Paule Baillargeon – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Patricia Rozema on I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING, Self Confidence and Queer Cinema- Loren King interviews

March 15, 2022March 16, 2022 Loren King I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, into the forest, Mansfield Park, Mouthpiece, New QueerCinema, patricia rozema, Paule Baillargeon, Prix de la Jeunesse, Sheila McCarthy

Writer/director Patricia Rozema had no idea in 1987 that her feature debut I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing would become a classic and ranked in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Top 10 Canadian Films of all time. Rozema simply made the film she wanted to make. The film’s success is even more impressive when one considers that 1987 was several years before the advent of the “New QueerCinema” and certainly well before conciseness about diverse screen roles for women.

Reviews

I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING – Review by Marilyn Ferdinand

March 15, 2022March 20, 2022 Marilyn Ferdinand (Archived Contributor) I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, patricia rozema, Paule Baillargeon, Sheila McCarthy

I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing is very sweet and very funny. Patricia Rozema, who wrote the screenplay and directed, pokes at the pretensions of the 1980s art establishment. A highlight: Gallery owner Gabrielle and a museum curator go through her gallery commenting in the most abstract language on the work of an up-and-coming painter—a skewering vision of people talking themselves into assigning values to a static image when an emotional response is called for.