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Directors (1783)
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Ann Shin (2)

Ann Shin

Ann Shin

Ann Shin is a multi-awarded poet, journalist and filmmaker, born in London, Ontario, to a South Korean mother and a Danish father. Shin completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature (University of Toronto) and started her career as a journalist at CBC Radio, producing sound poetry and radio documentaries such as How to Breathe the Air of Our Ancestors (Gold Medal winner at the 1998 New York Festivals). 

Shin has directed 11 documentary films, two of which were produced by the NFB: Western Eyes (2000), about two Canadian women of Asian descent who are contemplating eyelid surgery, and Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired World (2002), about a group of people who use the Internet to connect with like-minded souls in surprising ways. She received international acclaim for her award-winning films The Defector: Escape from North Korea (2013) and My Enemy, My Brother (2014), which made the Oscars shortlist for Documentary Short Subject

  • Western Eyes
    Western Eyes
    Ann Shin 2000 39 min
    This documentary presents two Canadian women of Asian descent who are contemplating eyelid surgery. Maria and Sharon, of Philippino and Korean heritage respectively, believe their looks--specifically their eyes--get in the way of how people see them. Layering their stories with pop culture references to beauty icons and supermodels, filmmaker Ann Shin looks at the pain that lies deep behind the desire for plastic surgery.
  • Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired World
    Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired World
    Ann Shin 2002 47 min
    This documentary presents a few individuals for whom the Internet has become a way to connect with like-minded souls in surprising ways: a cyber punk based on an anti-aircraft rig in the English Channel who operates a rogue Web server, a monk developing "wireless prayer technology," a "gamer" who re-creates himself in an online game, a retired couple living in an Internet-controlled seniors' complex and a divorcée who exchanges vows online with a man she's never met.

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