BY KEITH LACEY
Laura Sky may call Toronto home, but much of her artistic inspiration and best friendships come from people who live in the City of Greater Sudbury.
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One of Canada?s most acclaimed and successful documentary filmmakers has a very soft spot for this community and has repeatedly returned to visit friends and make important films about important issues, often featuring people from Greater Sudbury.
On Saturday, Sky, 58, will achieve a lifetime dream when she?s granted a Doctorate of Letters by Laurentian University during their annual convocation ceremonies Saturday morning.
Sky has been a regular guest speaker and lecturer at Laurentian?s English and Film departments over the past two decades.
?I?ve had such tremendous support in Sudbury over the past 20 years,? said Sky, in a phone interview from her Toronto home. ?It?s been a magical relationship in that what I do in and the subjects I deal with seem to mean a lot to a lot of people in Sudbury. ?I happen to think Sudbury is a very rich community in that a lot of people seem to connect with each other to work on very important issues together.?
Sky?s ?love affair? with our community started 20 years ago when she met up with community activist Yvonne Obansawin for the 1983 documentary All of Our Lives.
The friendship she started with Obonsawin has grown and developed over the past 20 years and gave her a reason to visit this community on a regular basis, said Sky.
She?s met many wonderful people from Greater Sudbury over the past two decades and Sudbury has continued to play a key role in her work as a documentary filmmaker and educator, said Sky.
Sky founded the independent non-profit documentary organization Sky Works Charitable Foundation in 1983.
?Our long-term goal in making documentaries is to encourage audiences to become involved in the social and community process,? said Sky. ?This goal is achieved because of our many supporters who are committed to making a difference in their communities. We?ve had some wonderful and very dedicated supporters in Sudbury. I see this community as a model for what can be accomplished.?
Three years ago, her film How Can We Love You, played to a packed house at Science North. The film featured conversations and profiles of 12 women battling breast cancer, including the late Jennifer Keck, a much-loved and respected Laurentian University professor and community activist.
Last March, her documentary Crisis Call again played to a packed house at Science North. The acclaimed film explored the issue of mental health and policing and was shot partially in Northern Ontario.
Greater Sudbury Police and mental health agencies have made a commitment to use Crisis Call for outreach and training purposes, said Sky.
Sky is currently in the research and development phase of her latest project, where again Sudbury and its people will play a prominent role.
The project is called Kids Care and it will be a documentary film about the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre and will focus on young people and how they cope with siblings, friends and other loved ones who are suffering from cancer, said Sky.
?Part of my trip this week will involve trying to raise support for my latest project and hopefully meeting with some of the young people and their family members who I hope to profile in my current film,? she said.
After that film is completed, Sky said she?s determined to make another documentary film about Kimberly Rogers, the Sudbury woman who died almost three years ago while under house arrest for welfare fraud.
Rogers, 40, was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. She became a rallying point for social activists who claimed the policies of the reigning Tory government at the time played a key role in her death.
?The story of Kimberly Rogers is a very important one and I?m determined to make a film about her life and the tragedy of her death,? said Sky.
?Kimberly died very young, but she left behind a tremendous legacy and so many people in the Sudbury community bonded together to fight to ensure no one else should ever have to die in similar circumstances.?
When she makes her speech at the convocation ceremony Saturday, Sky said Rogers? story and plans for her future documentary will play a significant part of what she has to say.
Receiving an honorary doctorate is humbling and thrilling at the same time, said Sky.
?It?s a bit ironic because I actually was a less than average student, who barely made it out of high school,? she said. ?Thankfully, I loved learning through other forms and my love of research and knowledge continued to grow as I got older.
?I?m so excited to receive this honour, I can?t put it into words. It?s such an honour. This is something I?ve only dreamed of and to know it?s about to become a reality is overwhelming.?
Sky says she enjoys the people of Sudbury so much, she?s ?seriously considering? leaving Toronto and moving up here.
?Sudbury and the people there have played such a big part in my life over the past 20 years or so, I honestly feel like it?s in many ways my home,?
she said. ?I wouldn?t mind finding a small little place out in the woods.?
