Bailey wins best director award from her peers

Posted By Roger Newman

Posted 3 months ago

PHOTO BY PAUL PERRIERNorma Bailey, Kari Skogland and Holly Dale were awarded Outstanding Achievement in Direction prizes.

Gimli-raised film director Norma Bailey has added another trophy to her case full of awards.

Bailey was named best director of a television movie mini-series by the Directors Guild of Canada at the guild's gala 2009 awards ceremony in late October at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

She was honoured for her direction of the U.S. television mini-series "The Capture of the Green River Killer". Shot last year and screened on the Lifetime Channel, the series dramatized the story of a determined detective who hunted down a serial killer in the Seattle area.

The veteran filmmaker was particularly pleased by this award because it came from her fellow directors. "It is great to be recognized by your peers," said Bailey whose hopes of winning were realized despite stiff competition.

A mentor to young people in the film industry, she was also happy that women won all three of the 2009 Canadian directing awards. She was joined on the podium by Kari Skoglund, director of the feature film "Fifty Dead Men Walking" and by Holly Dale who helmed the television series "Flashpoint".

Awards have been numerous in recent years for Bailey who started her career in the 1970s by sweeping the floor in a film studio. Her three decades of achievement in movies and television were honoured by the Winnipeg Film Group at a special evening in 2008. She was one of the first members of the film group which has trained emerging Manitoba filmmakers for 35 years.

Moving to Montreal, she made a documentary for the National Film Board on Roger Doucet, the legendary national anthem singer at Montreal Canadiens' games in the old Forum. Titled "The Performer", the documentary resulted in her first award — the 1980 Special Jury Award for short films at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Despite all the acclaim over the years, Bailey is not resting on her laurels. She is currently directing the second season of "Cashing In", a sexy, soapy television series for the Winnipeg-based Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). Starring Eric Schweig and Karen Holness, the 13-episode drama-comedy series focusses on the lives of the customers and staff of a First Nations gambling casino.

"We're shooting it at the Club Regent in Transcona," Bailey said.

Bailey and writer-producer Peter Lauterman are mentoring young Aboriginal talent during the production of the series. Her first widely-praised series was "Daughters of the Country", an historical drama about the lives of Métis women. Produced by the National Film Board and shown on CBC, "Daughters" won a national Gemini award in 1987.

As well, she won the best director award for the movie "Cowboys and Indians — the J. J. Harper Story" at the American Indian Film Festival in 2003. Her other well-known movies include "The Sheldon Kennedy Story", "Nights Below Station Street" and "Bordertown Cafe".

Bailey, a Willow Island cottager, has sometimes had the opportunity to work in her home territory. She directed nine episodes of the TV series "Falcon Beach" in Winnipeg Beach as well as lensing episodes of "My Life As A Dog" and the "Shirley Holmes" child detective series in Gimli.