

STARFest facts
Anne Wheeler’s place as one of Canada’s foremost filmmakers was established with three multi-award-winning features – the documentary A War Story relating the devastating story of her father’s time in a POW camp during World War II; Loyalties, a dramatic feature examining issues of sexual abuse and racism; and Bye Bye Blues, a musical drama inspired by her mother’s experience as a musician in a dance band during World War II. Anne has also worked extensively as a TV director; she has received seven honorary doctorates and the Order of Canada.
Bye Bye Blues is a World War II romance set to the music of a prairie swing band. Daisy (Rebecca Jenkins) and her husband Teddy (Michael Ontkean) are living in colonial luxury in pre-war India when he is transferred to Singapore, and Daisy is sent home to Alberta with their two children and an old piano. Stranded with her God-fearing parents, fun-loving sister-in-law (Robyn Stevan) and no news of her husband, Daisy is in desperate need of work. She begins playing piano and singing with a dance band,and finds herself drawn to her handsome bandmate Max (Luke Reilly). When Teddy returns, weakened from years as a prisoner of war, Daisy has to choose between career and family, and between an old and a new love.