Born in Toronto, Penelope graduated in film from SFUin the 80’s. Living in Paris, then Berlin for ten years, she became known internationally as an experimental filmmaker making 15 shorts and touring worldwide culminating in a show at MOMA in New York in 1992. Her short Llaw, about the fall of the Berlin Wall, launched her commercial career at the Berlin Film Festival with its radical perspective on history. Her 1st feature Trouble, shot in Berlin, won critical acclaim and led her back to Canada to direct features Boulevard and Dangerous Attraction and later 14 movies for television. She has also directed many episodes of American and Canadian television, such as Kung Fu, Lonesome Dove and Cold Squad. Her NFB documentary Tokyo Girls won best doc at numerous international festivals. Her feature film A Wake, created through improv with her cast, won 8 best film awards including the Carmel Film Festival where Clint Eastwood honored her for best feature.
Awards & Nominations
(selected)
A Wake (feature film)
Best Feature, Carmel Film Festival
Best Feature, Female Eye Film Festival
Best Feature, South Appalachian Film Festival
Nomination, Best Feature, Directors Guild of Canada
The Waiting Room (feature film)
Nomination, Leo Award
Past Tense
Nomination, Leo Award
Tokyo Girls (documentary)
Best Doc, Chicago Film Festival
Trouble
Best Film, Montreal Women’s Film Festival, Magdeberg Film Festival
A Dream of Naming
Top 10 short of TIFF in 10 years