Rat Life and Diet in North America

1968 Canadian film

Rat Life and Diet in North America

Directed by| Joyce Wieland
Written by| Joyce Wieland
Produced by| Joyce Wieland
Cinematography| Joyce Wieland
Edited by| Joyce Wieland

Release date

* 1968 (1968)

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]

## Distribution

[edit]

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]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Rat Life and Diet in North America". Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
2. ^ "Joyce thinks Canada, is last hope for rats and people". The Globe and Mail, March 8, 1969.
3. ^ Holmes-Moss, Kristy A. 2006. "Negotiating the Nation: "Expanding" the Work of Joyce Wieland. Canadian Journal of Film Studies XV (2): 20.
4. ^ "Canada world's last hope 'for a Utopia'". Ottawa Citizen, March 10, 1969.
5. ^ Manny Farber, "Films at Canadian Artists 68"]. Artscanada, Vol. 26, No. 1 (February 1969). pp. 28-29.
6. ^ "Rat Life Featured On Canadian Film". Calgary Herald, May 23, 1969.
7. ^ John Bentley Mays, "AGO retrospective enshrines the myth Surrounding Wieland"]. The Globe and Mail, April 18, 1987.
8. ^ "What Is Canadian Film?" The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1996.

## External links

[edit]

* Rat Life and Diet in North America at the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre
* Rat Life and Diet in North America at IMDb

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