"Racist and sexist prejudices and stereotypes flourish only in people's ignorance of each other's true selves. That's why it's urgent that our media start to reflect the real diversity of our population, and give access to the stories and perspectives of Canadians of all backgrounds and, in particular, the women." (Kathleen Shannon from a biographical note).

Kathleen Shannon's career in film began in 1952 when as a music student she got a summer job cataloguing music for Crawley Films. She stayed for four years, doing virtually everything but the "men's" jobs (directing, camera work, sound recording, "bossing")!
In 1956, she began working at the National Film Board as a sound and music editor. Seven years later, she moved into picture editing.
In 1970, after accumulating 18 years' experience as an editor and with over 200 films to her credit, she was finally allowed to direct her first film, Goldwood, an exploration of a woman's childhood memories.
She then researched, wrote, directed, edited and produced a dozen short films about women trying to juggle family and career. Entitled Working Mothers, the series was produced within the Challenge for Change Program.
In 1974, Shannon was appointed Executive Producer of Studio D, a new studio created to give women a chance to make films expressing their points of view and help women advance from administrative support to production jobs.
Also in the mid-1970s, she established an on-the-job training/production program offering 27 women across the country an opportunity to make a one-minute film clip to be released under the collective title Just a Minute. She also helped Anne Wheeler and Lorna Rasmussen complete Great Grand Mother, which they had started in the private sector.

As founder and Executive Producer of Studio D, Shannon oversaw production of approximately 80 films, including the Oscar-winning I'll Find a Way (1978), If You Love This Planet (1983) and Flamenco at 5:15 (1984). Studio D has won more Oscar® to date than any other NFB studio.

In 1984, Shannon received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario for "raising the level of knowledge and consciousness about matters of social and human importance." Two years later, she was appointed to the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian distinction, in recognition of her contribution to the women's movement.
In 1986, feeling that she and the studio needed a change, she stepped down as Executive Producer of Studio D but continued to pursue her interest in the use of film and video as a tool for individual and social development, notably by lecturing and studying communication projects in India.
In tribute to Shannon, the NFB instituted the National Film Board-Kathleen Shannon Award, accompanied by a $1,000 cash prize, which is presented each year at the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival to an independently made documentary film that "allows people outside the dominant culture to speak for themselves".
Shannon retired in 1992 and moved back to British Columbia, where she opens a house called "Hestia's - the Women's Guesthouse in the Kootenays".
Since then, Kathleen Shannon received two further honorary degrees - Doctor of Letters from York University in 1996 and Doctor of Human Letters from Mount Saint Vincent University in 1997.
In 1997, filmmaker Gerry Rogers directed the film Kathleen Shannon: On Film, Feminism & Other Dreams.
Kathleen Shannon died on January 9, 1998, of lung cancer, at the age of 62.
You can find more details on the films directed by Kathleen Shannon in the Film Collection.

Published Work

• Remembering Gloria Demers, article published in Cinéma Canada magazine, 1990
• Seeing Women's Images, article published in Media and Values magazine, 1990
• The Invisible War, article published in New Federation magazine, December 1991
• Worry About Culture at a Time Like This?, essay published in book Living the Changes, University of Manitoba Press, 1991

Bibliography

• Bunel Edwards, Margaret. "'D' for Decision." Performing Arts in Canada, Vol. 22 No. 1 (April 1985): p. 15-17.
• Hartt, L. "Kathleen Shannon: Working Mothers series." Cinema Canada, Vol. II No. 15, (August-September 1974): p. 55.
• Timmins, John. "Kathleen Shannon: Goodbye to All That: Studio D's Executive Producer Wins Order of Canada." Cinema Canada, No. 134 (October 1986): p. 35.