Aerlyn Weissman facts for kids

Aerlyn Weissman, born in 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, is a Canadian filmmaker. She has won two Genie Awards for her documentary films. She is also known for her work supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

Aerlyn Weissman's Career

Aerlyn Weissman first trained in sound recording in the United States. She moved to Canada in 1970. She became a sound designer at the National Film Board of Canada. At the time, very few women worked in this role.

Early Film Work

Weissman worked on several films as a sound designer. These include P4W: Prison for Women (1981) by Janis Cole and Holly Dale. She also worked on ... on Davie (1984).

Directing and Notable Films

After the success of Forbidden Love, Weissman worked with Lynne Fernie again. They made a film about writer Jane Rule called Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule (1995). This film won a Genie Award.

Weissman also directed Without Fear (1993), a film about women who survived violence. Her independent documentary Little Sister’s vs Big Brother came out in 2002. This film showed the struggles of a bookstore against censorship. It featured activists Janine Fuller, Jim Deva, and Bruce Smyth.

Since 2001, Weissman has directed for the TV documentary series K.... She also made Web... Girls (2004).

Key Achievements

Aerlyn Weissman is well-known for her 1992 film Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives. She co-directed this film with Lynne Fernie, and it won a Genie Award.

Her 2002 film, Little Sister's vs. Big Brother, is about a long-running battle over censorship. This battle was between Canada Customs and Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium. This bookstore is a well-known LGBTQ+ bookstore in Vancouver.

Weissman was also one of the directors for the important Canadian film A Winter Tan (1987). She worked with Louise Clark, Jackie Burroughs, John Walker, and John Frizzell.

Her other films include Scams, Schemes, and Scoundrels (1996), Lost Secrets of Ancient Medicine: The Blue Buddha in Russia (2006), and The Portside (2009). She also directed episodes of the TV series K....

Teaching and Mentoring

Based in Vancouver, Weissman has studied at the Centre for Digital Media. She has also taught at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Currently, she helps students at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School on Galiano Island, British Columbia.

She has taken part in many discussions and academic events about filmmaking. She also offers workshops at VIVO, a media arts center in Vancouver. She is a member of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus and Vancouver Women in Film and Television. In 1996, she received the Woman of the Year award. She lives on the West Coast of British Columbia and continues to work on independent films and new television projects.

Digital Media Projects

Besides making documentaries, Weissman has worked on digital media projects. These include interactive signs for SkyTrain riders in British Columbia. She also created a guide for heritage tourism in BC with The Saturna Project. She worked on ideas for the fishing industry with the UBC Fisheries Project.

Her documentary Little Sister's vs. Big Brother was part of the NFB's educational package in 2003.

She was interviewed for Matthew Hays' 2007 book The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers. This book won a Lambda Literary Award.

Themes in Her Work

Aerlyn Weissman's films and projects cover many different topics. These include looking at old artifacts, digital technology, and how information is controlled. She also explores how cities are designed, public events, and ways to build peace.

Her work often focuses on the history of women and the LGBTQ+ community in Canada. She has said that she wants to show the specific details of Canadian life in her films.

Personal Life

Aerlyn Weissman was born in Chicago. She moved to Canada in 1970.

Awards and Recognition

Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule won several awards in 1996. It received the Genie Award for Best Short Documentary. It also won the L.A. Outfest Outstanding Documentary Short Film award. It was named Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

Weissman also won the Genie Award for Best Feature Length Documentary in 1993. This was for her film Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives. Her first feature film, A Winter Tan, was nominated for several Genie Awards in 1989. These included Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress, and Best Sound.

She received the Vancouver Women in Film and Television award for Woman of the Year in 1996. She has also won two Gemini Awards for her excellent sound recording work. In 2009, the City of Vancouver gave her the Mayor's Arts Award for Film and New Media. Her film Crossing received an honorable mention at the Webby Awards in 2008. Her film Web... Girls was chosen for the HotDocs Selection.

Filmography

Director

• A Winter Tan, 1987
• Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives, 1992
• Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule, 1995
• Scams, Schemes, and Scoundrels, 2002
• Little Sister's vs. Big Brother, 2002
• K..., 2002-2003
• Lost Secrets of Ancient Medicine: The Journey of the Blue Buddha, 2006
• Lost Secrets of Ancient Medicine: The Blue Buddha in Russia, 2006
• The Portside, 2009
• Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride, 2009

Sound Designer

• My Friends Call Me Tony, 1975
• Tree Power, 1979
• A Wives' Tale (Une histoire de femmes), 1980
• The Breakthrough, 1981
• The KGB Connections, 1982
• Portrait of the Artist... as an Old Lady, 1982
• Body by Garret, 1982
• ... on Davie, 1984
• Inner Rhythm 1986
• Blue Snake, 1986
• No Way! Not Me, 1987
• Eternal Earth, 1987
• Artist on Fire, 1987
• Calling the Shots, 1988
• Strand: Under the Dark Cloth, 1989
• Meeting Place, 1990
• Distress Signals, 1990
• John Wyre: Drawing on Sound, 1991

See also

• List of female film and television directors
• List of lesbian filmmakers
• List of LGBT-related films directed by women