Elise Swerhone

LEO MOL: IN LIGHT AND SHADOW is the third film biography that Elise has directed. Her first was ESTHER WARKOV: A SPY IN THE HOUSE, and her second TOMMY DOUGLAS: KEEPER OF THE FLAME.

Elise was born in Canora, Saskatchewan. In the early seventies, she moved to Winnipeg to study at the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1974 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Shortly after completing her university education, Elise began shooting, directing, producing and editing films.

Her first film HAVAKEEN LUNCH was the first independently produced Winnipeg Film Group production to be completed. This portrait of a small town lunch counter in the interlake region of Manitoba was shot and directed by Elise using an all female crew (a first in Manitoba). Since then she has produced and directed a number of documentaries for organizations, including the National Film Board and the CBC.

In 1988, Elise decided to try her hand at directing drama and with co-producer Joan Scott of Credo Group Limited, completed two half-hour dramas, MISS MANITOBA and NOW AND THEN, for the CBC's Family Picture Series. Her next drama, THE MAYOR OF ODESSA, which was part of the CBC's Inside Stories Series, won her a Gemini nomination for Best direction and a Blizzard Award (Manitoba) for Best Short Drama.
Currently, Elise is developing two feature length films. (05/00)

The Pill
A film by Erna Buffie and Elise Swerhone, 1999, 45 min., Color
Conceived to help women control their fertility, the birth control pill was a touchstone for sexual liberation in the 1960s and is now used by million...