Maya Gallus is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of Red Queen Productions with Justine Pimlott. Her films have been screened at international film festivals, including Toronto International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, SEOUL International Women’s Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, This Human World Film Festival (Vienna) and Women Make Waves (Taiwan), among others. Her work has also screened at the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Donostia Kultura, San Sebastián and Canada House UK, as well as theatrically in Tokyo, San Francisco, Key West and Toronto, and been broadcast around the world. She has won numerous awards, including a Gemini Award for Best Direction for Girl Inside, and has been featured in The Guardian, UK; Ms. (Magazine), Curve (Magazine), Bust (Magazine), Salon (Magazine), POV and The Walrus, among others. She is a Director/Writer alumna of the Canadian Film Centre and a participant in Women in the Director’s Chair. She will be honoured with a "Focus On" retrospective at the 2017 Hot Docs festival.
Filmography
| Release | Film | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Very Dead of Winter(Director/Writer) | A family grapples with the death of the father. |
| 1991 | Elizabeth Smart: On the Side of the Angels (Director/Writer) | The life and work of Canadian writer Elizabeth Smart, author of By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. |
| 1997 | Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Blades (Director) | A portrait of the Olympic Champion figure skater, known as "Canada’s sweetheart". |
| 1997 | Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality (Director) | An exploration of women’s erotica, featuring the final interview with Story of O author Pauline Réage as well as Annie Sprinkle, Candida Royalle, Bettina Rheims, Catherine Robbe Grillet and others. |
| 1997 | A Tale of Two Sisters (Director) | A portrait of Canadian stage and screen actors Jennifer and Cynthia Dale. |
| 1998 | Full Circle: The Untold Story of the Dionne Quintuplets (Director) | A portrait of the surviving adult Dionne Quintuplets, Cécile, Yvonne and Annette. |
| 2005 | Fag Hags: Women Who Love Gay Men (Producer/Writer) | A documentary that explores the complexity of love and friendship between women and gay men. |
| 2009 | Cat City (co-producer) | A moving documentary that takes the viewer to the frontlines of the cat overpopulation crisis. |
| 2010 | Dish-Women, Waitressing & the Art of Service (Director/Writer) | From classic North American diners and Montreal’s "sexy restos" to Paris’s haute eateries and Tokyo’s maid cafes. |
| 2012 | The Mystery of Mazo de la Roche (Director/Writer) | The life and work of Canadian writer Mazo de la Roche, author of Jalna and the Whiteoak Chronicles. |
| 2013 | Derby Crazy Love (Co-Director) | The third wave feminist revival of women’s roller derby and the subculture around the sport. |
| 2018 | The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution | The film profiles several women chefs, exploring the sexist double standards in the restaurant industry that get women sidelined, or stigmatized as "difficult", if they are as ambitious or assertive as their male peers. |
| 2023 | Crush: Message in a Bottle | A growing movement of winegrowers and winemakers are using eco-conscious practices to reduce their carbon footprint, merging modern and traditional techniques to infuse their craft with authenticity. |
Awards and nominations
- 1997: Best Narration: Elizabeth Smart: On The Side of the Angels
- 1992: Best Direction in a Documentary - Elizabeth Smart: On The Side of the Angels (Nomination)
- 1998: Best Documentary: Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality (Nomination)
- 1998: Best Arts Documentary: Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality (Nomination)
Yorkton Film Festival, Golden Sheaf Awards
- 1991: Best Production: Elizabeth Smart: On The Side of the Angels (Award)
- 1991: Best Documentary: Elizabeth Smart: On The Side of the Angels (Award)
- 1991: Best Editing: Elizabeth Smart: On The Side of the Angels (Award)
For additional awards - see Red Queen Productions
References
- The Art of the Interview (2017). Interview with Maya Gallus . Vimeo.
- White, K. (2017, May 8). Hot Docs '17: Maya Gallus on the art of the interview. RealScreen.
- Marc G. (2017, April 29). Freeze Frame. POV Magazine. Retrieved from https://povmagazine.com/freeze-frame-maya-gallus/.
- Henry Barnes (10 June 2014). "Derby Crazy Love directors at Sheffield Doc/Fest: 'Nobody's making a big feminist point about it - it just is inclusive' - video interview". The Guardian.
- ^ "London Rollergirls prepare to face the toughest team in the world - the feared Gotham Girls". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
- Maya Gallus (2020, June 16) Agnes Varda: Emotion Pictures. POV Magazine.
- Maya Gallus. (2021, June 6). Dazzling beauty: The cinema of Chantal Akerman. POV Magazine.
- "The open hearts of the Red Queens - Part One". povmagazine.com. 26 February 2013.
- "The open hearts of the Red Queens - Part Two". povmagazine.com. 26 February 2013.
- "Derby Crazy Love: Red Queen Productions Celebrates a New Kind of Femininity with Roller Derby Documentary". Shedoesthecity. 11 November 2013.
- "Hot Docs: Waitress is no servant, she just serves you food". thestar.com. 29 April 2010.
- "Brick Magazine: An interview with Dominique Aury – Brick 58, Winter 1998". brickmag.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- Reid, Regan (27 January 2017). "Hot Docs to honor Toronto's Maya Gallus". Realscreen. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- Lost Ladies of Lit (2022). Interview with Maya Gallus re: Elizabeth Smart & By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.
- Revue Cinema (2022). Extraordinary Women series: An afternoon with Canadian author Elizabeth Smart. .
- The SpokenWeb Podcast (2022). The agony and the ecstasy of Elizabeth Smart.
- LaSalle, Mick (26 February 1999). "Artful Paen to Female Sexuality: Erotica Interviews Fascinating Women". sfgate.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- "January 25 on FM: "waitressing", anti-rape arts project, Suzanne Lacy". feministmagazine.com.
- "A Partial Guide to Films By and About Women". femfilm.swathmore.edu. 29 April 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Maya Gallus at IMDb
- Maya Gallus at Women Make Movies
- Maya Gallus Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Cinema Politica
- Maya Gallus at Media Queer
- Canadian women film directors
- Canadian documentary film directors
- Canadian documentary film producers
- Living people
- Canadian Film Centre alumni
- 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people
- Canadian LGBTQ film directors
- LGBTQ film producers
- Canadian women film producers
- Canadian women documentary filmmakers
- 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people