Mia Donovan is a Canadian photographer and filmmaker. She is best known for her documentary '' Inside Lara Roxx'' released through

EyeSteelFilm EyeSteelFilm is a Montreal-based Canada, Canadian Film, cinema production company co-founded by Daniel Cross (filmmaker), Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin, dedicated to socially engaged cinema, bringing social and political change through cinematic ...

about 21-year-old Canadian

Lara Roxx Lara Roxx is a Canadian woman who, in March 2004, became the first of three known individuals in four years to contract HIV while making a U.S. pornographic video. Career Roxx became famous in 2004 at age 21, after being exposed to HIV while d ...

who in the spring of 2004, left her hometown

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 ...

heading to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

for working in

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

and within two months contracted

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

after shooting an unprotected sex scene with two males. Donovan followed Lara Roxx through 5 years of Roxx's attempt to build a new identity and find hope in the wake of her past. Her film won "Best Documentary on Society and Humanity" at the 2011 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival and it was runner-up for "Best Feature at 2012 Boston Underground Film Festival. Donovan received a B.F.A in Art History and Studio Arts from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

in 2001. Her photographic series 'Stripped' was shown in Montreal in January 2005. The series was an artistic reflection of

commodification Within a capitalist economic system, commodification is the transformation of things such as goods, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals into objects of trade or commodities.For animals"United Nations Commodity Trad ...

in the

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide Sex worker, sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of s ...

. She was picked as one of the "Noize Makers 2001" by Montreal arts weekly ''

Montreal Mirror ''Montreal Mirror'' or just ''Mirror'' was a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was distributed every Thursday. It had a circulation of 70,000 and reached a quarter of a million readers per week. ...

''. As of December 2012, she was in production of her second documentary about

deprogrammer Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that attempts to help someone who has "strongly held convictions," often coming from cults or New Religious Movements (NRM). Deprogramming aims to assist a person who holds a controversial or restrictive be ...

Ted Patrick Theodore Roosevelt Patrick, Jr. (born 1930) is an American deprogrammer and author. He is considered to be the "father of deprogramming." Early life Ted Patrick was born in a red-light district of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in which he was surrou ...

with

Filmography

*2011: '' Inside Lara Roxx'' (director, co-producer, writer) *2015: 'Deprogrammed' *2020: ''Dope Is Death''

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Mia EyeSteelFilm Canadian women film directors Canadian documentary film directors Film directors from Montreal Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women documentary filmmakers