
Shannon Walsh
2021The Gig Is Up
Shannon Walsh
A very human tech doc, uncovers the real costs of the platform economy through the lives of workers from around the world for companies including Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo. From delivering food and driving ride shares to tagging images for AI, millions of people around the world are finding work task by task online. The gig economy is worth over 5 trillion USD globally, and growing. And yet the stories of the workers behind this tech revolution have gone largely neglected. Who are the people in this shadow workforce? It brings their stories into the light. Lured by the promise of flexible work hours, independence, and control over time and money, workers from around the world have found a very different reality. Work conditions are often dangerous, pay often changes without notice, and workers can effectively be fired through deactivation or a bad rating. Through an engaging global cast of characters, it reveals how the magic of technology we are being sold might not be magic at all.
The Gig Is Up
H2Oil
Shannon Walsh
Alan Adam, Cathy Gratz
Moving between a local microcosm and the global oil crisis, H2Oil weaves together a collection of compelling stories of people who are at the front lines of the biggest industrial project in human history: Canada's tar sands. H2Oil is a feature-length documentary that traces the wavering balance between the urgent need to protect and preserve fresh water resources and the mad clamoring to fill the global demand for oil. It is a film that asks: what is more important, water or oil? Will the quest for profit overshadow efforts to protect public health and the environment in Canada's richest province?
H2Oil
Jeppe on a Friday
Shannon Walsh, Arya Lalloo
Part travelogue, part urban allegory – and a fresh perspective on Jozi. Filmmakers Lalloo and Walsh, drawing on a rich tradition of city- centred direct cinema practitioners, bring together a team of women directors, and offer a curious record of life in urban Jozi that de-mystifies the oft-maligned metropolis. Shot over the course of a single day and along the length and breadth of Jeppe, we meet 5 charming characters. Familial love is behind Congolese restaurateur Arouna’s success, nostalgia binds Ravi to his dusty framing shop that has been in his family for over 3 decades, ambition drives JJ’s ruthless property development, tradition is at the heart of acapella singer Robert’s all male Zulu choir, and everyday philosophy gives urban recycler Vusi his momentum. In one day these characters reveal the city’s textures and breathe life into the decayed inner city neighborhood.
Jeppe on a Friday