Beverly Shaffer is a filmmaker in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada. Shaffer spent the bulk of her professional career with the
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
(NFB), directing short documentaries and dramas. Her documentary ''
I'll Find a Way
''I'll Find a Way'' is a 1977 Canadian short documentary film directed by Beverly Shaffer about nine-year-old Nadia DeFranco, who has spina bifida. Produced by Studio D, the women's unit of the National Film Board of Canada, the film won an Os ...
'', about a young girl with
spina bifida
Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, me ...
, won the 1977
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957.
From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...
.
Career
Shaffer won more than forty international awards in her thirty-two years with the National Film Board.
She joined the NFB's newly created women's studio,
Studio D
Studio D was the women's unit of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the world's first publicly funded feminist filmmaking studio. In its 22-year history, it produced 134 films and won 3 Academy Awards. ''Cinema Canada'' once called it the ...
, in 1975 after her proposal for a series of short documentaries about children was approved by Studio D head
Kathleen Shannon
Kathleen Shannon (November 11, 1935 – January 9, 1998) was a Canadian film director and producer. She is best known as the founder and first executive producer of Studio D of the National Film Board of Canada, the first government-funded fi ...
. The ten films in her ''Children of Canada'' series included the Oscar-winner ''I'll Find a Way''.
''To a Safer Place'' (1987) was an uplifting story of an incest survivor in her thirties who succeeded in building a fulfilling life after years of abuse. Shaffer directed seven episodes in the ''Children of Jerusalem'' series, featuring profiles of Arab and Jewish youth, including the titles ''
Children of Jerusalem: Gesho'' and ''
Children of Jerusalem: Yehuda''. She also directed ''Just a Wedding'' (1999), a docudrama sequel to ''I'll Find a Way''.
Her last film for the NFB, ''Mr Mergler's Gift'', was short listed for an Academy Award in 2005. In June 2008, it was announced that she and colleague
Paul Cowan would lose their positions as NFB staff filmmakers, due to budget cuts.
Although the bulk of her work has been in the documentary genre, Shaffer has at times turned her talents to drama. These include the half-hour drama ''The Way It Is'' (1982), about a young girl's reaction to her parents' divorce; ''Who Should Decide?'' (1985), one of eight short dramas in the ''Discussions in Bioethics'' series.
Background
Born in Montreal in 1945, Shaffer graduated from
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
in 1967, with a B.A. in comparative religion and philosophy. She taught high school for two years before doing a master's degree in filmmaking at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
. Upon graduation in 1971, she worked at
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded on-air as GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship property of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns Boston's sec ...
as a production assistant, researcher and associate producer on science and public affairs programs.
Awards and honours
1977 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film - ''I’ll Find a Way''
''I’ll Find a Way'' - nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Factual Film
Filmography
* ''My Name is Susan Yee'' (1975)
* ''My Friends Call Me Tony'' (1975)
* ''Gurdeep Singh Bains'' (1975)
* ''Kevin Alec'' (1977)
* ''Beautiful Lennard Island'' (1977)
* ''I’ll Find a Way'' (1977)
* ''Veronica'' (1977)
* ''Benoît'' (1978)
* ''Julie O’Brien'' (1981)
* ''It’s Just Better'' (1982)
* ''The Way It Is'' (1982)
* ''I want to Be an Engineer'' (1983)
* ''Discussions in Bioethics: Who Should Decide?'' (1985)
* ''To a Safer Place'' (1987)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Tamar'' (1991)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Asya'' (1992)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Neveen'' (1992)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Yacoub'' (1992)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Yehuda'' (1994)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Gesho'' (1996)
* ''Children of Jerusalem- Ibrahim ''(1996)
* ''Just a Wedding'' (1999)
* ''To my birthmother…'' (2002)
* ''
Mr. Mergler's Gift'' (2004)
References
External links
*
Watch films by Beverly Shaffer at NFB.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffer, Beverly
1945 births
Living people
Anglophone Quebec people
Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni
Canadian documentary film directors
Canadian women film directors
Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners
Film directors from Montreal
McGill University alumni
National Film Board of Canada people
Canadian women documentary filmmakers