Rat Life and Diet in North America | |
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Directed by | Joyce Wieland |
Written by | Joyce Wieland |
Produced by | Joyce Wieland |
Cinematography | Joyce Wieland |
Edited by | Joyce Wieland |
Release date |
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Running time | 14 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Rat Life and Diet in North America is a Canadian short film, directed by Joyce Wieland and released in 1968.[1] A satirical allegory for the political climate of the 1960s, the film centres on a group of gerbils who are being held as political prisoners by a cat, until eventually escaping to Canada and taking up organic farming.[2]
It was Wieland's first film to explicitly engage themes of Canadian nationalism,[3] reflecting her belief that Canada was the world's last remaining hope for the creation of a peaceful utopian society.[4]
The film premiered in November 1968 at Canadian Artists '68, an open art competition staged by the Art Gallery of Ontario.[5]
It was broadcast by CBC Television in 1969, in an episode of the New Film Makers series.[6] It has been frequently exhibited in retrospective shows, both of Wieland's own work,[7] and of the overall history of Canadian film.[8]