Year: 2019
Country: USA
Director: Lily Zepeda
Genre: documentary
Runtime: 86 min.
Age: 12+
A doc about Singaporean activist Jack Sim, who uses humour to publicize the issue of improving bathroom sanitation
To a stranger, he’s a guy obsessed with toilets, but to those who know him, he’s “Mr. Toilet,” a crusader for global sanitation. Born in the Singapore slums, Jack Sim knows firsthand the agonies of not having a proper loo. Now he’s dedicating his life to a crisis no one dares talk about: Shit. Not having a place “to go” isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a problem that impacts 2.4 billion people worldwide. In India alone, 200,000 children die each year from lack of safe sanitation, while women are regularly raped because they have to defecate in public spaces.
Jack’s kids describe him as a 12-year old trapped in a 60-year old’s body. He’s full of jokes and it can be hard to take him seriously. But, he uses humor as his weapon to fight an uphill battle against bathroom taboos. He founded the World Toilet Organization and spent the last 13 years lobbying 193 countries to raise awareness for proper sanitation.
December 15th, 20:00 Online Talk with Ilya Serezhkin "Microbiologist: How toilets affect people and nature"
Awards & Festivals:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Docs for Schools Award
Film Threat Award This! Socially Relevant Documentary