Lynne Fernie

Lynne Fernie (born 1946)[1] is a Canadian filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist. She spent fourteen years as the Canadian Spectrum programmer for the Hot Docs Festival from 2002 to 2016, and was described as having a passion as "deep as her knowledge," and it was said that her "championing of Canadian documentaries and the people who make them has never wavered."[2]

Lynne Fernie
Born1946
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationOntario College of Art and Design University honors graduate
OccupationDocumentary filmmaker
Known forForbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

Career

Fernie was the co-director with Aerlyn Weissman of the award-winning 1992 documentary film Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives.[3][4][5] They also co-directed Fiction and Other Truths: a film about Jane Rule, an award-winning biography about the author and Order of Canada recipient, Jane Rule.[6][7][8] Her short films School's Out! (1996) and Apples and Oranges (2003)[1] focus on issues of bullying and homophobia in schools. Apples and Oranges, is a film which was part animation, part documentary, and is for children of an elementary school age. It addressed issues of bullying and homophobia. It was produced by the National Film Board of Canada, with Fernie as director, and Tamara Lynch as producer. In the first segment, Anta, her two moms, and all-girl band work together to overcome a bully. In the second segment, Habib and Jeroux, two skateboarders, deal with homophobia after Jeroux comes out as gay.[9] Forbidden Love was re-released on a streaming service in 2012 to celebrate its " place as an integral part of LGBT film history."[10]

Fernie is a member of numerous arts and LGBT organizations in Toronto. She was a co-founding collective member of the feminist periodical Fireweed and worked as editor and editor-in-chief of the artist-run centre magazine Parallélogrammefor a number of years. She was engaged with LGBTQ+ culture with the Lesbian Organization of Toronto and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival.[1][11][12] She was a frequent songwriting lyric writer and collaborator with the pop band Parachute Club, including lyrics for the band's most famous single, "Rise Up" which was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in November 2019.[1] She also wrote lyrics to Neon Blue, the title track for Aaron Davis'first album, and collaborated with Lorraine Segato and Richard Underhill on "Bringing All the Voices Together", a theme song for Jack Layton's campaign in the 2003 New Democratic Party leadership election.[13]

She taught production at the film studies department at York University for eight years,[14] and is a programmer for the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[14] A portrait of Fernie, by the artist Rafy, is held by The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives' National Portrait Collection, in honour of her role as a significant builder of LGBT culture and history in Canada.[15] She is interviewed in Matthew Hays' Lambda Literary Award-winning 2007 book The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers.[16]

Personal life

Lynne Fernie currently lives in Toronto and her visual art is available through the Oeno Gallery.[17][2] She is an OCAD honours graduate in addition to being an award-winning documentary filmmaker.[18] She has exhibited visual art and been the recipient of arts and film grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, and has been a jury member of Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council, specifically the Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal Grant in 1997, Canada Council Research and Development Grant in 1995, the Canada Council “B” Grant in 1989, and the Canada Council Publication Assistance Grant in 1983.[19]

Filmography

Film
Title Year Credited as Role Notes
Writer Executive Producer Animation/Art
department		 Other
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives 1992 No Yes No Yes Director
Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule 1995 No Yes No Yes Director
Portland: Strip City U.S.A./Strange Sisters: The Golden Age of Lesbian Pulp 2002 No No No Yes As herself
SexTV 2002 No No No Yes As herself
Fascination 2006 No No No Yes As herself
Take This Waltz 2011 Yes No No No —

Television
Title Year Credited as Role Notes
Writer Executive Producer Director Animation/Art
department
QSW: The Rebel Zone 2001 Yes No No No Writer of "Neon Blue"
Little Sister's vs. Big Brother 2002 No Yes No No
Rise Up: Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s 2009 No Yes No No
Katie Chats 2015 No No No No As herself
HotDocs Press Conference Chats 2015 2015 No No No No As herself

Awards and nominations
Year Organization Award Category Work Result Ref.
1981 Ontario Arts Council M. Joan Chalmers Awards for Arts Administration, Artistic Direction and Documentary Film and Video[lower-alpha 1] "Picnic in the Drift" Won[lower-alpha 2] [19]
1984 Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Juno Award Composer of the Year "Rise Up" Nominated [2][lower-alpha 3]
1993 Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television Genie Awards Best Feature Length Documentary Forbidden Love: The unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives Won [lower-alpha 4] [2]
1995 San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Audience Award Best Documentary Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule Won [lower-alpha 5] [2]
1996 Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television Genie Awards Best Short Documentary Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule Won [lower-alpha 6] [2]
L.A Outfest Audience Award Outstanding Documentary Short Film Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule Won [lower-alpha 7] [2]
Toronto Arts Council Toronto Arts Council Award Visual art Visual art Won [19]

