Patricia Rozema

Patricia Rozema’s films, though varied in style and content, have always been marked by a humane and tender sensibility. Described as “so fresh, so funny, it amazes the heart” to “visually sensuous” and “wryly sophisticated”, her work invariably shows social prescience and deep humanity. Born in Kingston, ON and raised in the small town of Sarnia, ON in a Dutch Calvinist immigrant family where television was severely restricted, Rozema didn’t go to a movie theatre until she was 16 years old.

After a brief stint in journalism, her first feature, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, a magical realist film about a socially inept secretary in an art gallery made one of the most outstanding feature debuts in the history of Canadian cinema. At the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, in the Director’s Fortnight, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing won the Prix de la Jeunesse and was runner-up for the Camera D’Or (best first feature). The film opened the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win numerous awards including being ranked in TIFF’s list of Top 10 Canadian Films of all time. Miramax released the film in the US to great acclaim.

Rozema directed Six Gestures as part of the Yo-Yo Ma Inspired by Bach series. It debuted at the Venice Film Festival. Rozema’s film was nominated for a Grammy and was awarded a Prime Time Emmy, as well as a Golden Rose at the Rose d’Or Global Television Festival, the highest prize in television in Europe. 

In 1995, she wrote and directed a lesbian love story, When Night is Falling, which won festival audience prizes around the world and remains a classic in the gay community.

Rozema's latest feature, MOUTHPIECE (2018), was adapted from a play of the same name by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava who also star in this powerful, funny and highly original look into a women's conflicted psyche in the first 48 hours following her mother's sudden death. The film premiered as the Special Presentation Opening Night Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and was named one of TIFF's Top Ten Canadian Films of the year. MOUTHPIECE is currently touring on the international film festival circuit.  

Rozema holds an honorary doctorate from the Ontario Academy of Art & Design University. 

 She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.