Rat Life and Diet in North America is a Canadian short film, directed by Joyce Wieland and released in 1968."Rat Life and Diet in North America". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. A satirical allegory for the political climate of the 1960s, the film centres on a group of gerbils who are being held as political prisoners by a cat, until eventually escaping to Canada and taking up organic farming."Joyce thinks Canada, is last hope for rats and people". The Globe and Mail, March 8, 1969.
It was Wieland's first film to explicitly engage themes of Canadian nationalism,Holmes-Moss, Kristy A. 2006. "Negotiating the Nation: "Expanding" the Work of Joyce Wieland. Canadian Journal of Film Studies XV (2): 20. reflecting her belief that Canada was the world's last remaining hope for the creation of a peaceful utopian society."Canada world's last hope 'for a Utopia'". Ottawa Citizen, March 10, 1969.
Distribution The film premiered in November 1968 at Canadian Artists '68, an open art competition staged by the Art Gallery of Ontario.Manny Farber, "Films at Canadian Artists 68"]. Artscanada, Vol. 26, No. 1 (February 1969). pp. 28-29.
It was broadcast by CBC Television in 1969, in an episode of the New Film Makers series."Rat Life Featured On Canadian Film". Calgary Herald, May 23, 1969. It has been frequently exhibited in retrospective shows, both of Wieland's own work,John Bentley Mays, "AGO retrospective enshrines the myth Surrounding Wieland"]. The Globe and Mail, April 18, 1987. and of the overall history of Canadian film."What Is Canadian Film?" The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1996.
References
External links Rat Life and Diet in North America at the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre