The Lady Architect

Best Short Documentary
Synopsis
In 1937, Margaret Buchanan was the first woman to graduate in architecture from the University of Alberta, Canada. Her early years were full of promise, as she worked on northern projects with her engineer father and later with a leading Edmonton firm, McDonald and Magoon. Then her career stalled due to the lack of acceptance of women architects by the male-dominated profession, the pressures of marriage and raising a family, and her eventual slide into alcoholism.
This moving mother-daughter story is told largely by Margaret herself, speaking from audio tapes her daughter Moira Simpson recorded 50 years ago.