Thursday, October 31st, 2013.
Jo-Anne McArthur is a photojournalist and creator of the photo documentary project We Animals. She travels the world and joins several groups working to improve conditions for animals to capture images of, “animals in the human environment,” everywhere from standard factory farms in the United States to bear bile farms in China. She talked with Dr. Don about how and why she started the project, shared some of her experiences, highlighted the efforts of the groups she has worked with, and shared the stories behind a few of her shoots.
Liz Marshall is an award-winning auteur filmmaker who fuses character-driven cinematic storytelling with social and environmental justice issues. Since the 90s she has created a body of documentary projects shot all over the world which focus on a range of subjects including: animal use and animal sentience; the right to water movement; HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa; sweatshop labour; corporate-globalization; gender; censorship affecting writers and journalists, war-affected children; music icons and the written and spoken word. Liz is well versed in the craft of conceptual point-of-view storytelling as a means of exploring complex issues.
Marshall’s most current work is the following:
THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE (2013), a cross-platform documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. A film, an interactive online companion to the film, and a robust web and social media presence: THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE shines a light on the moral question: Are non-human animals property to be owned and used, or are they sentient beings deserving of rights?
WATER ON THE TABLE (2010) an award winning and Gemini nominated theatrical and broadcast film featuring Maude Barlow’s crusade to have water declared a human right.
Marshall’s work has premiered for diverse international audiences: Theatrically; international broadcast; international film festivals; the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto; 150 world leaders at the 2001 Winnipeg Conference on War-Affected Children; PEN International; Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression; museums; Air Canada; grassroots groups around the world, and for the Tragically Hip and 200,000 of their fans.
In the early 90s Liz Marshall majored in film, video and photography in the Media Arts Program at Ryerson University. Her thesis project “Identity Portraits” explored the complexity of identity and revealed a talent for intimate character development and image making. Marshall went on to work in television, for non-governmental organizations, and as an independent creator.
Liz Marshall spent her childhood summers playing and imagining on the salty sorrel beaches of British Columbia, her home away from home. She lives in Toronto with her partner and their rescued cats.
Audio to follow their interview.
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