Lorna Thomas Filmography
LORNATHOMAS, Producer, Director, Writer, Teacher
Lorna is a producer, director and writer of television documentaries, with a special affinity for stories that demonstrate effective social action. As well as producing her own work for her company, Lorna Thomas Productions Inc., Lorna has collaborated with other film and video organizations,
including the National Film Board of Canada. She directed “Stir it Up, ”about collective kitchens, for the NFB in 1994. “Beating the Streets” was a co-production with the NFB and had its television premiere on CBC Newsworld’s documentary series Rough Cuts. The film, which Lorna directed and co-produced, was about two inner city aboriginal teen-agers and their determination to turn their lives around with the help of their drama teacher, won BEST PICTURE at the Dreamspeaker International Film Festival 1998.
In 2000 Lorna produced and directed a half-hour documentary for Vision TV. This film, “Phyllis’Miracle,” about a young mother who experiences a series miracles while fighting breast cancer, won Best Documentary under 30 minutes at the 2001 AMPIA Awards. In 2002 Lorna Thomas Productions partnered with Trick Rider Productions to produce “Pretty Ladies, Fast Horses:Cowgirls of the 21st Century” for Global Television. The film won bronze in the sports category at the Houston International Film Festival 2003. "Riding the Rails to Edmonton" (2004) is a short film produced for Alberta’s centennial, which shares Eldon Haug’s experience of riding a freight train from Saskatoon to Edmonton during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 2005 Lorna directed and co-produced “Radio Worth Fighting For” about the fight to save CKUA, Canada’s oldest public broadcaster. The premiere of this film drew an audience of over 1800 people when it was screened at the Francis Winspear Center for Music. In 2008 Lorna produced, directed and wrote “Catching My Breath” for ACCESS/CTV. It is about her brother, wheelchair athlete Ken Thomas, and his determination to compete in the World Master’s Games. It is also about his life long fight for inclusion and independence as a person with a physical disability.
In addition to working as a filmmaker, Lorna also teaches workshops and classes on producing, writing and directing documentaries at the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta. She believes that anyone is capable of telling a story that is a “creative treatment of reality” (John Grierson), especially now that cameras and editing suites are in the hands of the people.
In 2012, Lorna put filmmaking on pause and turned to arts advocacy for the Documentary Organization of Canada. She was a Board member of DOC Alberta for ten years. From 2016-2022 she was both the Chair of DOC AB and the Alberta representative on the DOC National Board of Directors.
Lorna recived the Award of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in the Media Arts from the Film and Video Arts Society-Alberta in 2021. Lorna returned to filmmaking in 2022 co-producing . “Building Hope: Substance Use in the Trades.’