Creative Canadian Women: Documentary Filmmaker Phyllis Ellis
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Award winning documentary filmmaker and former Canadian Olympian, Phyllis Ellis, joins me in this episode with the release of her latest film, Category: Woman. We dive into the big themes of the documentary (gender and gender equality, body autonomy, racism) as well as the power and challenges of telling stories - whether they're your own or belong to someone else.
Phyllis is a Canadian independent filmmaker and former Olypmian who has worked all over the globe for the past thirty-five years as a filmmaker, writer, actor and producer dedicated to telling stories empowering women’s voices around the world. Her work addresses themes of justice, truth, transformation, and human rights.
Many of you may be familiar with her feature documentary, Toxic Beauty, which has been viewed by over 44 million people worldwide and was nominated for the 2021 International Emmy’s, and winner of Best Direction and Best Writing at the Canadian Screen Awards (CSA).
The film, About Her, won the prestigious Donald Brittain award at the Canadian Screen Awards (CSA’s) for Best Social Political Documentary Film and the film Girl’s Night Out was nominated for best direction.
Phyllis has won 6 CSA’s and been nominated for best direction for her work in documentary film, series, writing and performance. She is very proud to present her most recent and meaningful film to date, Category: Woman.
You can watch Category: Woman here.
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This Episode Is For…
This episode is for those who...
are interested in the process of filmmaking
tell stories through their creative work
are curious how they can use their creative powers to bring important issues to light and foster change
struggle to balance both immersing themselves in and distancing themselves from the subjects of their creative work
have experienced trauma while creating their work
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Listen To the Episode
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No is a sentence.
In this episode we discuss:
All the past guests and current listeners who contributed words of wisdom to this week’s episode
Phyllis’ journey from Canadian Olympic athlete to documentary filmmaker
why she chose documentaries over fiction
how she find the stories she tells and how she knows she’s the person who needs to tell them
the responsibility of telling another person’s story
the trauma that comes from immersing yourself in the life of other people who are going through tremendously challenging situations and if it’s possible to draw boundaries
the recurring themes in many of her films: the female body, how it’s treated, marketed to or exploited
the deep themes of her latest film, Category: Woman (gender, gender equality, body autonomy, racism, how women are treated in high level sport)
the biggest challenges of filmmaking
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