Lois Siegel (born 1946) is an American-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

film director and photographer.Jean Russell, "Genie-award winner Lois Siegel partied all night; Then it was right back to work for documentary film-maker from Kirkland". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', March 22, 1990. She is most noted for her 1989 short documentary film '' Stunt People'',Jim Levesque, "Lois Siegel's Stunt People". '' Cinema Canada'', November 1989. and her 1995 feature documentary '' Baseball Girls''.Bill Brownstein, "Picking up ball Burns dropped; Montreal director chronicles role of women in baseball". ''

'', March 21, 1990.

Early career

Born in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

,Martha Jones, "Introducing Lois Siegel: Overdosed on energy". '' Cinema Canada'', January/February 1979. Siegel attended

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

, where she was a sportswriter for the student newspaper. After graduating with a master's degree in English, she moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1970 to study French at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. After completing her studies, she decided to stay in Canada, becoming a Canadian citizen and working in various roles in film, including assistant camera credits on the films '' East End Hustle'', '' The Rubber Gun'' and '' Happiness Is Loving Your Teacher''.

Filmmaking

Her first film for the NFB was 1979's ''Stunt Family'', part of the Canada Vignettes series. In 1983 she released the experimental feature film '' A 20th Century Chocolate Cake''. She followed up in 1988 with ''Strangers in Town'', a mid-length documentary film about people with

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

. In this era she also had numerous credits as a

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

director, including on the films '' Train of Dreams'', '' Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller'', '' Princes in Exile'' and '' Vincent and Me''. ''Stunt People'', released in 1989, was a longer film about the same family of stunt performers she had profiled in ''Stunt Family''. It was the winner of the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

for Best Short Documentary at the 11th Genie Awards in 1990, She followed up in 1993 with ''Lip Gloss'', a documentary film about the drag scene in Montreal whose participants included Armand Larrivée, Derek McKinnon and Guilda. ''Baseball Girls'', a film about the history of women's baseball, followed in 1995. She has also taught film studies courses at John Abbott College and the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.

Photography

Throughout her career, Siegel was also a photographer, regularly photographing both film sets and jazz, blues and rock concerts.Anne Sutherland, "Shooting Stars: Lois Siegel's photographs are testimony to time spent on movie sets around town". ''

'', March 13, 1997. She did this mainly as a hobby at first, but after ''Baseball Girls'' she began to exhibit her photography in gallery shows. She later moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, where she taught video production at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

,Paul Gessell, "Soul catcher". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', July 13, 2004. and continued to work as a freelance photographer for media, arts organizations and community groups in the city.Andrea Lewandoski
"Taking time to make a difference: Lois Siegel shows you can fight city hall"
'' Capital Xtra!'', November 3, 2004. She was also the writer of "A Man for All Stages", a documentary about actor

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

, for the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

biographical documentary series '' Life and Times''.

Filmography

*''Spectrum in White'' - 1971 *''Paralysis'' - 1972 *''Painting With Light'' - 1974 *''Boredom'' - 1976 *''Faces'' - 1976 *''Canada Vignettes: Stunt Family'' - 1978 *''Dialogue of an Ancient Fog'' - 1978 *''Recipe to Cook a Clown'' - 1978 *''Solitude'' - 1978 *''Arena'' - 1979 *'' A 20th Century Chocolate Cake'' - 1983 *''Plastic Dreams'' - 1988 *''Strangers in Town'' - 1988 *'' Stunt People'' - 1989 *''Pancake on a Hot Tin Roof'' - 1990 *''Lip Gloss'' - 1993 *'' Baseball Girls'' - 1995

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Lois 1946 births Living people 20th-century American photographers 20th-century Canadian photographers 21st-century Canadian photographers American documentary film directors American women photographers American women film directors American emigrants to Canada Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women photographers Canadian women film directors Film directors from Montreal Film directors from Ottawa Ohio University alumni Concordia University alumni Academic staff of Concordia University Canadian casting directors Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Short Documentary Film Canadian women casting directors