Anne Wheeler
Country: Canada
Born: 1946
Films directed by Anne Wheeler
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One Woman
(1972)
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Great Grand Mother
(1975)
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Augusta
(1976)
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Happily Unmarried
(1977)
-
Teach Me to Dance
(1978) (also known as:
"Apprends-moi à Danser")
-
A War Story
(1982)
-
Change of Heart
(1984)
-
One's a Heifer
(1984)
-
To Set Our House in Order
(1985)
-
Loyalties
(1986) (also known as:
"Double allégeance")
-
Cowboys Don't Cry
(1988)
-
Bye Bye Blues
(1989)
-
Angel Square
(1991) (also known as:
"Angel Street", "The Comic Book Christmas Caper", "Tommy - Der Träumer")
-
The Diviners
(1993)
-
Other Women's Children
(1993)
-
The War Between Us
(1995)
-
Better than Chocolate
(1999) (also known as:
"Maggie and Lila", "Meilleur que le chocolat")
-
Legs Apart
(2000)
-
Marine Life
(2000)
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The Orkney Lad: The Story of Isabel Gunn
(2001)
-
Suddenly Naked
(2001) (also known as:
"Mise à nu")
-
Edge of Madness
(2002) (also known as:
"A Wilderness Station", "Hulluuden raja", "Station sauvage")
-
The Investigation
(2002)
-
Betrayed
(2003) (also known as:
"Abus de confiance")
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A Beachcombers Christmas
(2004)
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Christmas on Chestnut Street
(2006)
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Mail Order Bride
(2008) (also known as:
"A szerelem törvénye", "Mariage par correspondance", "Su única oportunidad")
-
Mom, Dad and Her
(2008) (also known as:
"Me, Mom, Dad and Her")
-
Dancing Trees
(2009) (also known as:
"A Dança das Árvores", "Nicole et Martha", "Pour sortir du silence", "Reflejos en la oscuridad")
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The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger
(2009) (also known as:
"A kártyás, a csaj és a mesterlövész", "Il giocatore, la ragazza e il pistolero", "Pelimies, tyttö ja revolverisankari")
-
Living Out Loud
(2009) (also known as:
"D'une vie à l'autre", "Siente la vida", "Vivere fino alla fine", "Viviendo al máximo", "Voltando a Sonhar", "Wake Up! - Lebe deinen Traum")
-
Knockout
(2011) (also known as:
"Bokszból jeles", "Born to Fight", "Knockout - A Vingança", "Knockout - Born to Fight", "The Boxer and the Kid", "The Knockout Kid")
-
The Horses of McBride
(2012) (also known as:
"Christmas Rescue", "Les chevaux de l'espoir", "Ruf der Pferde - Ein Mädchen folgt seinem Herzen")
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The Bouquet
(2013)
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Chi
(2013)
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The Color of Rain
(2014)
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A Country Wedding
(2015) (also known as:
"Amour versus glamour", "Il vero amore", "Volt egyszer egy szerelem")
-
Stop the Wedding
(2016) (also known as:
"Arrêtez ce mariage!", "Fermate il matrimonio!")
-
Wedding of a Lifetime
(2022) (also known as:
"La bataille des mariés", "Nepozabna poroka")
Quotes by Anne Wheeler
"I began making films as an art form because of the
power they wielded. Film was a political tool used for
change. I was influenced by the early filmmakers at the
National Film Board [of Canada], like Norman McLaren,
Donald Brittain, and Colin Low, and cinema vérité
auteurs such as Frederick Wiseman."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
"I think there's something wonderful with having a small crew and really the freedom to decide on the moment what you're going to shoot. When you get the big crews of 120 people, a lot of money, the more money, the less power."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
"I'm always astounded by filmmakers who make one film and then decide to make a feature. I was very, very cautious. Being female, I felt like I was representing half the human race. I didn't dare make a mistake."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
"In terms of subject matter, if you make one film about sisters, you've made all films about sisters. It seems if you come to a second film about sisterhood, or motherhood, or anything about the relationships that women have with other people, be they men or women, if you've made one film like that, it's considered already done. Whereas you can have many thousands of male buddy movies. But two in a row of friendships between women of whatever ages and orientation, it's called duplication."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
"There are no villains in my movies. There are just people who make
mistakes. That's because I basically believe people are good."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
"The way I shoot, the actors have to put on a performance because every scene is a mini-play that has to be perfect. We rehearse it until I bring in the camera and then it starts to dance with the actors."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
"We [women film directors] need encouragement and we need exposure. It's not just that we make films about women. It's important to have a woman's perspective telling the story sometimes."
