Anne Wheeler, OC, (born September 23, 1946) is a Canadian film and television writer, producer, and director.
Biography After graduating in mathematics from the University of Alberta, Wheeler was a computer programmer before traveling abroad. Her years of travels inspired her to become a storyteller and when she returned she joined a group of old friends to form a film collective. From 1975 to 1985 she worked for the NFB where she made her first feature film, A War Story (1981), which was about her father, Ben Wheeler and his time as a doctor in a P.O.W. camp during World War II. The war is a common theme in her work and she revisited it later in her films Bye Bye Blues (1989) and The War Between Us (1995). Her first non-NFB film was Loyalties in 1986.
In addition to her films, Wheeler has directed episodes of Anne with an E, Private Eyes, Strange Empire, The Romeo Section, The Guard, This Is Wonderland, Da Vinci's Inquest, and Cold Squad.
Awards and honors Wheeler has been nominated four times for the Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction for her films Loyalties (1986), Cowboys Don't Cry (1988), Bye Bye Blues (1989), and Suddenly Naked (2001). Her 1998 television miniseries, The Sleep Room, won Gemini awards for best television movie and best direction."The Sleep Room", The Canadian Historical Review, Volume 80, Number 4, December 1999 pp. 698-705
In 2017 Wheeler won a Leo Award for Best Direction (Television Film) for the Hallmark movie Stop the Wedding.
Wheeler was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Wheeler has also been awarded seven honorary doctorates and is the first woman to be given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of Canada.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1986 Loyalties 1988 Cowboys Don't Cry 1989 Bye Bye Blues 1991 Angel Square 1999 Better Than Chocolate 2000 Marine Life 2001 Suddenly Naked 2002 Edge of Madness 2011 Knockout
Documentary film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1975 Great Grand Mother 1976 Augusta 1981 A War Story 2000 The Orkney Lad: The Story of Isabel Gunn 2013 Chi 1977 Happily Unmarried 1978 Priory: The Only Home I've Got 1979 Triangle Island Welfare Mothers Never a Dull Moment 1983 Great Days in the Rockies From Bears to Bartok 1984 Children Of Alcohol This Is Only a Test
Short film Year Title Director Writer 1977 Happily Unmarried 1978 Teach Me to Dance 2000 Legs Apart
Television TV movies Year Title Director Writer Producer Writer 1993 The Diviners 3-hour special Other Women's Children 1995 The War Between Us 1996 Mother Trucker: The Diana Kilmury Story 2002 The Investigation 2003 Betrayed 2004 A Beachcombers Christmas 2006 Christmas on Chestnut Street 2007 Mom, Dad and Her 2008 Mail Order Bride Living Out Loud Dancing Trees (Partners in Crime) 2009 The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger 2012 The Horses of McBride 2014 The Color of Rain 2015 A Country Wedding 2016 Stop the Wedding Best Direction, 2017 Leo Awards 2023 Friends & Family Christmas
TV series Year Title Notes 1984 For the Record Episode 46: A Change of Heart 1984-1985 Global Playhouse Episodes One's a Heifer and To Set Our House in Order (Also writer) 1985 The Ray Bradbury Theater Episode The Martian 1990 Mom P.I. 2 episodes 1992 North of 60 2 episodes 1995 Jake and the Kid 2 episodes 1996 The Adventures of Shirley Holmes Pilot1998 Cold Squad 3 episodes The Sleep Room Miniseries 1998-2003 Da Vinci's Inquest 7 episodes2000 Mysterious Ways Episode 6:Twins Beggars and Choosers 1 episode 2004-2005 This Is Wonderland 8 episodes 2005 Godiva's 2 episode2006 Jozi-H 2 episodes The Guard 2 episodes 2014 Heartland Episodes 5: Endings and Beginnings and 6: Steal Away2014 When Calls the Heart Episode 9: Change of Heart 2021 Firefly Lane Episodes 3: Dancing Queens and 4: Love is a Battlefield
See also List of female film and television directors List of LGBT-related films directed by women
References
External links Canadian Film Encyclopedia |A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group Official web site
Anne Wheeler at the Canadian Women Film Directors Database Anne Wheeler at the National Film Board of Canada