Joan Pennefather

Who is Joan Pennefather?

Joan Pennefather is a Canadian film and cultural executive. She was the first woman to be the Commissioner of the National Film Board of Canada.

Pennefather was born in Montreal, Quebec, and studied history and communications at Marianopolis College, McGill University, Concordia University and in the United Kingdom at the University of Oxford.

She joined the NFB in 1977, working as a Sponsored Program Officer. In this capacity, she was responsible for producing films for various departments of the Canadian government, both in-house at the NFB and with independent production companies. In 1981, she was promoted to become the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Film Commissioner of the NFB, and two years later was appointed the organisation's Planning Co-ordinator.

By the end of 1988, she was the NFB's Vice-Film Commissioner. When François N. Macerola left in December that year, six months before the end of his contract, Pennefather was appointed as acting Government Film Commissioner in his place. One of her main tasks during this interim period was to oversee the NFB's fiftieth anniversary celebrations in May 1989. On September 15, 1989, Pennefather was appointed as Government Film Commissioner and Chair of the NFB on an official basis.