Ginny Stikeman

{{Short description|Canadian film editor and producer}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}

Virginia "Ginny" Stikeman is a Canadian filmmaker, director, producer and editor known for her documentary work. Stikeman had a 30-year career at the National Film Board of Canada, and led its women's unit, Studio D, from 1990 until its closure in 1996.

Biography

Ginny Stikeman was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. She graduated from McGill University with a BA in English and French. After a time working in Paris and then in Montreal for Time magazine, she joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1968 as a researcher for Challenge for Change. She later trained as an editor and moved to Studio D, the women's unit, in 1975 as an editor and producer.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mediaqueer.ca/artist/ginny-stikeman|title=Ginny Stikeman|website=MediaQueer.ca|date=April 30, 2015 |access-date=September 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104203943/http://www.mediaqueer.ca/artist/ginny-stikeman|archive-date=November 4, 2016|url-status=live}}

Career

Among her more noteworthy achievements at Studio D, Stikeman was the co-producer on the award-winning documentary Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives. She co-directed Sisters in the Struggle with Dionne Brand.{{Cite web|url=https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/culture/films/sisters-in-the-struggle/|title=Sisters in the Struggle – Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive|website=riseupfeministarchive.ca|access-date=April 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124165301/https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/culture/films/sisters-in-the-struggle/|archive-date=January 24, 2019|url-status=live}} She was also the producer and editor of Older, Stronger, and Wiser.{{Cite web|url=http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/|title=National Film Board of Canada|last=Government of Canada|first=National Film Board of Canada|date=October 11, 2012|access-date=April 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626180947/http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/|archive-date=June 26, 2019|url-status=live}}

Stikeman was announced as acting executive producer for Studio D in 1986 and was officially appointed the position of executive producer in 1990. Stikeman worked as executive producer until Studio D's closure in 1996, officially retiring in 1998.

After retirement, Stikeman has worked with the Blue Metropolis literary festival as part of the Premio Azul Programming Committee{{Cite web|url=https://bluemetropolis.org/our-team-2/|title=Our Team|website=Blue Metropolis|language=en-US|access-date=March 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326015714/https://bluemetropolis.org/our-team-2/|archive-date=March 26, 2019|url-status=dead}} in Montreal, Quebec, a non-profit organization that promotes and encourages reading, writing and creativity for people of all cultures. The organization was founded in 1997 by Linda Leith. The Blue Metropolis Festival produces the annual International Literary Festival with a variety of awards and prizes. Stikeman started sponsoring the Metropolis Azul Prize in 2013, which is awarded each year to an author from any country who creates a work of fiction that treats aspects of Hispanic culture and is published in Spanish, English or French.{{Cite web|url=https://bluemetropolis.org/mission-story/|title=Mission & Story|website=Blue Metropolis|language=en-US|access-date=March 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326015714/https://bluemetropolis.org/mission-story/|archive-date=March 26, 2019|url-status=live}}

Awards and nominations

Stikeman was the editor on I'll Find a Way, which won the Academy Award for best live action short film, and Cree Hunters of Mistassini, which won the BAFTA for best documentary.

Legacy

Stikeman is credited with bringing a deep commitment to film activism and "getting more women of different ethnic backgrounds into filmmaking".{{Cite book|title=D is For Daring|last=Vanstone|first=Gail|publisher=Sumach Press|year=2007}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
1973

|The Sloane Affair

|Editor

1973

|Where Do We Go from Here

|Editor

1974

|Cree Hunters of Mistassini

|Editor

1974

|Our Land Is Our Life

|Editor

1975

|My Friends Call Me Tony

|Editor

1976

|Temiscaming Quebec

|Editor

1976

|Listen Listen Listen

|Editor

1977

|Harmonie

|Editor

1977

|I'll Find a Way

|Editor

1978

|{{'}}round and 'round

|Editor

1980

|North China Factory

|Editor

1980

|Wuxing People's Commune

|Editor

1980

|North China Commune

|Editor

1983

|Dream of a Free Country: A Message from Nicaraguan Women

|Director

1983

|I Want to Be an Engineer

|Editor

1984

|On Our Own

|Editor

1985

|Discussions in Bioethics: A Chronic Problem

|Editor

1985

|Discussions in Bioethics: Who Should Decide?

|Editor

1985

|The World Turned Upside Down

|Editor

1985

|The Cap

|Editor

1986

|Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief

|Editor

1987

|The Legacy of Mary McEwan

|Editor

1989

|Older, Stronger, Wiser

|Editor

1991

|Sisters in the Struggle

|Co-Director, Producer

1992

|Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

|Co-Producer

1992

|Wisecracks

|Producer

1992

|A Balancing Act

|Producer

1992

|Le plafond de verre

|Producer

1992

|Making Perfect Babies

|Producer

1992

|Women in the Shadows

|Producer

1992

|Return Home

|Producer

1993

|Long Time Comin{{'}}

|Producer

1994

|Twenty Years of Feminist Filmmaking

|Producer

1994

|Motherland: Tales of Wonder

|Producer

1996

|Asking Different Questions: Women and Science

|Producer

1996

|Listening for Something ... Adrienne Rich and Dionne Brand in Conversation

|Producer

1996

|Taking Charge

|Producer

1997

|An Untidy Package

|Producer

1997

|Jeunes, beaux et entreprenants

|Producer

Filmography from IMDb{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0830169/.|title=Ginny Stikeman|website=IMDb|access-date=October 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218081507/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0830169/|archive-date=February 18, 2017|url-status=live}}

References

{{Reflist}}