{{short description|Canadian film director (born 1964)}} {{Infobox person | name = Lynne Stopkewich | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1964}} <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | alma_mater = [[Concordia University]],<br/>[[University of British Columbia]] | occupation = Film director | years_active = 1990s–present | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Lynne Stopkewich''' (born 1964) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] film director. She attracted attention for her [[feature film]] [[List of directorial debuts|directorial debut]] ''[[Kissed]]'' (1996).
==Life and career==
In 1987, Stopkewich obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in film studies from [[Concordia University]], followed in 1996 by a Master of Fine Arts Degree in film studies from the Department of Theatre and Film at the [[University of British Columbia]]. Her first [[short film]]s were made while at Concordia.
=== ''Kissed'' === {{Main|Kissed}} ''[[Kissed]]'' commenced development as Stopkewich's thesis feature at the University of British Columbia, to which Stopkewich later returned as a faculty member.<ref>[http://www.film.ubc.ca/film_production/faculty_staff_directory.shtml Faculty Profile of Lynne Stopkewich] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706210545/http://www.film.ubc.ca/film_production/faculty_staff_directory.shtml |date=2011-07-06 }}. Department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of British Columbia. Retrieved 2011-01-02.</ref> The film stars [[Molly Parker]] as Sandra Larson, a young woman whose fixation on [[death]] leads her to study [[embalming]] at a mortuary school, where in turn she finds herself drawn toward feelings of [[necrophilia]]. [[Peter Outerbridge]] also stars as Matt, a fellow student who develops romantic feelings for Sandra, and so must learn to accept her sexual proclivities. Despite being allowed a substantial grant, Stopkewich went almost $30,000 into debt and cost her company $400,000 so she could complete shooting the film.<ref>Kalli Paakspuu, "Lynne Stopkewich: Abject Sexualities" ''Great Canadian Film Directors'', ed. [[George Melnyk]]. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press (2007): 394</ref>
The film received significant attention. [[Roger Ebert]] described the film as "one of the most controversial films at the Toronto and Sundance festivals" and gave the film a three-star review, noting that it "is about a necrophiliac, but in its approach, it could be about spirituality or transcendence."<ref name="kissed-ebert">{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kissed-1997|title=Kissed|author=Ebert, Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|date=April 25, 1997|accessdate=May 12, 2014}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that "it would be easy to snicker at this Canadian film, were its subject not handled with a delicacy and lyricism that underscore the mystical rather than gruesome aspects of what Sandra coolly acknowledges is a consuming addiction."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/film/kissed-film-review.html|title=Kissed|author=Holden, Stephen|date=April 18, 1997|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=May 12, 2014}}</ref>
=== Other work === In addition to ''Kissed'', Stopkewich has directed the feature film ''[[Suspicious River]]'' (2000). She has also directed various television episodes of ''[[Bliss (Canadian TV series)|Bliss]]'', ''[[Da Vinci's Inquest]]'', ''[[The L Word]]'', ''[[This Is Wonderland]]'', and ''[[The Shields Stories]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The gendered screen : Canadian women filmmakers|last1=Melnyk|first1=George|last2=Austin-Smith|first2=Brenda|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|year=2010|isbn=9781554582716|location=Waterloo, ON|pages=[https://archive.org/details/genderedscreenca0000unse/page/43 43]|url=https://archive.org/details/genderedscreenca0000unse/page/43}}</ref> Stopkewich generally prefers to work with cast and crew with whom she has worked before, most notably, the actress [[Molly Parker]].<ref>Kalli Paakspuu, "Lynne Stopkewich: Abject Sexualities" ''Great Canadian Film Directors'', ed. [[George Melnyk]]. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press (2007): 385. "Preferring to work with established relationships, her creative collaboration with actress Molly Parker ... has been outstanding."</ref>
Stopkewich's approach to the gaze in film is in part informed by [[feminist film theory]],<ref>Kay Armatage, ''Gendering the Nation'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1999): 264. "Stopkewich describes her approach to the circuit of looks as an overt decision, based on her familiarity with feminist film theory."</ref> and thus her films have been described as being "darkly feminist."<ref>Paakspuu (2007): 385</ref> Canadians also see in her films "a strong sense of local culture" which rises "above the American appropriation of Vancouver as a backdrop for American generic culture."<ref>Paakspuu (2007): 401</ref>
She is the Vancouver director on ''Here At Home'', a 2012 [[National Film Board of Canada]] [[web documentary]] exploring the [[Mental Health Commission of Canada]]'s efforts to end homelessness for people with mental illness via its At Home initiative.<ref name="Curran">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/11/10/vancouver-homeless-here-at-home-nfb-maddogg_n_2104438.html|title=Here At Home: In the Kitchen With Mr. MadDogg|last=Curran|first=Oisin|work=[[Huffington Post]]|accessdate=13 November 2012}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0832369}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stopkewich, Lynne}} [[Category:1964 births]] [[Category:Canadian women film directors]] [[Category:Canadian television directors]] [[Category:Feminist artists]] [[Category:Canadian women television directors]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:University of British Columbia alumni]]