and programming related to women. After years of reduced budgets, Studio D finally closed its doors in 1996.

Archival Materials

Documents
Abortion – Stories from North and South

  • Year created:

    1984

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English

Films

Still from the film "A Mother and Daughter on Abortion" featuring two white women, one older and one younger, with short brown hair talking at a picnic table outdoors.
A Mother and Daughter on Abortion

  • Year created:

    1987

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Gail Singer

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "A Safe Distance" featuring an Indigenous woman sitting with her young child in her lap with a lake in the background.
A Safe Distance

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Tina Horne

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Manitoba, Ontario
Still from the film "A Writer in the Nuclear Age" featuring Margaret Laurence, an older white woman with short brown hair and glasses, speaking to the camera.
A Writer in the Nuclear Age: A Conversation with Margaret Laurence

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Terre Nash

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Black and white image of two women. The women on the right has her left hand resting on the left shoulder of the women on the right side.
Abortion: Stories from North and South

  • Year created:

    1984

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Gail Singer

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Come Into My Parlour

  • Year created:

    1990

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Mary Lewis

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" featuring a close-up of Carol Geddes, an Indigenous woman with short cropped brown hair, in a field.
Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Carol Geddes

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Firewords" featuring Louky Bersianik, a middle-aged white woman with light brown hair wearing a teal blouse, writing at her desk.
Firewords: Louky Bersianik, Jovette Marchessault, Nicole Brossard

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Dorothy Todd Hénaut

  • Language:

    English and French

  • Region:

    Quebec
Still from the film "Flamenco at 5:15" featuring a co-ed group of National Ballet School dancers learning how to dance the flamenco.
Flamenco at 5:15

  • Year created:

    1983

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Cynthia Scott

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Ontario
Still from the film "Forbidden Love" featuring an archival photograph of Amanda White, a queer Indigenous woman interviewed in the film.
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

  • Year created:

    1992

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Lynne Fernie & Aerlyn Weissman

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Film Still from Goddess Remembered of a silhouetted woman standing on a cliff holding a glass ball in one hand.
Goddess Remembered

  • Year created:

    1989

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Donna Read

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Film still from Hands of History of a woman standing in front of an art piece, panting the top right corner. The art piece contains images of wolves, clothing hangers and symbols of Indigenous clothing. There are also white painted handprints on the bottom portion of the art piece. There is also a small table with paint, paint brushes and other art supplies directly behind the woman.
Hands of History

  • Year created:

    1994

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Loretta Todd

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Film still from 'I want to be an Engineer' of a woman wearing a white hard hat.
I Want to Be an Engineer

  • Year created:

    1983

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Beverly Shaffer

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Film still from 'I'll Find a Way" of Nadia smiling at the camera with white sheer curtains behind her.
I’ll Find a Way

  • Year created:

    1977

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Beverly Shaffer

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Film still from "If You Love This Planet" of Dr. Helen Caldicott speaking into a microphone on a stage.
If You Love This Planet

  • Year created:

    1982

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Terre Nash

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Kathleen Shannon: On Film, Feminism & Other Dreams

  • Year created:

    1997

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Gerry Rogers

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Like the Trees

  • Year created:

    1974

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Kathleen Shannon

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Alberta
Listening for Something… Adrienne Rich and Dionne Brand in Conversation

  • Year created:

    1995

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Dionne Brand

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Film still from "Long Time Comin'" of Faith Nolan sitting on the left side talking to Grace Channer, sitting on the right side. Both are sitting in a forest.
Long Time Comin’

  • Year created:

    1993

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Dionne Brand

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Love Affair with Politics" depicting Marion Dewar, a middle aged white woman with curly light brown hair, speaking to the camera.
Love Affair with Politics: A Portrait of Marion Dewar

  • Year created:

    1987

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Terre Nash

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Ontario
Still from the film "Motherland: Tales of Wonder" featuring Florence Clark, a biracial woman who is one of the subjects of the film, hugging her mother.
Motherland: Tales of Wonder

  • Year created:

    1994

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Helene Klodawsky

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Moving On" featuring an image of the London, Ontario skyline and the words 'Moving On' in neon teal.
Moving On

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Tina Horne

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Ontario
Still from the film "Older, Stronger, Wiser" featuring four older black women sitting in a living room and talking.
Older, Stronger, Wiser

  • Year created:

    1989

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Claire Prieto

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Our Dear Sisters" featuring Alanis Obomsawin, an Indigenous women wearing braids and a dress, sitting in an arm chair and talking to the camera, with her young daughter in her lap.
Our Dear Sisters

  • Year created:

    1975

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Kathleen Shannon

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Patricia's Moving Picture" featuring a shot of a suburban house and the words "Patricia's Moving Picture" in white font.
Patricia’s Moving Picture

  • Year created:

    1978

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Bonnie Sherr Klein

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Portrait of the Artist--As an Old Lady" featuring Paraskeva Clark, an elderly white woman with grey hair wearing a red checkered blouse, singing animatedly.
Portrait of the Artist–As an Old Lady

  • Year created:

    1982

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Gail Singer

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Sisters in the Struggle" featuring a colourful illustrated collage of black women's faces, slogans, and newspaper clips.
Sisters in the Struggle

  • Year created:

    1991

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Dionne Brand, Ginny Stikeman

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Spirit of the Kata" depicting four white women doing karate in a gym.
Spirit of the Kata

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Sharon McGowan

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from "Sylvie's Story" depicting Sylvie, a white woman with short brown hair, speaking to a shelter worker, a black woman with short black hair.
Sylvie’s Story

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Tina Horne

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Quebec
Title card from the film "The Burning Times" featuring a medieval etching of a man persecuting a woman perceived to be a witch.
The Burning Times

  • Year created:

    1990

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Donna Read

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "The Glass Ceiling" featuring one of the subjects, a young black woman, working as a receptionist.
The Glass Ceiling

  • Year created:

    1992

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Sophie Bissonnette

  • Language:

    English and French

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "The Right Candidate" featuring archival newspaper clips on Anne Cools' candidacy, reading "Top Liberals put the heat on Miss Cools."
The Right Candidate for Rosedale

  • Year created:

    1979

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Anne Henderson, Bonnie Sherr Klein

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Ontario
Still from the film "Toward Intimacy" featuring Amethya Weaver, one of the film's subjects, talking about her deaf and lesbian identity. She is a white woman with short brown hair wearing a purple shirt and earrings.
Toward Intimacy

  • Year created:

    1992

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Debbie McGee

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Still from the film "Turnaround" featuring four white women of varying ages sitting on the ground talking.
Turnaround: A Story of Recovery

  • Year created:

    1984

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Moira Simpson

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    British Columbia
Still from the film "Under the Willow Tree" featuring a black and white archival photo of a Chinese family formally dressed. There is a mother and a father and eight young children.
Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada

  • Year created:

    1997

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Dora Nipp

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

Photos

Twenty women pose in front of the Isis touring van in Vancouver 1974. The women include Isis members and representatives from each town on the tour. Each town tailor made its own 2-3 day festival. Kathleen Shannon, the director of the Working Mothers Series and the founder and first executive producer of Studio D of the National Film Board, flew in from Montreal to give us workshops on how to hold a meaningful film discussion.
Isis Touring Van and Festival Organizers

  • Year created:

    1974

  • Region:

    British Columbia

Posters
First Mourn. Then Work for Change

  • Year created:

    1990

  • Visual Artist:

    Joss Maclennan

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
Pleurez-les aujourd’hui. Agissez demain.

  • Year created:

    1990

  • Visual Artist:

    Joss Maclennan

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    French