Shasha Nakhai's guest appearances

Shasha Nakhai

Q with Tom Power

Face2Face with David Peck

The Firecracker Department

The DGC Podcast

Alanis Obomsawin

François Girard

Bilal Baig

Richard Jenkins

Anjali Nayar

Kathleen Hepburn

Marie Clements

Werner Herzog

Charles Officer

Andrea Dorfman

Jess Salomon

Jayne Eastwood

Hayden Taylor

Raoul Peck

Sophie Deraspe

OwlTail

Director Shasha Nakhai talks about her feature film debut, Scarborough, and what a story set in one of Toronto's most undervalued communities can tell us about race, class and community. Writer Warsan Shire discusses her first full collection of poetry, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, about migration, womanhood, trauma and resilience. Model and singer Irina Lazareanu talks about her new book, Runway Bird: A Rock 'n' Roll Style Guide, and reflects on the style icons who inspired her.

[Full episode] Shasha Nakhai, Warsan Shire, Irina Lazareanu

Our guest this week is Toronto-based award-winning producer, director and storyteller SHASHA NAKHAI!    Shasha’s storytelling work has taken her all over the world, like the Hawaiian coastline in THIRTY EIGHT MINUTES, a Cold War bunker in THE HOLE IN RESERVOIR HILL, the engine room of a decaying ship in THE UNSINKABLE CAPTAIN JOHN, the Philippine sugar mills in THE SUGAR BOWL and the front lines of Nigeria’s energy crisis with TAKE LIGHT.    Shasha’s received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Web Program or Series, Non-Fiction for LOVE LETTERS FROM EVEREST.  She and her partner Rich Williamson, received another Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Short Documentary for FRAME 394. It was named TIFF’s Top 10 and shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.    With over a decade of documentary experience, Shasha directed her first drama feature with partner, Rich Williamson, called SCARBOROUGH.  It was adapted from the award-winning novel by Catherine Hernandez. Shot documentary-style over the course of a school year, the film follows 3 children from a low-income community that find compassion, community, and resilience in an unlikely place.  At TIFF 2021, SCARBOROUGH was first runner up for the People's Choice award, received an Honourable Mention for Best Canadian Feature and won the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award! Now, SCARBOROUGH has 11 Canadian Screen Award nominations! For Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Direction, Adapted Screenplay, John Dunning First Feature Award, and so much more!   Twitter: @ShashaNakhai SCARBOROUGH: @ScarbFilm Instagram:  SCARBOROUGH: @scarbfilm Facebook Fan page/website:  SCARBOROUGH: @ScarbFilm  Scarbfilm.com Kenya-Jade Pinto https://www.kenyajade.com/ SCARBOROUGH’s Canadian Screen Award Nominations Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Directing, Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in Supporting Role, John Dunning First Feature Award, Achievement in Cinematography, Achievement in Casting, Achievement in Sound Mixing, Achievement in Sound Editing, Adapted Screenplay @thecdnacademy   https://www.academy.ca/nominees/?utm_source=nominees_announced&amp;utm_medium=linktree_link&amp;utm_campaign=nominee_announcement Level Film @levelFILM Route 504 PR @route504pr Podcast Team Head Producer and Editor: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor:  Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019 To listen to the podcast: https://linktr.ee/firecrackerdept    Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.firecrackerdepartment.com and follow us @firecrackerdept!

Our guest this week is Toronto-based award-winning producer, director and storyteller SHASHA NAKHAI!    Shasha’s storytelling work has taken her all over the world, like the Hawaiian coastline in THIRTY EIGHT MINUTES, a Cold War bunker in THE HOLE IN RESERVOIR HILL, the engine room of a decaying ship in THE UNSINKABLE CAPTAIN JOHN, the Philippine sugar mills in THE SUGAR BOWL and the front lines of Nigeria’s energy crisis with TAKE LIGHT.    Shasha’s received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Web Program or Series, Non-Fiction for LOVE LETTERS FROM EVEREST.  She and her partner Rich Williamson, received another Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Short Documentary for FRAME 394. It was named TIFF’s Top 10 and shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.    With over a decade of documentary experience, Shasha directed her first drama feature with partner, Rich Williamson, called SCARBOROUGH.  It was adapted from the award-winning novel by Catherine Hernandez. Shot documentary-style over the course of a school year, the film follows 3 children from a low-income community that find compassion, community, and resilience in an unlikely place.  At TIFF 2021, SCARBOROUGH was first runner up for the People's Choice award, received an Honourable Mention for Best Canadian Feature and won the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award! Now, SCARBOROUGH has 11 Canadian Screen Award nominations! For Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Direction, Adapted Screenplay, John Dunning First Feature Award, and so much more!   Twitter: @ShashaNakhai SCARBOROUGH: @ScarbFilm Instagram:  SCARBOROUGH: @scarbfilm Facebook Fan page/website:  SCARBOROUGH: @ScarbFilm  <a href="https://www.scarbfilm.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scarbfilm.com</a> Kenya-Jade Pinto <a href="https://www.kenyajade.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.kenyajade.com/</a> SCARBOROUGH’s Canadian Screen Award Nominations Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Directing, Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in Supporting Role, John Dunning First Feature Award, Achievement in Cinematography, Achievement in Casting, Achievement in Sound Mixing, Achievement in Sound Editing, Adapted Screenplay @thecdnacademy  <a href="https://www.academy.ca/nominees/?utm_source=nominees_announced&amp;utm_medium=linktree_link&amp;utm_campaign=nominee_announcement" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.academy.ca/nominees/?utm_source=nominees_announced&amp;utm_medium=linktree_link&amp;utm_campaign=nominee_announcement</a> Level Film @levelFILM Route 504 PR @route504pr Podcast Team Head Producer and Editor: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor:  Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019 To listen to the podcast: <a href="https://linktr.ee/firecrackerdept" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://linktr.ee/firecrackerdept</a>   Subscribe to our newsletter at <a href="https://www.firecrackerdepartment.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.firecrackerdepartment.com</a> and follow us @firecrackerdept!

