“FERRON: girl on a road” winner of:
- Audience Award for Best Doc: Image+Nation, Montreal
- Elle Flanders Audience Award for Best Documentary, InsideOut, Toronto
- Audience Award for Best Doc, OutFilm CT
- Director’s Award, OutFilm CT
- Best Doc, Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival
(Release date: summer 2009.)
Before the Indigo Girls and before Ani DiFranco, there was Ferron, whose plaintive and poetic songs provided the soundtrack for an entire generation of lesbians. Nearing 60 and feeling the urge to reconnect with her audience, Ferron reunites with her band to perform a concert after nearly a decade away. Internationally award-winning director Gerry Rogers (My Left Breast) is there to capture the moment.
Part performance film, part biopic, Ferron: girl on a road traces, the life, the songs, the loves, the heartbreaks, and the pioneering path carved by a true folk legend. Intimate, and sweeping all at once, this film moves beyond “chronicle” and captures in word and deed, the essence of a visionary artist, and the soul of an icon. It is a celebration!
Opening on British Columbia´s Saturna Island, where Ferron welcomes her band mates into her home to rehearse, the action shifts to a stage in Victoria, where Ferron and the band perform some of her most adored songs — Shadows on a Dime, Girl on a Road and Snowin’ in Brooklyn.
Interspersed between tunes are interviews with the band members and with Ferron herself, who talks openly about her painful childhood, her rise and fall in the music industry, her past feelings of shame regarding her Native ancestry and, finally, about coming to terms with herself after a lifetime of struggles.
Documentary: 73 minutes ● Producer/Director: Gerry Rogers ● Camera: Peg Norman ● Editor: Lyly Fortin ● Music Editor: don db benedictson ● Release date: summer 2009 ● Phone 709-726-3472 ● Fax 709-726-5647 ● Email gerry@augustaproductions.com ● Downloads: Ferron: Girl on a road press kit (Word Doc or PDF) ● Ferron: Girl on a road DVD poster (PDF) and postcard (front – PDF).
Ferron: girl on a road — Our documentary’s Facebook group.
FerronOnline.com — The official Ferron website.
Sponsors and Credits
Upcoming Screenings
Reelout Queer Film + Video Festival Kingston, Ontario
Jan. 28 – Feb. 6, 2010
Screening Date: TBA
Past Screenings
Frameline: San Francisco LGBT Film Festival – June 19 – 29
Friday, June 19, 6pm at the Roxy
Inside Out/Toronto LGBT Film & Video Festival – May 14-24
Screening Sunday May 17 5pm at the ROM
New Zealand Outtakes Reel Queer Film Festival – May 21 – June 10
Auckland, Monday May 25, 6:10pm
Wellington, Sat. June 4th, 4:30 The Paramount
Christchurch, Sat. June 7, 2:45 Regent on Worcester Cinemas
Honolulu Rainbow Film Fest – May 21-24
Honolulu, Sat. May 23 6pm Doris Duke Theatre
Big Island (Kona), Fri. May 29, 5pm Aloha Theatre
Big Island (Hilo), Sat. May 30, 4pm Palace Theatre
Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival – May 22 – 30
Sunday, May 24th, 7:30 Cinestudio, Trinity College, Hartford
The Nickel Indepedent Film Festival, St. John’s, Newfoundland June 23-28
Screening date: Friday, June 26 7:30 pm Inco Centre , MUN
Philadelphia QFest – July 9-20th
Screening date: Tuesday, July 14th @ 5 pm, Ritz East 2
Vancouver Queer Film Festival – August 13-23
Screening date: Sunday, August 16th
North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival August 13-16
Durham, North Carolina
THE 1ST ANNUAL BOLD FILM FESTIVAL
Sunday September 13, 2009 9 pm Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway @ Commercial Dr.
Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival Sept. 8-13, 2009
Screening Date: Sat. Sept. 12 @, 2:35 PM Alamo S. Lamar 1
Fresno Reel Pride
Sunday Sept. 20th @ 3 pm. Tower Theatre
2009 Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Screening Date: October 11, 2009 @ 5:00 PM
Tampa Theatre, 711 N Franklin St.
ImageOut 2009-Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival, Oct. 9-18, 2009
Screening Dat & Time: Monday, October 12, 6:15pm @ LITTLE THEATRE
Siren Nation, Nov. 5-8, 2009 Portland, Oregon
Screening Date: Sat. Nov. 7th, 2009, Noon – 5:30 p.m. The Hollywood Theatre
Inside Out Ottawa-Gatineau LGBT Film & Video Festival
November 20 – 22, 2009, National Gallery of Canada
Director:
Gerry Rogers
Camera:
Peg Norman
Editor:
Lyly Fortin
Additional Camera:
John Vatcher
Mo Simpson
Cal Garingan
Lighting:
John Vatcher
Live Music Recording:
Ron Cote
Sound Recording:
Peg Norman
Gerry Rogers
Derm Carberry
Lisa Kolisnyk
Christine McDowell
Set Decorator:
Debbie Vatcher
Production Assistants:
Chris McDowell
Ian Vatcher
Music Edit & Mix:
Don db Benedictson
Sound Editor:
Paul Steffler
Sound Mix:
Don db Benedictson
Assistant Editor:
Phillip Cairns
Transcription:
Kelly Dooley
Closed Captioning:
Lyly Fortin
Online & Colour Correction:
Steve Cook
Thank you, thank you:
Cari Green
Diane Boehme
Paul Pope
Pope Productions
John Vatcher
Debbie Vatcher
LSPU Hall
Maria Popacostaki
Ellen Balka
Wendy Williams
Pat Hogan
Jean Smith
John Kramer
Shelagh Rogers
Frank Fagan
Mary Gauthier
Issa
John Vatcher
Bill Coultas
Sandy Morris
Danielle Dumesil
Theresa MacKenzie
Jeanne O’Brien
Debbie Hynes
Sylvia Hamilton
John Doyle
Frank Fagan
Debbie McGee
Chris Darlington
Lynne Fernie
Lorraine Segato
Amelia Curran
Patricia Pin
Russell Floren
Gigi Rodriguez
Harvey Hyslop
Lori Clarke
Thank you to all those whose support helped to make this happen.
All songs written by Ferron:
“O Baby”
“More Than That”
“Girl On A Road”
“Snowin’ In Brooklyn”
“Higher Wisdom”
“Shadows On A Dime”
“Indian Dream”
“Testimony”
“Our Purpose Here”
“In The Mean Time”
“Ain’t Life A Brook”
“Girl On A Road”
Archival Video Footage with the generous permission of Shawn Preus
Archival Photos used with the generous permission of:
Gayle Scott
The Foisy Family Collection
Wynn Berry
Jody Boyman
E&O Insurance:
Premiere Insurance
Legal:
Rogers Bussey
Associate Producer:
Jill Knox-Gosse
Producer
Gerry Rogers