Kathleen Hepburn is a Canadian screenwriter and film director. She first attracted acclaim for her film Never Steady, Never Still, which premiered as a short film in 2015 before being expanded into her feature film debut in 2017."Never Steady, Never Still to hit silver screen". Prince George Citizen, January 11, 2017. The film received eight Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, including Best Picture and a Best Original Screenplay nomination for Hepburn."Mary Kills People, Anne, Ava, Mohawk Girls among nominees at Screen Awards". Canadian Press via Montreal Gazette, January 16, 2018.
Hepburn garnered further praise for co-directing and co-writing The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019) with Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers. The film premiered at the 69th annual Berlin Film Festival and won three Canadian Screen Awards at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Hepburn and Tailfeathers. The film also won the Toronto Film Critics Association's $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.
She was co-founder with Tyler Hagan of Experimental Forest Films.
Career Hepburn first attracted acclaim for her film Never Steady, Never Still, which premiered as a short film in 2015 before being expanded into her feature film debut in 2017.
The film received eight Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, including Best Picture and a Best Original Screenplay nomination for Hepburn. Hepburn won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Canadian Film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2017."Never Steady, Never Still takes the big prizes at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards". The Georgia Straight, January 9, 2018. She was also nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada's DGC Discovery Award.Barry Hertz, "Directors Guild of Canada reveals long list for Discovery Award". The Globe and Mail, September 5, 2017.
In 2018, she was one of eight women filmmakers selected for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Apprenticeship for Women Directors program, alongside Halima Ouardiri, Kirsten Carthew, Alicia K. Harris, Allison White, Asia Youngman, Tiffany Hsiung, and Kristina Wagenbauer.Lauren Malyk, "Canadian Academy selects eight for second annual mentorship program". Playback, August 20, 2018.
Her second full-length feature film, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, was co-directed with Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival. The film won the $25,000 Best BC Film Award at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival, the Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards for Best Canadian Film and Best Director of a Canadian Film, and the Toronto Film Critics Association's Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. It won three Canadian Screen Awards at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Hepburn and Tailfeathers, and Best Cinematography for Norm Li.Leo Barraclough, "Sophie Deraspe’s ‘Antigone’ Wins Best Film at Canadian Screen Awards". Variety, May 29, 2020. The film also won the Toronto Film Critics Association's $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.
In 2020 she released the short documentary film Perfumed Dreaming, a meditation on the cycle of life which contrasts the recent birth of her sister Megan's first child against the recent death of Kathleen and Megan's mother.Pat Mullen, "Now Streaming: Watch Kathleen Hepburn’s First Doc ‘Perfumed Dreaming’". Point of View, April 7, 2020.
Filmography Year Title Director Writer Producer Ref. 2007 Kettle (short) 2010 It's Not as If We Haven't Been Here for a While... (short) 2011 A Land That Forgets (short) 2014 The Housekeeper (short) 2015 Benjamin (short) 2015 Never Steady, Never Still (short) 2017 Never Steady, Never Still 2017 His Name is Willy (short) 2018 Bathroom Rules (short) 2018 Honey Bee 2019 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open 2020Perfumed Dreaming (documentary short)2025The Well
See also
List of female film and television directors List of lesbian filmmakers List of LGBT-related films directed by women
References
External links