Shalini Kantayya

TikTok’s grip on young people is impossible to ignore—its bite-sized videos and uncannily accurate algorithm guarantee it a spot on the list of most influential internet platforms. But behind the addictive scrolling and viral dances, how much do we really know about the social media giant? In this eye-opening talk, director Shalini Kantayya teaches us about TikTok’s intricacies, advantages and pitfalls. Drawing on her 2022 documentary TikTok, Boom, which explores TikTok through the eyes of experts and young content creators, Kantayya dives into the issues surrounding the platform with nuance instead of condoning or condemning it. This talk is a fascinating, insightful examination of the way technology and entertainment interact and affect us, putting a human face on issues of privacy, culture, politics and more. Kantayya enables us to be more thoughtful about the way we use the internet, and to use social media more effectively and ethically.

Is there such a thing as truly neutral technology? What happens to our rights when we let machines govern our liberties? Award-winning filmmaker and activist Shalini Kantayya’s 2020 Sundance documentary, Coded Bias, explores how technologies are fundamentally designed with bias—specifically the biases that reflect the assumptions (conscious or subconscious) of the people who program them. In this deeply researched and engaging talk, Kantayya explores the intersection of innovation and discrimination: disrupting the belief that AI, science, and technology are inherently unbiased. She illuminates key questions about racial and gender bias in tech, data privacy, and human rights, while revealing uncomfortable truths about how these systems evolve—and how they adversely impact marginalized communities, especially through law enforcement. With warmth, wisdom, and even humor, Kantayya’s interactive talk reveals what the A.I. technologies shaping our collective future mean for civil rights and democracy; exploring how we got here, how biased tech affects the way we live together, and what we can do to course-correct in this era of rapid technological advancement.

There’s a race afoot for the clean energy future—the foremost global economic opportunity of our time. Already more than half of the new energy that’s coming online globally is from renewable sources. It represents a trillion dollar industry. And all over the world, countries are making a transition. Some countries will actually leap-frog the grid and catapult into a distributed future. President Barack Obama said “the country that leads in clean energy will be the country that leads the 21st Century.” The U.S. can help lead a global transition to clean energy that can rebuild the ladder of economic opportunity in America. Solving the energy crisis could be a party of innovation, invention, and economic opportunity through disruptive technologies that democratize energy. If we are to succeed in retrofitting the nation for clean energy, a new generation of workers must be trained to confront the massive technological challenges that lie ahead. But who wins and who loses? What does building a ‘green economy’ actually look like on the ground?

Having come of age between Brooklyn and Bombay, Kantayya first became passionate about water rights while filming at the Kumbha Mela, a religious festival that happens at the confluence of three sacred rivers.  She found the statistics alarming: two-thirds of the world’s people will not have adequate access to clean drinking water by the year 2027. And there are no borders to this crisis. As demand rapidly exceeds supply, every species on the planet is in danger. Your access is at risk. The question is what will you do about it? In this gripping film screening and interactive talk, Shalini Kantayya fuses personal and political to explore the mounting worldwide water crisis, helping audiences to see water as a basic human right and inspiring them to make change.

Shalini Kantayya finished in the top 10 out of 12,000 filmmakers in On the Lot, the Steven Spielberg show in search of Hollywood’s next great director. Her company, 7th Empire Media, aims to create a culture of human rights and a sustainable planet through imaginative media that makes a real impact. In this entertaining and interactive presentation, Kantayya uses clips from her award-winning films to address to talk about how to tell a story that moves the heart, reaches new audiences, and makes real change. The keynote will include an overview of framing, messaging, and the elements of how to tell an engaging story. Using a variety of visual media, this keynote shares tools on how to use the power of a story to communicate your message and drive real change.