Shannon Walsh has written and directed the award-winning feature documentaries, The Gig is Up (2021), Illusions of Control (2019), Jeppe on a Friday (2013), À st-henri, le 26 août (2011), and H2Oil (2009), as well as numerous short films and VR works. Shannon’s films have been broadcast, theatrically-released, and played film festivals globally, as well as screening in museum spaces, including the Venice Biennale and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. As a writer, she has published in a range of research areas, largely focused on South Africa, where she has often lived and worked. She has authored more than 35 journal articles and book chapters, and co-edited the book, The Ties that Bind: Race and the Politics of Friendship in South Africa (Wits University Press 2017). Shannon is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. Previously she spent three years as Assistant Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. She was a Wall Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies from 2017-2018. She is a 2020-2021 Guggenheim Fellow.
Awards & Nominations
2020 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship 2020/2021
Illusions of Control (feature documentary)
2019 Best Canadian Documentary, Honorable Mention, Calgary International Film Festival
2018 Top 10, Finalist, Cinequest Screenwriting Competition, USA
2017 TIFF-CBC Diverse Screenwriters Award, Shortlist
2017 Quarter-Finalist, Shore Scripts 2017, USA
2017 Green College Leading Scholars, UBC (2017-19)
2017 Wall Scholar, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, UBC (2017-18)
2017 Market Preparedness Mentorship Award, WIFTV, Whistler Film Festival
Unidentified Minor (screenplay)
2017 Best Low-budget Screenplay, 15th Female Eye Film Festival, Toronto
2017 Nomination, Best Comedy Screenplay, Oaxaca Film Festival, Mexico
Jeppe on a Friday (documentary)
2015 Best Documentary, Indie Karoo Film Festival, . South Africa.
2014 Nomination Audience Award, Black Movie Film Festival, Jeppe on a Friday. Geneva, Switzerland
2011 Special Mention, Best Feature Documentary, Criterio Ambiental Film Fest, Costa Rica
H2Oil (documentary)
2010 Grand Prize, Festival de films de Portneuf sur l’environement, Canada
2009 Nomination, Cinema Politica Audience Choice Award
2009 Honorable Mention, EcoCamera Award, H2Oil, RIDM Festival, Montréal
WIDC Award Winner
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