-- Anne Wheeler
(source)
Quotes about Anne Wheeler
"[Anne] Wheeler's realism is rooted in the conflict-resolution framework of her stories, emanating a strong social conscience, particularly in regards to the representation of women. Like true northern divas, her heroines resolve their conflicts through stoicism, courage and self-knowledge; rarely through violent operatic acts of martyrdom or submission."
-- Kathleen Cummins
(source)
"Anchoring her critique of colonial patriarchy in relationships between women and relationships between men, [Anne] Wheeler is able to employ, with justifiable ease, melodrama's major tropes. While the private sphere is certainly investigated in Wheeler's melodramas, she does not obey the genre's historically defined limits of hearth and home. [...] Wheeler opens the genre to race relations, homosexual and homoerotic narratives, feminist narratives of solidarity and flourishing; and in so doing, she devises a radically liberal vernacular for the Canadian imaginary."
-- Susan Lord
(source)
"[Anne] Wheeler has emerged as one of Canada's finest storytellers, blending the social conscience of an NFB documentary with a firm grip on story structure."
-- Wyndham Wise
(source)
Quote about Anne Wheeler [in French]
"Anne Wheeler sait raconter des histoires simples et plus que les qualités
esthétiques de ses films, c'est cette capacité qu'elle a de retenir son
public en lui montrant tout simplement la vie sans la lui faire endosser à
tout prix, qui en fait un auteur. En remettant en scène des personnages, des situations et des thèmes semblables d'un film à l'autre, en présentant des problèmes qui s'apparentent, Wheeler nous transporte en fin de compte dans un monde très bien cerné, un genre de monde en huis clos, auquel on serait tenté de l'identifier."
-- Denyse Therrien
(source)
For QUOTES about a specific film by Anne Wheeler, please see: One Woman
Great Grand Mother
Augusta
A War Story
Loyalties
Bye Bye Blues
Angel Square
The Diviners
Better than Chocolate
Marine Life
Suddenly Naked
Edge of Madness
Betrayed
Notes about Anne Wheeler
- Born in Edmonton.
- Studied at the University of Alberta (bachelor's degree in mathematics, 1967 and teacher's certificate, 1970).
- Received the Directors Guild of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
(sources)
Bibliography for
Anne
Wheeler
Section 1: Publications by Anne Wheeler
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Wheeler, Anne. Taken by the Muse: On the Path to Becoming a Filmmaker. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2020.
Section 2: Publications about Anne Wheeler
Book Chapters
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Cummins, Kathleen. "On the Edge of Genre: Anne Wheeler's Interrogating Maternal Gaze."
In The Gendered Screen: Canadian Women Filmmakers, edited by Brenda Austin-Smith and George Melnyk, 67-94. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2010.
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Levitin, Jacqueline. "Making Feature Films: Panel Discussion with Helma Sanders Brahms (Germany), Caroline Eades (France), Patricia Plattner (Switzerland), and Anne Wheeler
(Canada)."
In Women Filmmakers: Refocusing, edited by Jacqueline Levitin, Judith Plessis, and Valerie Raoul, 199-208. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2003.
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Lord, Susan. "States of Emergency in the Films of Anne Wheeler."
In North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980, edited by William Beard and Jerry White, 312-326. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2002.
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Simoni, Suzanne. "Anne Wheeler: Telling Stories of Everyday People."
In Fantastic Female Filmmakers [note: 'for young readers'], 39-49. Toronto: Second Story Press, 2008.
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Thompson, Peggy. "I Like to Work One-on-One."
Interview with Anne Wheeler.
In The Young, the
Restless, and the Dead: Interviews with Canadian Filmmakers, edited by George Melnyk, 95-114. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008.
Brief Sections of Books
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Melnyk, George. One Hundred Years of Canadian
Cinema. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
(pp. 169-173)
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Monk, Katherine. Weird Sex and Snowshoes: And Other Canadian Film Phenomena. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2001.
(pp. 84-85)
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White, Jerry. "A Typically Canadian Cinema: Filmmaking in Alberta, Its Institutions and Authors."
