Donna Read (born 1938) is a Canadian film director and editor. Her work includes Women and Spirituality: The Goddess Trilogy and Yemanja: Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil (2015).
Career Read is a Montreal-based film director and editor. She formed a film company, Belili Productions, with the feminist writer Starhawk. From 1963, Read worked at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Between 1989 and 1993 Read directed a "Goddess Trilogy" about feminist spirituality, produced by Studio D. The first two parts of the trilogy, Goddess Remembered and The Burning Times, were supported by the NFB. The Catholic church made a failed attempt to ban The Burning Times. In 1991, the NFB refused to fund Read's work any further, citing the "controversy and lack of interest" surrounding her work.
Work November (1970) – editor Working Mothers series – editor Mask and Drum (1973) – producer and editor Kripalu (1973) - director C'est la Vie (1982) – editor It's Just Better (1982) – editor Too dirty for a woman – editor Behind the Veil: Nuns – editor Adam's World (1989) – director Goddess Remembered (1989) – director The Burning Times (1990) – director Full Circle (1993) – director Signs out of the Time: The life of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas (2004) with Starhawk - co-director, editor Permaculture: The Growing Edge (2010) – co-director Yemanja Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil (2015)
Awards
|1993 |International Documentary Special Award for The Burning Times |CableACE Award
|2016 |Saga Award for Special Contributions to Women's History and Culture |The Association for Study of Women and Mythology
|2018 |Award for Outstanding Independent Documentary |Black Reel Awards
References