Phyllis Ellis is a creator, writer, director, producer, and performer in factual and scripted television and film. She was honored at the 2013 Canadian Screen Awards with the prestigious Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary for “About Her,” narrated by Kim Cattrall. Her other credits include “Girls’ Night Out” and “Painted Land.”
“Toxic Beauty” will premiere at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 29.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
PE: “Toxic Beauty” tells the personal stories of women surviving and those who have lost their lives from ovarian cancer caused by their use of talc.
[The film tells the story of] a brave whistleblower, Deane Berg, who took on one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and won, sparking a revolution. We meet a young medical student whose self experiment gleans shocking results, and the pioneers and exciting young researchers who champion the science and truth about toxicants, chemicals, and carcinogens in our cosmetics linked to birth defects, reproductive harm, and cancer. [We dig into] Challenge Industry, who, like Big Tobacco, denies the truth and our governments who regulate food and drugs but not the potentially harmful chemicals we put on our bodies every day.
Through these stories we discover what we can do to protect ourselves.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
PE: I’m an Olympian who, like so many of us, used an excessive amount of baby powder for over 20 years. At the beginning of my research for the film, I met Dr. Daniel Cramer, who as Dr. Roberta Ness says in the film, is “the grandfather of epidemiology.” He spoke to me about his early research linking talc — baby powder — to ovarian cancer. His first paper was published defining a “causal link” in 1982. He suggested to Johnson & Johnson they put a warning label on the product. They did not. I thought, if the most trusted brand in the world was linked to ovarian cancer, what else are we using on our bodies that could cause harm? It also scared me. I could be at risk.
I then had the privilege of meeting women who had survived cancer but also spent time with women who, through the course of shooting, lost their lives, including Mel Lika, who had a big life in counterintelligence in war-torn countries. Her death was linked to her lifetime use of a personal care product.
We met extraordinary champions of the science. These three quotes in particular propelled me to explore this story:
Dr. David Michaels: “Chemicals are not like people — they are not innocent until proven guilty.”
Dr. Julie Brody: “We don’t want to wait 50 years to find out something in hand lotion is causing breast cancer.”
Dr. Ami Zota: “We have to change these beauty norms so women don’t have to choose between their health and trying to be beautiful according to these arbitrary standards. Women from my generation didn’t know. We didn’t know what we were using on ourselves, on our children. We didn’t know about the potential carcinogens and toxicants in our cosmetics and care products. Now we do.”
I wanted to tell this story to protect my daughter and everyone’s kids, and ourselves as women and men, who are using far more products then even 15 years ago.
[I don’t want any more] women to have to suffer like the women in our film and as our experts say, “We have a right to know what is known.”
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
PE: Just recently, there was the first congressional hearing on cosmetics and personal care products in Washington. Two of the subjects in our film were witnesses. Marvin Salter, the son of Jacqueline Fox, who lost her ovarian cancer fight with talc in her tissue, but whose voice is in the film, said, “I wasn’t involved with my mother’s decision to litigate, but after she passed away, I wanted to continue her fight because she was fighting so no other women would have to suffer.” He said he “wanted Johnson & Johnson to know her name”
I know the audience will know Jackie’s name and the names of all the women in the film. They’ll also witness young medical student Mymy Nugyen, who bravely does a self experiment revealing to young women the potential dangers of excessive use of cosmetics containing harmful chemicals.
As Dr. Rick Smith says in the film, “It’s worse than tobacco because we are talking about thousands of chemicals, none of which have been tested for safety.”
And as one of my heroines, Rachel Carson, told us about DDT in the ’60s, “We have to remember that children born today are exposed to these chemicals from birth, perhaps even before birth. Now what is going to happen to them in adult life, we simply don’t know.”
We want the audience to know that there are alternatives — we want women to protect themselves.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
PE: The biggest challenge was the plethora of information and the many stories we couldn’t tell because of time constraints. We wanted to explore the effects on children further, and on men. It was almost too much information and deciding how to structure the narrative [was challenging]. It could almost be a six-part series.
Also, there is so much amazing research being done across North America, and so many fabulous companies producing “clean” products that it was impossible to include them all. I wanted to tell all of the stories but we couldn’t. Maybe the next film!
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
PE: I am a Canadian filmmaker, and we have a very supportive system for financing films. Our broadcaster in Canada, The Documentary Channel, through the CBC, initiated the financing and through that we had many opportunities to apply for funds to help complete the financing. We also had an angel investor who generously supported the film.
Our executive producers, White Pine Pictures, helped nurture these relationships
It was a combination of networking, funders within our Canadian system, and private financing, and it took a while: we worked on getting funding for two-and-a-half years. Most if not all of the financiers, from our broadcast executive to our private funder, are women.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
PE: I have been telling women’s stories in many different ways since I was a young woman. I started the first women in sports program in Ontario, Canada many years ago, and worked on rights for women in sports as a young person.
I studied acting, co-founded a women’s theater company in Minneapolis, and worked in scripted and factual television, and all of this led me to an opportunity to direct a feature documentary called “About Her.” This experience was life-changing. [Since then,] I’ve been working in documentary film, predominately in stories about women, and working with other women filmmakers. It’s been an evolution and I’ve been very fortunate to have been supported to be able to work and continue to find interesting stories to tell.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
PE: The best advice came from my mother, who told me from a very early age, “You can do anything and be anything you want to be.” She still tells me that today.
Worst advice: “You have no experience in filmmaking. They’ll never finance you.” I didn’t listen.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
PE: I’d love to offer words of encouragement. It’s a great time to be a woman director right now. Your point of view is invaluable, your voice is important, and your stories, whatever they are, need to be told.
One day very soon gender parity and equality will no longer be part of the conversation. We are filmmakers.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
PE: So hard to pick one. I guess Jane Campion’s “The Piano.” I also loved Claire Denis’ “Let the Sun Shine In” and “Chocolat.”
I could name 20 films written and directed by women [that are favorites.]
I think mostly, it’s the combination of the visual language, the words, and the performances [that speak to me].
There are also so many wonderful documentary women directors I admire. [I am a big fan of] Mira Nair’s “So Far from India,” and so many others.
W&H: It’s been a little over a year since the reckoning in Hollywood and the global film industry began. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?
PE: That’s an interesting question. [I was talking with a group of women in the industry, and said,] “If I named names, it would be #Me10.” We had all experienced abuses of power or harassment or worse in our many years [working in the business.]
The biggest difference I see is with the men I work with. They are on alert. They are backing off. They know that at any moment their past behavior could wreak havoc, so I notice a shift.
I am thankful to all the brave women who came forward. I see young, empowered women — writers, directors, cinematographers — who will move forward in their careers. Time is up.
There are many women who have paved the way and I’m proud to have been a small part of that both as an athlete and as a filmmaker.
