Films

Cream Soda

11 mins., by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, 1975

The film takes viewers inside a private strip club that operated much like the massage parlours inhabiting the infamous 1970s Yonge Street ‘sin strip’ between Dundas and Gerrard. The film was made at the peak of the industry, when roughly 100 clubs had surfaced in the area.

Women working in the club give the filmmakers unprecedented access to film all areas, including the dressing room and private striptease rooms where they perform for their clients. It’s the only independent film made inside one of the sex parlour establishments along Yonge Street before they were closed in the late 70s following the murder of Emanuel Jaques. Shown widely at film festivals, seminars and University courses. A rare, historic document of 1970s sex workers and the ‘sin-strip’ culture.

Self-funded. Janis Cole and Holly Dale producers, directors, editors, camera, sound recording and sound mix.

• Winner, student film award, Sheridan College.
• Grierson Film Seminar.
• University tour with filmmaker in attendance.

“…technically it’s a student film, but its candor and explosive subject matter raise it far beyond most scholastic fare.” —— George Csaba Koller, Cinema Canada

Available at Vtape 

Minimum Charge, No Cover

9 mins., colour, by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, 1976

The film unfolds to meet people leading alternative lifestyles in the downtown Toronto gay scene of the 1970s. Handled with candor that comes from the filmmakers being part of their world, we meet a homosexual, sex worker, trans woman and trio of drag performers, including Michelle Ross who is showcased in one of her earliest performances before going on to become the most world-renowned drag performer from Canada in the 70s. The filmmakers structure their film intentionally, bringing the audience into the world of their subjects to breakdown stereotypes and dispel labels. A rare, historic document of the 70s gay subculture in Toronto. Used educationally including gender studies, women’s studies and 2SLGBTQIA+ studies.

Self-funded. Janis Cole and Holly Dale producers, directors, editors, camera, sound recording and sound mix.

• Student Film Festival, Montreal and Ann Arbour Film Festival.
• Sold to Yale University among others.
• University tour with filmmaker in attendance.

“We are given access to a 1970’s queer avant-la-letter society where identity is blissfully unmoored from biology…” — Jon Davies, artist, journalist, writer.

“They [Cream Soda and Minimum Charge No Cover] are such a precious document of Toronto’s nightlife culture at that time … [It’s] very, very rare,” — Jordon King, artist and curator, Into the Night.

Social media reviews. 

Available at Vtape 

Thin Line

32 mins., by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, through their company Spark Productions, 1977

The maximum security Oak Ridge mental health centre at Penetanguishene, Ontario, was a hospital for the criminally insane that opened in 1933 and officially closed in 2014. Thin Line is the only independent, unsupervised film made inside the walls. By filming therapy sessions with the patients, including supervised drug and alcohol treatments, and inside ‘the capsule,’ which patients entered voluntarily as a way to break down psychological reserve, Thin Line shows the capacity for human compassion in men who have committed some of the most brutal crimes, including rape and murder. Used in mental health studies, shown at CAMH, Rondezvous With Madness Festival, Carlton University, and Documentary Film Studies.

Canada Council and self-funding along with Cole and Dale forfeiting all salaries (there is no NFB funding or affiliation).

Janis Cole and Holly Dale producers, directors, writers, editors, researchers, production managers, location sound recording.

• Art Gallery of Ontario, Jackman Hall, and Grierson Seminar.
• University tour with filmmaker in attendance.

“It is one of the most powerful documentaries I have ever seen…” — George Csaba Koller, Cinema Canada.

“The results [Thin Line] are astonishing: young murderers, rapists and knife artists talking about what made them whet they are and how they hope to become something different.” — Marshal Delaney, Saturday Night Magazine.

Full Cast and Crew IMDB. 

P4W: Prison for Women

82 mins., by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, through their company Spectrum Films, 1981
Presented by Pan-Canadian & Spectrum Films in 1981, CFMDC 1983, Films We Like 2022, Vtape 2024.

The powerful direct-cinema documentary centres on the lives of five inmates at Canada’s only maximum-security prison for women (now closed). The openness of the inmates bespeaks an obvious trust in the filmmakers who spent four years trying to film inside the prison before their tireless efforts convinced authorities to give them unprecedented access for filming. They emerged with searing stories that contributed to the eventual closing of the prison in 2000. The film provides an intimate look at women wrestling with motherhood, love, loneliness, hope, despair and suicide. The women’s lives are rendered with dignity and heartrending honesty in this milestone documentary. P4W is the only film made entirely inside the former prison, capturing its history, layout and daily operations. Shown in Women’s Studies, Film Studies, Documentary Studies, specialty Seminars and Festivals.

Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and self-funding along with Cole and Dale forfeiting all salaries, and assistance with post production lab processing provided by Studio D of the NFB.

Janis Cole and Holly Dale producers, directors, writers, editors, researchers, production managers.

• Winner, Genie Award for Best Theatrical Documentary.
• Winner, Best Film in Festival and Best Human Condition Film, Yorkton Film Festival.
• World Premier at Toronto Festival of Festivals (now TIFF). Berlin, Sydney, London, Grierson Seminar, Cretail, etc.
• Aired on CBC, City TV, First Choice, the Movie Network and Cineplex/Odeon theatres across Canada.
• Included in “50 Documentaries that Defined TIFF”, by Barbara Goslawski, POV, August 25, 2025.
• Included in “Top Twenty Films since 1981”, by Cameron Bailey, NOW, October 25, 2001.

“No ordinary prison film or women’s film, P4W is a dramatic, very touching portrait of women you’re not likely to forget.” — John Katz, Toronto Film Festival Programmer.

“…a firm feminist voice emerges. We don’t see any men in the film, but enough men are bitterly mentioned to make the prison signify the oppression and restriction of the patriarchal microcosm.” — Maurice Yacower, Cinema Canada.

IMDB.

Canadian Film Encyclopedia. 

Janis Cole on the closing of the prison. 

Available at Vtape 

Hookers on Davie

86 mins., by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, through their company Spectrum Films, 1984
Presented by Pan-Canadian & Spectrum Films in 1984, CFMDC 1986, Films We Like 2022, Vtape 2024, CIP 2025.

The landmark film is an extraordinary, in-depth excursion into the world of cis women, gay men, transvestites and transgender women who openly ply their trade day and night along a strip of Davie Street that once turned Vancouver into the prostitution capitol of Canada. Hookers on Davie isn’t a once-over or peep show. The closeness between sex workers and filmmakers has made the film a timeless capsule of the sex trade. Sex workers are captured fly-on-the-wall style as they work the streets and take breaks with each other.

For more than forty years audiences have had a heartfelt connection to the film and the humanity of the people who populate it, especially for its preservation of early queer and trans history, and the personal stories of the subjects that remain deeply affecting. Critics and audiences alike praise the film for its deeply humanistic approach, and for giving agency and voice to the sex workers rather than exploiting them. The film is shot like a documentary and put together like a dramatic fiction. The filmmakers allow the audience to be interpreter; there is no voice-over, and no contrived dialogue to explain the plot. The viewer is taken into the world of the sex workers in the Davie Street hub and shown their world by observing their daily grind and hearing their deeply personal stories. Shown widely at festivals, Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, 2SLGBTQIA+ Studies, Documentary Film and Canadian Film Studies.

Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and self-funding along with Cole and Dale forfeiting all salaries, and added assistance from a research grant provided by Studio D of the NFB.

Janis Cole and Holly Dale producers, directors, writers, editors, researchers, production managers.

• Winner, Gold Plaque, Chicago International Film Festival.
• Winner, American Film Festival, Best Social Documentary.
• Nominated, Genie Award, Theatrical Documentary.
• Cineplex/Odeon theatrical release across Canada.
• CITY TV, Programmed by Jay Switzerl as a special.
• Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, USA.
• Toronto, Nyon, Vancouver, London, New York, Cinema Du Real, Filmex, & Miami Film Festivals, etc.
• Included in “The 100 best Canadian films ever made” by Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail, July 1, 2026.

“Here was an unblinking look at sex work from the perspective of the women–both cisgender and trans–and gay men themselves, out on the street…The film is a perfect gift to someone teaching documentary film.” — Matthew Hays, POV 

“No maudlin cliche, it shows how rough and tough life on the streets can be.” — Brian Johnson, Maclean’s Magazine

Letterboxd Reviews.

Movie Trailer produced by CIP.

Available at Vtape.

Special Edition Blu-ray available at CIP and Vinegar Syndrome.

