Jennifer Abbott

Jennifer Abbott (born 1965) is a Canadian film director, writer, editor, producer and sound designer who specializes in social justice and environmental documentaries.

Early life, family and education Born in Montreal, Quebec, Abbott has lived in Vancouver

Abbott has twin daughters, who appeared in her film The Magnitude of All Things. Her sister, Saille, died in 2008; Abbott's grief at her death is woven into The Magnitude of All Things. the film for which she is best known. During the filming of the documentary, Bakan wrote the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.

Abbott became involved with the documentary I Am (2011) after director Tom Shadyac saw The Corporation and invited her to be editor and executive producer. The documentary explores Shadyac's personal journey after a 2007 bicycle accident caused him to develop post-concussion syndrome. Abbott worked remotely on the film from her home.

In 2015, Abbott co-wrote and edited Sea Blind, about the detrimental environmental impacts of the shipping industry and the opening of a sea route in the Arctic due to ice melting as a result of climate change. She also co-wrote, co-directed and edited Us and Them, which features 4 homeless people living with addictions over the course of ten years.

In 2020, Abbott released the feature documentary The Magnitude of All Things, about the emotional and psychological dimensions of the climate crisis which she wrote, directed, co-produced, edited, sound designed and narrated. The film was co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada, Cedar Island Films and Flying Eye Productions. POV magazine called it "as poignant as it is provocative... [calling] to mind the lyrical and elegiac wonder of Terrence Malick." Tammy Bannister, Vancouver International Film Festival Programmer, described it as "erhaps the most visceral reasoned call to action for humanity since An Inconvenient Truth". The Magnitude of All Things won the Best Canadian Feature Award at the Planet in Focus Film Festival and premiered internationally in Amsterdam at the IDFA (film festival) featured in the Frontlight program.

In 2020, she also released The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (co-directed with Joel Bakan), a follow-up to The Corporation, again co-directed with Mark Achbar. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Abbott first started working in media with Sara Diamond and The Women's Labour History Project. In 2004, Abbott's first experimental short and multimedia work Skinned, I Am (2011) Unspeak: Brave New Minds (2013) Sea Blind (2015) Us and Them (2015) The Magnitude of All Things (2020)

Sound Design Skinned (1993) Unspeak: Brave New Minds (2013) Sea Blind (2015) The Magnitude of All Things (2020)

Producer A Cow at My Table (1998) I Am (2011) The Magnitude of All Things (2020)

Awards and nominations

A Cow at My Table (1998) Gold Special Jury Award, WorldFest Houston 1999 Best Documentary, New Jersey International Film Festival 1999 Best Documentary, Narrowsburg International Film Festival, New York 1999 1st Prize, Video Awards Promoting Respect for All Life, Latham Foundation, California 2000 Media Commendation Award, Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, 1999 Silver Certificate, Prix Leonardo International Festival of Film & TV, Italy 1999

The Corporation (2003) Audience Award, World Cinema, Documentary, Sundance Film Festival

I Am (2011) Documentary Award - Catholics in Media Associates (CIMA) - 2012

Unspeak: Brave New Minds (2013) Nominee: Prix Europa

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (2020) Nominee: Best Canadian Feature Film, Toronto International Film Festival

The Magnitude of All Things (2020) Best Canadian Documentary, Planet in Focus Film Festival Nominee: Best Picture Editing in Documentary, Directors Guild of Canada