Films Beyond the Frame
Founded by award-winning filmmaker and Guggenheim Fellow Shannon Walsh, Last Songbird Productions creates distinctive films across documentary, fiction and music. Drawn to stories where the personal and political collide, our work explores desire, intimacy, power and social transformation.
Upcoming
All films →-
Vuka
In a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, a visionary choir conductor uses music to help young people find purpose, belonging and harmony in an unforgiving world.
Co-Production with Trevendy Films · Dir. Matthew Robinson
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Mayisela
An animated documentary about South African whistleblower Simphiwe Mayisela, who risked everything to expose corruption at one of Africa’s largest pension funds.
Co-Production with Xalanga Peak · Dir. Shannon Walsh
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Intimacies
Why do we keep falling for the same person in different bodies? When Robby withdraws without quite leaving, Claire hires a sex worker to rehearse the wound she keeps repeating.
Dir. Shannon Walsh
In development
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Heteros
Across the globe, straight women are opting out of dating men. Playful and archive-driven, Heteros investigates why heterosexuality just isn’t that into them — and what new intimacies are emerging in its wake.
Co-production with Level Ground · Dir. Shannon Walsh & Chase Joynt
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Without Witness
What happens when two people mistake the intensity of seeing one another for the capacity to save one another?
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London Calling
Rob is dead. Decades after witnessing the police beating that changed both their lives, a filmmaker returns to London to unravel the story of a boy who haunted her long before he was gone. Part true-crime investigation, part personal reckoning, London Calling traces the tangled legacies of obsession, addiction and institutional neglect.
True Crime / Autofiction
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ManBitch
In the restless streets of post-apartheid Durban, a disillusioned Afrikaans intellectual drifts through a world of sex workers, failed romances and desperate longing. Adapted from Johan van Wyk’s novella, ManBitch is a darkly comic portrait of desire, alienation and a man coming undone.
Adapted from the novella by Johan van Wyk · Screenplay by Shannon Walsh
Previous work
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Physician, Heal Thyself
An intimate portrait of renowned physician and author Gabor Maté, tracing his journey from a rebellious young doctor to an influential voice on addiction, trauma and healing.
Executive Producer · Dir. Asher Penn
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Illusions of Control
Inspired by Lauren Berlant’s concept of cruel optimism, this philosophical documentary follows five women across the globe as they navigate disaster, survival and transformation.
Co-Production with What Escapes Production
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Matsutake Hunters
In the forests of northern British Columbia, the hunt for the elusive Japanese matsutake mushroom reveals an intricate world of human relationships, hidden economies and ecological interdependence.
Telus Originals · Dir. Shannon Walsh
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Disappearance: Hong Kong Stories
An immersive 360-degree documentary exploring the intimate geographies of Hong Kong through three people and the places that hold meaning in their lives.
Dir. Shannon Walsh
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Under the Umbrella
Amid Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Revolution, three young women from vastly different backgrounds document the pro-democracy protests through their own lenses. Their perspectives reveal the tensions, hopes and unexpected solidarities within Hong Kong’s multicultural movement.
AJ+ · Dir. Shannon Walsh
About
Last Songbird Productions is a Vancouver-based film production company founded by award-winning filmmaker and Guggenheim Fellow Shannon Walsh. The company develops and produces documentary and fiction features, short films and immersive works, with a focus on distinctive perspectives and formally adventurous storytelling.
Previous works span feature documentaries, short films, immersive projects and music videos, including Illusions of Control (2019), Disappearance: Hong Kong Stories (2018), and Matsutake Hunters (2019). In 2023, Last Songbird served as executive producer on the Gabor Maté documentary Physician, Heal Thyself.