Shasha and I talk about her new film Take Light, the power crisis in Nigeria, poverty, corruption, Illegal electricians, suffering and smiling, hope and the legacy of colonialism. Watch the Trailer here. Synopsis Over 50 per cent of Nigeria's nearly 200 million citizens don't have access to electricity. For Africa's largest energy producer and most populous nation, that number is shocking. Those dependent on the unreliable grid are limited to a few hours of power a day at best. Taking matters into their own hands, many households illegally and dangerously wire their homes by tampering with transformers. While a bungling bureaucracy attempts to privatize the electrical system, an electrician risks his life on power poles, trying to provide for his daughter's education. His colleague in customer service has the more difficult task of going door to door collecting fees from disgruntled customers. The problems are complex and systemic, but director Shasha Nakhai delicately balances the big picture of a country trying to advance its development with the compelling stories of blue-collar workers attempting to make better lives for their families.  Biography Shasha Nakhai is a filmmaker based out of Toronto with Compy Films and Storyline Entertainment. Her award-winning films have screened at festivals and aired on TV worldwide, been released on iTunes, gone viral and been awarded Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. Her last film with partner Rich Williamson, Frame 394, was shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and was part of the CBC’s new Digital Doc Shorts initiative. It had its world premiere at the 2016 Hot Docs Film Festival, and went on to win Best Canadian Short at NorthwestFest, Best Documentary Short at the Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival, Best Documentary Short at the Sidewalk Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short at the New Orleans Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Charleston Film Festival. It was named one of TIFF’s Top 10 Films of 2016, and was nominated for 2 Canadian Screen Awards. Shasha was 1 of 8 emerging producers selected for the DOC Institute’s Breakthrough Program in 2015, and was awarded Telefilm Canada’s Pay It Forward Prize as part of the Hot Docs Film Festival’s Don Haig Award. Take Light is her first feature documentary. She also has a deep love for interactive storytelling, working as a brand ambassador for PlayStation for 8 years, and having been selected as the inaugural recipient of WIFT's Ubisoft Toronto Producer Mentorship program. She recently collaborated with DimensionGate on her first virtual reality project, Take Light VR. Having graduated from Ryerson University's Broadcast Journalism program, Shasha was born in the Philippines, grew up in Nigeria and came to Canada as an international student in 2003 To learn more about the film visit the site here. ---------- Image Copyright: Storyline and Shasha Nakhai. Used with permission. For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here. With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shasha and I talk about her new film Take Light, the power crisis in Nigeria, poverty, corruption, Illegal electricians, suffering and smiling, hope and the legacy of colonialism. Watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eu1ToXEvtA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trailer here</a>. Synopsis Over 50 per cent of Nigeria's nearly 200 million citizens don't have access to electricity. For Africa's largest energy producer and most populous nation, that number is shocking. Those dependent on the unreliable grid are limited to a few hours of power a day at best. Taking matters into their own hands, many households illegally and dangerously wire their homes by tampering with transformers. While a bungling bureaucracy attempts to privatize the electrical system, an electrician risks his life on power poles, trying to provide for his daughter's education. His colleague in customer service has the more difficult task of going door to door collecting fees from disgruntled customers. The problems are complex and systemic, but director Shasha Nakhai delicately balances the big picture of a country trying to advance its development with the compelling stories of blue-collar workers attempting to make better lives for their families.  Biography Shasha Nakhai is a filmmaker based out of Toronto with Compy Films and Storyline Entertainment. Her award-winning films have screened at festivals and aired on TV worldwide, been released on iTunes, gone viral and been awarded Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. Her last film with partner Rich Williamson, Frame 394, was shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and was part of the CBC’s new Digital Doc Shorts initiative. It had its world premiere at the 2016 Hot Docs Film Festival, and went on to win Best Canadian Short at NorthwestFest, Best Documentary Short at the Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival, Best Documentary Short at the Sidewalk Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short at the New Orleans Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Charleston Film Festival. It was named one of TIFF’s Top 10 Films of 2016, and was nominated for 2 Canadian Screen Awards. Shasha was 1 of 8 emerging producers selected for the DOC Institute’s Breakthrough Program in 2015, and was awarded Telefilm Canada’s Pay It Forward Prize as part of the Hot Docs Film Festival’s Don Haig Award. Take Light is her first feature documentary. She also has a deep love for interactive storytelling, working as a brand ambassador for PlayStation for 8 years, and having been selected as the inaugural recipient of WIFT's Ubisoft Toronto Producer Mentorship program. She recently collaborated with DimensionGate on her first virtual reality project, Take Light VR. Having graduated from Ryerson University's Broadcast Journalism program, Shasha was born in the Philippines, grew up in Nigeria and came to Canada as an international student in 2003 To learn more about the film <a href="https://www.takelightfilm.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">visit the site here</a>. ---------- Image Copyright: Storyline and Shasha Nakhai. Used with permission. For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit <a href="http://www.davidpecklive.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">my site here</a>. With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and <a href="http://mixedmediasound.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mixed Media Sound</a>. Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Take Light - Shasha Nakhai