Shannon Walsh

Shannon Walsh is a Canadian filmmaker, writer and scholar. She has directed multiple feature documentaries, including Adrianne & the Castle, The Gig Is Up, À St-Henri, le 26 août, and Illusions of Control featuring theorist Lauren Berlant. She has also directed short fiction and music videos for the Montreal-based artist Little Scream.

Walsh, who was born in London, Ontario, is also an academic, and teaches film production at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Theatre and Film. She is the author of The Documentary Filmmaker's Intuition: Creating Ethical and Impactful Non-fiction Films. She is also the co-editor of the books Ties that Bind: Race and the Politics of Friendship in South Africa, and In My Life: Stories from activists in South Africa 2002-2022.

She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020 and awarded a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2023. In 2025, Walsh was elected to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada.

Walsh has also worked extensively in community-based and participatory media, often in South Africa, particularly with women and young people. Her research and practice have focused on participatory filmmaking, gender, social justice and activist research, using methods including participatory video, photovoice and creative writing. She is a co-director of TRANSFORM, an international research partnership focused on youth-led approaches to social change and gender transformation.

Filmography

Feature Films 2009: H2Oil (feature documentary) 2011: A St-Henri le 26 Aout (feature documentary) 2013: Jeppe on a Friday (feature documentary) made with Arya Lalloo 2019: Illusions of Control (feature documentary) 2021: The Gig Is Up (feature documentary) 2024: Adrianne & the Castle (feature documentary)

Selected Short Films 2002: Revisit (experimental fiction) directed with Rawi Hage 2003: Sayeh (medium-length documentary) directed with Kaveh Nabatian and Nicolas Rutigliano 2003: Fire & Hope (documentary) 2006: Inkani (documentary) with Heinrich Bohmke 2014: Under the Umbrella (documentary) 2018: Disappearance: Hong Kong Stories (360 VR documentary) 2019: Matsutake Hunters (documentary) 2022: This Phantom Pain, Letter #1 (experimental short)