In Self Portraits: The Cinemas of Canada since Telefilm, edited by André Loiselle and Tom McSorley. Ottawa: Canadian Film Institute, 2006.
(pp. 306-308)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Cinema Canada. "Blue Ribbon director." Cinema Canada, July-August 1983.
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Cummins, Kathleen. "Northern divas and
romantic catalysts: The films of Anne Wheeler." Take One (Toronto), March-April 2002.
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Dafoe, Chris. "Face to face: Anne Wheeler: Every picture tells a story." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Globe and Mail, January 2, 1993.
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Hamson, Leslie. "Behind the scenes with Anne Wheeler: Short, short course on film-making." Interview with Anne Wheeler. OptiMSt, March 1987.
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Maclean's. "Turning homespun ideas into
truth on the screen." Maclean's, December 25, 1989.
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Vermee, Alison. "Anne Wheeler and the drama of
everyday life." Take One (Toronto), Autumn 1995.
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Withey, Elizabeth. "Women filmmakers need exposure badly, renowned director says." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Edmonton Journal, May 3, 2007.
Web Sites
Section 3: Publications about the Films of Anne Wheeler
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Dub, Lorna Jackson, Toni Johnston, Lorna Rasmussen, and Anne Wheeler. "Women filmakers." The Gateway (Edmonton), September 21, 1972.
Book Chapters
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Wheeler, Anne. "The Woman Who Didn't Exist."
In Taken by the Muse: On the Path to Becoming a Filmmaker, 95-139. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2020.
Brief Sections of Books
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Vanstone, Gail. D Is for Daring: The Women behind the Films of Studio D. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2007.
(pp. 152-154)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Canadian Press. "Film pays homage to women settlers in Canada's West." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Montreal Star, July 29, 1975.
Teach Me to Dance
(1978) (also known as:
"Apprends-moi à Danser")
Brief Sections of Books
-
Low, Brian J. NFB Kids: Portrayals of Children by the National Film Board of Canada 1939-89. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2002.
(pp. 179-180)
Journal Articles
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Archer, Anne. "The Documentary Impulse
in Poetry and Film: An Approach to Anne Wheeler's A War Story." Dalhousie Review 67, no. 4 (1987): 389-398.
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DeVito, E. "A War Story." Review of A War Story. Film Library Quarterly 16, no. 3 (1983): 35.
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Chicoine, Jean-François. "A War Story." Review of A War Story. Séquences, July 1982.
[in French]
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Crighton, Tom. "A War Story." Review of A War Story. Cinema Canada, no. 83, April 1982.
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Variety. "A War Story." Review of A War Story. Variety, July 21, 1982.
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Tierney, Kevin. "Carry on, CBC." Cinema Canada, May 1984.
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Variety. "Change of Heart." Review of Change of Heart. Variety, April 11, 1984.
Brief Sections of Books
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Waugh, Thomas. The Romance of Transgression in Canada: Queering Sexualities, Nations, Cinemas. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006.
(pp. 103-107)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Variety. "To Set Our House in Order." Review of To Set Our House in Order. Variety, July 3, 1985.
Loyalties
(1986) (also known as:
"Double allégeance")
Book Chapters
-
Emberley, Julia V. "Gender, History and
Imperialism: Anne Wheeler's Loyalties."
In Feminism / Postmodernism / Development, edited by Marianne H. Marchand and Jane L. Parpart. London: Routledge, 1995.
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Longfellow, Brenda. "Gender, Landscape, and Colonial
Allegories in The Far Shore, Loyalties, and Mouvements du désir."
In Gendering the Nation: Canadian
Women's Cinema, edited by Kay Armatage, Kass Banning, Brenda Longfellow, and Janine Marchessault, 165-182. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
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Wood, Robin. "Family 'Loyalties'."
In Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and Beyond, 174-186. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Brief Sections of Books
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Cummins, Kathleen. Herstories on Screen: Feminist Subversions of Frontier Myths. New York: Wallflower, 2020.
(pp. 84-91, 128-132, 201-203)
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Therrien, Denyse. "Petit à petit, le cinéma des prairies fait son nid."
In À la recherche d'une identité : renaissance du cinéma d'auteur
canadien-anglais, edited by Pierre Véronneau. Montréal: Cinémathèque québécoise/Musée du cinéma, 1991.
