Polly is in her early thirties, but far away from leading a settled life, spending her time strolling with a camera through Toronto. While processing what she has witnessed in her bathroom-turned Fotolab, she drifts off into the black and white worlds inside. In her visions she can fly, walk on water or hear the mermaids singing. Even though the temp agency is warning anyone interested in hiring Polly about her lack of focus, the curator Gabrielle takes her in as a secretary. While working for her, Polly starts thinking about what it means to create something, who is allowed to call themselves an artist and whether she might be in love with her boss. “I was giving myself the confidence to be the artist I wanted to be with this film. And I was trying to undercut the authority or convince the viewer and myself that if you work hard and the intent is pure, you deserve to make what you want to make. Your voice is as valid as anyone’s,” Patricia Rozema says. As with her prize winning debut she has continued to approach dark or profound topics in a sometimes naive or whimsical way. Being raised in a homophobic calvinist community, telling queer stories has always played an important role for her. Never afraid to try something new, putting her work of almost four decades in one box seems to be impossible.

Print from the collection of Kino im Blauen Salon (HfG KA)