Quiet on the Set; Filming Agnes of God

28 min. by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, through their company Spectrum Films, 1985

In this unique behind-the-scenes making of Norman Jewison’s Agnes of God the filmmakers forego narration to feature Jewison, Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilley and cinematographer Sven Nickvist working on set and sharing their views on the filmmaking process. Shot on location in Guelph, Ontario, the film captures candid moments of Jewison rehearsing actors that exemplify why he’s a Canadian treasure. Quiet on the Set captures Jewison in action just prior to opening the renowned Canadian Film Centre. The film is shown in Canadian Film Studies and Documentary Studies.

Columbia Pictures, Norman Jewison’s Yorktown Productions and Spectrum Films funded.

Janis Cole and Holly Dale directors, writers, editors, production managers.

• First Choice, US cable, etc.
• Home Box Office and others.

Calling the Shots

118 mins. by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, through their company Women in Cinema (WIC Inc.), 1988
Presented by Cineplex & WIC Inc. in 1988, CFMDC 1989, Films We Like 2022, Vtape 2024.

This dynamic feature-length documentary focuses on the diversity of films being directed by women. Employing archival footage, clips from independent and mainstream movies, candid interviews and visits to sets, the film weaves a frank and insightful analysis of women’s role in cinema. Interviews are intimate with more than two dozen prolific women sharing their stories, including Agnes Varda, Sandy Wilson, Martha Coolidge, Jeanne Moreau, Anne Wheeler, Lea Poole, Lee Grant and Euzhan Palsey.

When filming began we realized it would be impossible to include all the women who have contributed to the motion picture industry worldwide, and as more women continually enter the business there will always be new filmmakers to profile. The film was completed prior to Deepa Mehta, Patricia Rozema, Julie Dash, Mira Nair and others releasing their first feature film but some of these directors are included in the book. Shown in Women’s Studies and Film Studies., University of Toronto and more.

Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, Telefilm Canada, Ontario Film Development Corporation, the Bronfman Family Foundation and self-funding along with Cole and Dale forfeiting their salaries.

Janis Cole and Holly Dale producers, directors, writers, editors, researchers, production managers.

• Winner, Lillian Gish Award for Excellence in Documentary, Women in Film Festival, Los Angeles.
• Winner, Best Arts History Documentary, American Film Festival.
• Nominated, Genie Awards, Theatrical Documentary.
• First Choice, City TV, International TV; Japan, Switzerland, Germany, England, etc.
• Toronto, Nyon, Cretail, Tokyo, Vancouver Film Festivals, etc. Three city Israel tour with NFB.
• Cineplex release across Canada.
• Included (#9) in “Canadian Film NOW & Then: 35-year retrospective in 29 covers”, feature cover story by John Harkness, Photo by Susan King.

CALLING THE SHOTS – The Book

Writen by Janis Cole & Holly Dale
Published by Quarry Press [ISBN 1550820850]

The book features twenty engaging conversations with some of the most successful women film directors who discuss their vision, ambitions, challenges and triumphs, and share candid thoughts on industry hierarchy, personal sacrifices, feminism, and the power of the film  image. The book is a companion tool for the film Calling the Shots. Book and film used separately or together make an important contribution to film culture and film theory, women and gender studies, and women’s studies.

Shaggie: Letters from Prison

12 mins., by Janis Cole, 1990

Labeled the most dangerous female offender in Canada, Cole’s friend Marlene Moore, nicknamed Shaggie, was sentenced to serve an indefinite term at the Prison for Women. She had never committed a serious crime on another but had slashed herself for two decades of confinement in her youth and early adulthood without ever receiving mental health support. Cole’s powerful film incorporates Shaggie’s personal correspondences that exemplify mood swings from depression to exhilaration in her fight to survive. Ultimately she succumbed to the physical and emotional distress and overwhelming force of confinement by taking her own life at 31. Shown at Elizabeth Fry, CAMH, schools, universities and festivals.

Studio D of the NFB held a Canada-wide competition for successful filmmakers to receive a set production budget, along with Cole self-funding and forfeiting her salary. Also part of the NFB compilation film, Five Feminist Minutes.

Janis Cole producer, director, writer, editor, researcher, production manager.

• Winner, Best Canadian Short Film, 1990 Toronto International Film Festival.
• John Spotton Cinema, the Bloor, and other Rep theatres.
• London, San Francisco, Rendez Vouz with Madness and other Film Festivals.
• WTN broadcast.
• Included in “Fine local product deserves new and improved exhibition: Best of 1990” by Cameron Bailey, NOW, January 3, 1990.

