With quiet intelligence and wry humour, retired documentary filmmaker, Kathleen Shannon speaks of the childhood that became the inspiration for her first film Goldwood, her formative years at the National Film Board, and the gradual awakening of an unshakeable determination to give women filmmakers a chance to tell their stories of the world. In 1974, she blazed the way for a new kind of filmmaking when she founded the NFB's Studio D, a place where women were free to make their own special brand of films--topical and controversial, angry, compassionate, funny and defiant. Over 22 years, the films of Studio D formed an unprecedented legacy of feminist filmmaking, winning over a hundred international awards, including three Academy Awards. It is a story of struggle, persistence and success, told on an intimate journey into the life of an exceptional woman, still illuminated by the calm, steady fire of her convictions.