Ginny Stikeman

Virginia (Ginny) Stikeman (born 1941) is a Canadian filmmaker. She has directed, produced and edited many films, with her focus in documentaries. Her most well-known films are Sisters in Struggle (1991), Dream of a free country: a message from Nicaraguan women (1983), and Forbidden Love: The unashamed stories of Lesbian Lives (1992)

Ginny Stikeman was born 1941 in Ottawa, Ontario. Her Full name is Virginia Stikeman.

Stikeman began her career by training in editing at the National Film Board of Canada in 1967. She did extensive work from 1973 to 1989 as a film editor then producer She participated originally in the Challenge for Change program for a few years, which granted communities the opportunity to create social change through control of the use of film and video. In 1975, she became an editor for Studio D. Studio D was a group of women filmmakers who wanted to make changes in the film industry involving underrepresented groups in film, which they accomplished by promoting cultural and sexual diversity in film from 1974 to 1996. This difference was made by not only fighting and advocating for LGBTQ rights, but also by creating films that involved cultural and sexual diversity.

Stikeman's films included many controversial topics, and were typically documentaries. Films such as Sisters in Struggle (1991) and Dream of a free country: a message from Nicaraguan women (1983) focus on women and diversity.she also worked on some films that concerned sexuality and same sex relationships such as Forbidden Love: The unashamed stories of Lesbian Lives (1992) and Listening for Something (1996).

One of Stikeman's greatest contributions was to the film Forbidden Love: The unashamed stories of Lesbian Lives (1992), which was a full length documentary directed by Lynn Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman. Stikeman was the first producer then co-executive producer for this film with Rina Fracticelli as well as Margaret Pettigrew. The producers of the film were Studio D and The National Film Board of Canada. This film concerned lesbian history of Canada in the 1950s and 1960s. It was broadcast around the world and received many awards, such as the Genie for Best Feature Length Documentary in Canada (1993), Best Documentary at the 15th International Film Festival in South Africa (1994) and Best Documentary at the Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Italy (1995).

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