TORONTO, May 2, 2001 -- International award-winning writer and filmmaker Deepa Mehta will deliver the 2001 York University Wendy Michener Lecture, the final event in the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies series "The Triumph of Canadian Cinema", at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), on Fri., May 11, 7:30 to 10 p.m.
Mehta will discuss her body of work, including her film trilogy – Fire, Earth and Water – which has garnered her international acclaim, but at the same time the wrath of many Hindu fundamentalists for her portrayal of the numerous social ills in her birth country of India.
The first film Fire -- a story about two Indian middle-class women from loveless marriages drawn together in a lesbian relationship -- caused such a stir that Mehta received several death threats and Indian protesters burned down the cinema that first screened the film. The second film Earth, is a love story that takes place during the tumultuous 1947 partition of India. And the third Water, is about Indian widows in the 1930s who turn to prostitution to survive. The film’s sets were attacked by Hindu fundamentalists forcing Mehta to complete the filming of Water in an undisclosed location.
"Deepa Mehta is an essential part of a new global outlook in Canadian cinema," says film and television studies Prof. Seth Feldman, who is also the 2000/2001 Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies. "Her work speaks not only to questions of life in India but also to the place of Canadians in world affairs. That her films have won international acclaim only strengthens the claim for the triumph of Canadian cinema."
Born in Amritsar, India, Mehta received a degree in philosophy from the University of New Delhi, and emigrated to Canada in 1973. She began her film career writing scripts for children's films, and has worked as an editor, producer and director. Her television work includes Danger Bay, Inside Stories, and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. In 1985, she directed Travelling Light: The Photojournalism of Dilip Mehta, a one-hour television special on one of the top photojournalists in the world. It received three Gemini nominations and a Finalist Award at the 1987 New York International Film and Television Festival. Her feature film debut Sam and Me (1991) earned an honourable mention for the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival. And in 1994, Mehta directed Camilla, starring Jessica Tandy, Bridget Fonda and Hume Cronyn.
Mehta’s lecture will take place in the AGO’s Jackman Auditorium located at 317 Dundas Street West, (McCaul St. entrance). The lecture will be preceded by screenings of Mehta's films Fire at 1 p.m. and Earth at 3 p.m. at the same location.
The annual Wendy Michener Lectures were established at York University's Faculty of Fine Arts to commemorate the late Wendy Roland Michener, a noted Canadian arts critic and journalist.
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For further information, please contact:
Prof. Seth Feldman
Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 77553
sfeldman@yorku.ca
Daniel Drache
Director, Robarts Centre
York University
(416) 736-5415
drache@yorku.ca
Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/058/01
