The
Smallest
Steps

"Just wanted to say your film was absolutely incredible. I'm still processing how powerful it is!"

"The film is amazing – sad and hard and moving. The content is very powerful and put together so beautifully."

"...my students found it to be powerful, inspiring, and humbling in terms of realizations on how much work remains to end violence against women....Thanks for sharing with us such a well-crafted and thoughtful film!"

"Congratulations again on a most timely film. It is important in many ways - captures a critical period in Canadian history, deals with intersectionality, human rights, First Nations and other critical issues...Great work!"

"the smallest steps is an incredible and important film, and I was so happy to be able to witness it. The anti-violence movement is strengthened by having these parts of the story documented and shared in this way. Your film honoured the people whose stories you presented in a compassionate and honest way. I loved your various decade montages! And the way you wove the individual stories, the current stories, and the flashback stories together was seamless and engaging. The Buffy Sainte-Marie song to accompany the triumphant march at the end was the perfect way to close. Well done!"

"I loved the film. Really beautiful, poignant, and kick ass all wrapped up together. Love how it captures the work done by radical feminists in the past and brings it into the present (with such strong intersectional framing) so it isn’t forgotten or worse, ‘othered’ as obsolete. I really liked the narrative arc of the National Action Plan and the hopes and the frustration of the activism in this area."

"Fantastic job you did! I found it very motivating!"

"You did an amazing job with this film telling a story that is powerful and compelling, against a dark back-drop, in a way that allows the women protagonists to shine. There were so many smiles in the film. There was so much energy and passion, but also evidence of self-care and the value of community and solidarity."

"The film was brilliant, and so important."

I really enjoyed the smallest steps film for a multitude of reasons. It is inspirational and shows young people that sometimes perseverance pays off...It chronicles the struggles that the advocates to end violence against women have encountered and overcome. We can all be “change-makers” in some way. We know that violence against women often begins when they are children so why not educate children that it is wrong. By educating boys at an early age that violence is unacceptable and educating girls that they deserve to live free of violence might be the small step needed to make our communities kinder places to thrive.

'the smallest steps' film and discussion with Nicole Bedford and Leighann Burns had such a positive impact on our Government of Canada Women in STEM community. The film's exploration of the challenges faced by women, particularly those from equity-deserving communities, in terms of safety and protection was eye-opening and informative. We learned how we can all contribute to facilitating change and being supporters of anti-violence activism to create a safer and more inclusive society....As allies and activists, it's important to continue the dialogue, educate ourselves, and support initiatives like this that promote taking action, justice and equality for all.