Exhibitions
Exhibition Name Organizer Country Dates Ref
Toronto Survey Exhibition[lower-alpha 8] Women in Focus Gallery Vancouver, BC 1983 [19]
Desire Alter Eros Festival Gallery 76, Toronto, ON 1984 [19]
The Anti-Nuke Show[lower-alpha 9] Powerhouse Montreal, QC 1984-1985 [19]
The Gaze[lower-alpha 10] A.R.C. Toronto, ON 1985 [19]
Some Uncertain Signs[lower-alpha 11] Plexiboard[lower-alpha 12] Toronto, ON 1986 [19]
Sight Specific A Space Toronto, ON 1987 [19]
Forbidden Representations Galerie SAW Ottawa, ON 1988 [19]
Go Figure[lower-alpha 13] SPIN Gallery Toronto, ON 2000 [19]
The Wonders of Animal Instincts[lower-alpha 14] Khrome Toronto, ON 2001 [19]
Group exhibition curated by Cheryl Sourkes Akau Toronto, ON 2005 [19]
The Grace of Falling[lower-alpha 15] Oeno Gallery Prince Edward County, ON 2006 [19]
Defying Gravity 2011 [19]
3rd Anniversary Exhibition 2012 [19]
Spring Group Exhibition [19]
Decibel 2013 [19]

Notes
  1. Also known as the Chalmers Award
  2. Also part of a writers grant
  3. Source incorrectly states it was in 1983 and that she won the award, when she was actually only nominated for it
  4. Shared with Aerlyn Weissman
  5. Shared with Aerlyn Weissman
  6. Shared with Aerlyn Weissman
  7. Shared with Aerlyn Weissman
  8. curated by Nancy Nichol
  9. Show toured Canada
  10. exhibit in conjunction with the 7th annual conference of the International Gay Association
  11. text work
  12. At Yonge St. & Wellesley St
  13. inaugural group exhibition
  14. two-person show with Wendy Coburn
  15. solo exhibition

See also

References
  1. "Fernie, Lynne (b. 1946)". GLBTQ. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  2. Belik, Vivian (July 20, 2016). "Goodbye, Ms. Fernie". Point of View Magazine. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  3. Hays, Matthew (April 20, 2017). "Canada's Documentary Essentials: 'Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives'". Point of View Magazine. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  4. "Now We Are 80 – NFB Top Tens". Point of View Magazine. December 23, 2019. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  5. Maslin, Janet (August 4, 1993). "Review/Film; Reminiscences About Lesbian First Love". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  6. Kempley, Rita (September 14, 1993). "'Forbidden Love' [Review]". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  7. "Forbidden Love". National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  8. "Lynne Fernie". Film Queer. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  9. Rapp, Linda (2012). "Fernie, Lynne (b. 1946)". In Summers, Claude (ed.). The Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television. San Francisco, California: Cleis Press Start. p. 138. ISBN 9781573448826.
  10. "'Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives' re-released on WolfeOnDemand for 20th anniversary!". GLAAD. July 24, 2014. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  11. Dunn, James (October 24, 2019). "Q&A with Lynne Fernie and Nadine Arpin, on the nomination of Eve Zaremba for The National Portrait Collection". The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  12. "Lynne Fernie (1946- )". The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives. 1998. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  13. "Jack Layton Wants To Get This Party Started". Carolyn Victoria Mill. January 2003. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  14. "Lynne Fernie". York University Faculty of Fine Arts. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008.
  15. "Inductee: Lynne Fernie 1946-". Canadian Lesbian+Gay Archives: Keeping Our Stories Alive. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  16. Hays, Matthew (2007). "Lynne Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman: Out of the Shadows". The View From Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Arsenal Pulp Press. pp. 113–123. ISBN 978-0739483961.
  17. "Lynne Fernie". EXC-19. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  18. "Lynne Fernie". Cinema Politica. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  19. "Lynne Fernie". masterpiecesolutions. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
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