Kathleen Shannon

Kathleen SHANNON (1935–1998, Canada) was a pioneering Canadian filmmaker and producer, best known as the founder and first executive producer of Studio D at the National Film Board of Canada, the first government-funded film studio in the world dedicated to women filmmakers. Beginning her directing career in the early 1970s, she focused on women’s lives, family structures, and social realities across Canada, helping define a new feminist documentary movement. Her short Challenge for Change: “… and They Lived Happily Ever After”(1975), co-directed with Anne Henderson, is part of the The Future is NOW focus at IFFR 2026.

Filmography

(selection, all docs) Goldwood (1970), I Don’t Think It’s Meant for Us… (1971), Mothers Are People (1974), Extensions of the Family (1974), Challenge for Change: “… and They Lived Happily Ever After” (1975, co-directed with Anne Henderson and Irene Angelico), Faithful Women series (1990)