[in French] (pp. 149-154)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Beard, William. "A Cinema Canada interview
with Loyalties' director Anne Wheeler." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Cinema Canada, October 1986.
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Canadian Press. "Women in charge of film." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Calgary Herald, July 3, 1985.
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Cole, Susan G. "Conflicting loyalties." Review of Loyalties. Broadside, October 1986.
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Gorman, L. "Loyalties." Review of Loyalties. Cinema Canada, December 1986.
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Kulyk, Christine. "Loyalties: Putting Alberta on the map." Newsmagazine for Alberta Women, November-December 1986.
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Kupecek, Linda. "Loyalties: Anne Wheeler's film
family." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Cinema Canada, October 1985.
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Ruszkowski, André. "Loyalties." Review of Loyalties. Séquences, December 1986.
[in French]
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Scott, Jay. "Thoughtful, memorable tale of Loyalties: Devastating climax brings script's brilliance into focus." Review of Loyalties. Globe and Mail, September 19, 1986.
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Simpson, Jeffrey. "A tale of Loyalties." Globe and Mail, November 26, 1986.
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Variety. "Loyalties." Review of Loyalties. Variety, May 14, 1986.
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Warren, Julie. "New wave." Interview with Sharon Riis, Anne Wheeler. Herizons, January-February 1987.
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Warren, Julie. "Sharon Riis and Anne Wheeler: Filmmakers celebrate ordinary lives." Kinesis, September 1986.
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Bertles, Stacey. "Cowboys Don't Cry." Cinema Canada, November 1, 1987.
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Variety. "Cowboys Don't Cry." Review of Cowboys Don't Cry. Variety, May 11, 1988.
Brief Sections of Books
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Gittings, Christopher E. Canadian National Cinema: Ideology, Difference and Representation. London: Routledge, 2002.
(pp. 275-276)
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Marsden, Bill. Big Screen Country: Making Movies in Alberta; A Memoir. Calgary: Fifth House, 2004.
(pp. 137-139)
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Monk, Katherine. Weird Sex and Snowshoes: And Other Canadian Film Phenomena. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2001.
(p. 279)
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Therrien, Denyse. "Petit à petit, le cinéma des prairies fait son nid."
In À la recherche d'une identité : renaissance du cinéma d'auteur
canadien-anglais, edited by Pierre Véronneau. Montréal: Cinémathèque québécoise/Musée du cinéma, 1991.
[in French] (pp. 149-154)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Bérubé, Robert-Claude. "Bye Bye Blues." Review of Bye Bye Blues. Séquences, June 1990.
[in French]
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Heung, Marina. "Bye Bye Blues." Review of Bye Bye Blues. New Directions for Women, May-June 1991.
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Laffel, Jeff. "Bye Bye Blues." Review of Bye Bye Blues. Films in Review, December 1990.
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O'Pray, Michael. "Bye Bye Blues." Review of Bye Bye Blues. Monthly Film Bulletin, October 1990.
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Quick, Shelly. "Bye Bye Blues: An entertaining hybrid." Review of Bye Bye Blues. Kinesis, March 1990.
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Variety. "Bye Bye Blues." Review of Bye Bye Blues. Variety, September 6, 1989.
Angel Square
(1991) (also known as:
"Angel Street", "The Comic Book Christmas Caper", "Tommy - Der Träumer")
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Perreault, Luc. "Anne Wheeler a un don : Les enfants qu'elle met en scène dans Angel Square crèvent l'écran." Interview with Anne Wheeler. La Presse, August 25, 1991.
[in French]
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Crawford, C. Lee. "Wheeler brings her mentor's classic to life." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Financial Post, December 19, 1992.
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Harvey, Dennis. "The War Between Us." Review of The War Between Us. Variety, March 11, 1996.
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Wood, Chris. "'A frightening time:' A film
revisits Canada's internment camps." Maclean's, November 7, 1994.
Better than Chocolate
(1999) (also known as:
"Maggie and Lila", "Meilleur que le chocolat")
Book Chapters
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Burgess, Diane. "Better than Chocolate (1999)."
In World Film Locations: Vancouver, edited by Rachel Walls, 70-71. Bristol: Intellect Books, 2013.
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Stuart, Jamie. "Sex and Violence in the Queer Female Space of Better than Chocolate."
In Performing Queer Female Identity on Screen: A Critical Analysis of Five Recent Films, 120-148. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2008.