Heritage Minute: Agnes Macphail, Patrick Watson producer.

1 minute. Script by Janis Cole, direction by Holly Dale, Patrick Watson producer, for Historica Canada, 1992

Agnes Macphail was the first woman elected as an MP in Canada. She stood up for disadvantaged groups including the unpopular cause of penal reform. Her tireless efforts improved the plight of prisoners in the mid 1930s. She’s remembered as a champion to  Canadians, and a hero to incarcerated women and men.

IMDB.

Watch on YouTube.

Dangerous Offender

94 mins. Script by Janis Cole, direction by Holly Dale, producer Duncan Lamb, a CBC production, 1996

The true life story follows Marlene Moore as she enters training school in her teens and spends the majority of her life in prison. Behind bars she learns to self-harm as a coping mechanism, and her mental health declines. After twenty-five years behind bars the government succeeds in making her the first woman in Canada to be designated a
 Dangerous Offender. Heralded a TV Masterpiece by Jim Balwin, The Toronto Star.

• Launched the CBC’s ’96 fall season to 1.6 million viewers.
• Sold Internationally to virtually all English language territories worldwide.
• Nominated, seven Gemini Awards including Best Writing, Best Movie and Best Direction. 
• Winner, Gemini Award for Best Lead Actress for Brooke Johnson, and Best Supporting Actress for Jayne Eastwood. 
• Winner, Top Ten Award in TV movie writing, Writer’s Guild of Canada for Janis Cole.
• Winner, Bronze Plaque for writing from Columbus Film Festival for Janis Cole.

Unauthorized Preview (poor quality) 

Full Cast and Crew, IMDB.

Available from CBC & Radio Canada Distribution 

Bowie: One in a Million

10 mins., by Janis Cole, 1999

Documentary veteran Janis Cole expertly crafts a searing indictment of society’s failure to deal with the violence perpetrated against women by their abusive partners. When Cole was told that her friend Cathy Bowie had been shot and killed in her home by her estranged husband who she was in the process of leaving it was devastating. Even worse was the light sentence he received. Cole’s anger grew into a determination to make the film when a friend called her to say that in less than two years he was out of jail and dating. While Cole was making the film she repeatedly heard radio reports and read news articles of women and children being killed in acts of domestic violence. The epidemic of violence against women, femicide and domestic violence needs a long overdue justice overhaul as Cole’s film forcefully demonstrates. A must see film for survivors, support workers, shelters, abusers and policy makers. Shown in Women’s Studies, Gender Violence, Violence against Women and Children, and Criminology studies.

Funded from prize money awarded by the NFB from Shaggie: Letters From Prison winning at TIFF, and self-funding along with Cole forfeiting all salary. 

Janis Cole producer, director, writer, researcher, production manager.

• Toronto Film Festival premiere
• Vancouver Film Festival and others

”Cole powerfully illustrates the justice system’s inability [Bowie: One in a Million] to deal with violence against women, making her point with intelligence and clarity.” — Xtra 

Available at Vtape 

Dead Meat

3 mins., Story by Janis Cole and Holly Dale, direction by Holly Dale, 1989

The endearing black comedy written by Robert Hunter is set in the seamy streets of Toronto, where an encounter between a drug addict and a hitman takes a life-altering turn. Starring David Hewlett, James Purcell and Shelly-Lynne Owen’s. A hit on the film festival circuit.

• Made at Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre for Advanced Film Studies.
• Toronto International Film Festival, and 10×10 program at the Toronto Festival.

Director of Photography, Michael Szucs. Producer, Iain Paterson

Available through the Canadian Film Centre

Blood & Donuts

84 mins. Direction by Holly Dale, story consultant Janis Cole, a Daban Films Production, 1995

A dark, quirky story about an unlikely vampire, a cab driver and a donut shop waitress. Starring Gordon Currie, Justin Lewis, Helene Clarkson, Fiona Reid and with a memorable guest appearance by David Cronenberg. Music by Nash the Slash. A cult classic.

• Made through the Feature Film Fund of the Canadian Film Centre.
• World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Production Design, David Moe. Director of Photography, Paul Sarossy. Writer, Andrew Rai Berzins. Associate Producers, Stephan Fanfara and Justine Whyte. Executive Producer, Colin Brunton. Producer, Steven Hoban

Available through the Canadian Film Centre

Full Cast and Crew, IMDB