Gerry Rogers
Newfoundland
Genre: Docuseries
Filmography: Come Home Queer
Gerry Rogers is a Canadian filmmaker and former politician, born in Newfoundland. Having been involved in filmmaking since the 1980s, Gerry has always been passionate about telling stories that are not often told. She rose to prominence after the release of her first documentary film ‘My Left Breast’, in which she was documenting her battle with breast cancer after having a hard time finding similar material she could relate to during treatment.
After leaving politics in 2019, Gerry stepped back into filmmaking. Her first project was a collaboration with TV1 for the docuseries Come Home Queer, which follows a weekend celebration of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in a small outport town in Newfoundland.
What is your educational background?
I never went to film school. I went to university for social work and I had been working at a women’s crisis center. At that time, women’s issues, especially violence against women, were just starting to gain traction in society. Many women who came to visit the center just wanted their stories to be shared and that’s how I got into filmmaking to push for change and tell their stories.
What was the first film project you were involved in?
The first film I produced was called ‘To A Safer Place’ and it was about a woman who had been sexually abused. At the time, those stories were not at the forefront, compared to today where you can’t open a newspaper without hearing about these type of issues. So I’m happy that I was involved when women’s issues were starting to be told in a bigger way.