The Canadian film community lost a powerful and original voice with the death last Dec. 30 of Pepita Ferrari, at her home in Brome Lake. She was 66.

Ferrari embraced the documentary in her work, and enjoyed a long collaboration with the National Film Board. Working with partner Louis Piché and their company Films Piché Ferrari, she made a first film with the NFB in 1994. By Woman’s Hand shone light on the Beaver Hall Group of Canadian female painters. Three years later she directed The Petticoat Expeditions, about undersung 19th Century women travellers. Perhaps her most ambitious project was 2007’s Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary, capturing the creative process of 30 international filmmakers. It has been re-released on nfb.ca.

Beyond her film craft, Ferrari served as a board member and Executive Director of the Documentary Organization of Canada, was a board member of Cinema Politica and a founder of the Eastern Townships Film Festival in her beloved Brome Lake.