burns the fire

Writer/Filmmaker Brenda Keesal follows her own road. Her wickedly funny, emotionally-charged work introduces a bold, new voice to the big and the not-so-little screen. Brenda’s first film WANKER: the story of a compulsive masturbator looking for a life- won a Silver Plaque award at the Chicago Film Festival, was the Closing Film of the New Orleans Film & Video Festival, garnered cult status and rave reviews, and was voted one of the best movies of the year in Canada.

Her second, the polarizing, critically-acclaimed JACK & ELLA: a Jewish woman and a Black man win a house and are invaded by their neighbors - showed in festivals all over the world, enjoyed sold-out art-house runs in Toronto and Montreal, and plays in regular rotation on Canada’s top movie channels. JACK & ELLA’s DVD is being released in 2008, in consultation with independent film maverick Peter Broderick (Paradigm, Next Wave).

Her third and next film as writer/director will be- BE HAPPY: a depressed happiness guru’s latest bestseller turns her rich, gated community inside out. It explores self-help, the pursuit of happiness, and what really makes us feel good, and is the most ambitious and uplifting of her cinematic fables.

Busting it out with her signature style, Brenda is currently writing A FINE FAMILY; a brave, new TV sitcom with an internet tie-in, about a nouveau-riche Jewish family and their efforts to get more out of life. Voted one of Montreal’s best filmmakers, she graduated from Concordia University’s prestigious film school with a BFA in Film Production, a minor in Creative Writing, and a vision all of her own. 

At this very moment, Brenda can be found blogging her heart out. Write back!! 

Represented in Film & Television by Sarah Cooper of The Saint Agency, T: 416-944-8200, sarah (at) the saintagency (dot) com.