The Fires of Joanna Penny Mc Cann, 1998

Set against the bleak landscape of Depressionera Eastern Ontario, The Fires of Joanna tells the story of Joanna McVeigh (played by the late great actress Tracy Wright), a lonely epileptic woman who illuminates her isolation with secret passions and the pleasures of her one great gift her ability to set fires with her mind. Epileptic since childhood and past the age of marriage, Joanna lives alone on a rundown farm with Frank, her alcoholic father (played by Steven Bush). Bound by a promise to her dying mother and haunted by a dark and shameful childhood secret, Joanna illuminates her loneliness with secret imaginings and the pleasure of her one great gift, the ability to set fires with her mind. Joanna s desire to break free from the confines of her lonely existence leads her to forsake her promise and embark on a strange journey of selfdiscovery. A luminous tale of sin, guilt and redemption.