Brief Sections of Books
-
Waugh, Thomas. The Romance of Transgression in Canada: Queering Sexualities, Nations, Cinemas. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006.
(pp. 266-268)
Journal Articles
-
Ménard, Julie. "Le cinéma lesbien : l'émergence d'une prise de parole." Québec français, no. 124 (Winter 2001-2002): 43-45.
[in French]
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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The Advocate. "Her-she kisses." Review of Better than Chocolate. The Advocate, August 31, 1999.
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Bilodeau, Martin. "Pourquoi ne pas rire en politisant la vie privée?" Review of Better than Chocolate. Le Devoir, August 7, 1999.
[in French]
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Elgart, Ellen. "Mother-daughter movies." In the Family, vol. 7, no. 1, 2001.
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Groen, Rick. "Film review: Better than
Chocolate: Gay comedy lays the chocolate on a little too thick. Anne
Wheeler keeps the laughs coming, but the characters end up suffering for
it." Review of Better than Chocolate. Globe and Mail, August 13, 1999.
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Haas, Michael. "Canadian customs." Review of Better than Chocolate. Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Spring 2000.
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Huisman, Mark J. "Dykes in the dark: Where have all the lesbians gone?" Front Page, vol. 20, no. 19, 1999.
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Lussier, Marc-André. "Better than Chocolate : Quand l'amour se conjugue entre femmes." Review of Better than Chocolate. La Presse, August 7, 1999.
[in French]
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Maclean's. "A lighter side of life: Filmmaker Anne
Wheeler makes a successful foray into comedy." Maclean's, August 23, 1999.
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McLaren, Leah. "Laughing on the outside: Noted for her sweeping and bittersweet historical recollections, Vancouver filmmaker Anne Wheeler takes dead aim at destroying the numbingly earnest formula of gay films, and discovers that sex toys can be hilarious plot devices." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Globe and Mail, August 12, 1999.
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Stratton, David. "Better than Chocolate." Review of Better than Chocolate. Variety, February 22, 1999.
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Walker, Susan. "Nothing better than Chocolate for veteran director Wheeler." Toronto Star, August 13, 1999.
Dissertations
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Šašinková, Soňa. "The Films That Made It: Independent Canadian Women Filmmakers and the Recipe for Success." M.A. diss., Masaryk University, 2011.
Dissertation Chapters
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Ménard, Julie. "Analyse de contenu du film Meilleur que le chocolat."
In "La représentation de la réalité lesbienne au cinéma à partir d'un univers symbolique subjectif," 68-89. M.A. diss., Université de Sherbrooke, 2002.
[in French]
Brief Sections of Books
-
Monk, Katherine. Weird Sex and Snowshoes: And Other Canadian Film Phenomena. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2001.
(p. 315)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Howard, Cori. "Dipping into the Hollywood cookie jar: The director of Marine Life is an independent West Coast filmmaker and likes it that way. On the other hand, if Cybill Shepherd wants to be in her movie ...." National Post, September 14, 2000.
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Lacey, Liam. "Family's dirty laundry gets lost in the wash." Review of Marine Life. Globe and Mail, April 27, 2001.
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Levy, Emanuel. "Marine Life." Review of Marine Life. Variety, September 25, 2000.
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Howard, Cori. "Director Anne Wheeler returns to the real: Film chronicles life of pioneer woman who posed as a boy." National Post, June 12, 2000.
Suddenly Naked
(2001) (also known as:
"Mise à nu")
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
-
Burroughs, Alexandra. "Sitting up and taking notice of Canadian films: Director Anne Wheeler makes a play for viewers' hearts and minds." Interview with Anne Wheeler. Calgary Herald, August 21, 2002.
Edge of Madness
(2002) (also known as:
"A Wilderness Station", "Hulluuden raja", "Station sauvage")
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
-
Clarkson, Dinah. "Wilderness filmmaker loved the late cold: Director Wheeler found locations to her liking." Winnipeg Free Press, May 5, 2001.
Betrayed
(2003) (also known as:
"Abus de confiance")
DVD Special Features
-
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "Behind the Scenes on Betrayed."Betrayed, DVD. Directed by Anne Wheeler. Dirty Water Productions / Muddy Water Productions, 2003.
Archival Collections
These archival institutions have holdings related to Anne Wheeler or her films:
