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Directors (1787)
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Pepita Ferrari (3)

Pepita Ferrari

Pepita Ferrari

A past Executive Director and board member with the Documentary Organization of Canada, Pepita combined a lifelong passion for documentary storytelling and a deep interest in exploring the performing arts on film. By 1994, she would direct and co-produce her first documentary at the NFB, By Woman’s Hand, exploring the Beaver Hall Group of Canadian women painters. Her most ambitious work with the NFB began in 2007, when she was asked to direct the landmark web and film project Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary, exploring the creative process of over 30 leading documentary filmmakers.

  • By Woman's Hand
    By Woman's Hand
    Pepita Ferrari 1994 58 min
    In 1920, a group of young Montreal women artists formed the nucleus of what would later become known as the Beaver Hall Hill Group. Together, they created an artistic environment of mutual support that lasted for more than three decades. By Woman's Hand explores this unique group through the eyes of Prudence Heward, Sarah Robertson and Anne Savage, its three most prominent members.
  • Source
    Source
    Pepita Ferrari 2011 6 min
    In this short film, Margie Gillis becomes the very embodiment of modern dance - she steps into the light, lifts her arms and unleashes her extraordinary mane into the air.

    Four decades into a remarkable career, Gillis is a beacon of compassion and creativity. Watch as high-speed cameras capture the delicate and savage joy of Canada's own Isadora Duncan.
  • Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
    Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
    Pepita Ferrari 2008 1 h 37 min
    In this feature-length film on the art of the documentary, director Pepita Ferrari interviews 33 leading documentarians and shows clips from over 50 films. From cinéma-vérité pioneers like Albert Maysles and Michel Brault to mavericks like Errol Morris and Nick Broomfield, it explores the challenges of capturing reality on film. Directors as diverse as Pakistani feminist Sabiha Sumar and new media guru Peter Wintonick reflect on ethical issues and the contested status of the “truth.”

    Featured interviews include German iconoclast Werner Herzog; Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán; British director Kim Longinotto and Alanis Obomsawin, the First Lady of First Nations cinema.

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