Private Project

The Secret Lives of Public Servants (Season 1)

A documentary web series exploring the creative hobbies and side careers of public service employees outside the 9-5. The season profiles: The Radical Artist, The Comic Book Creator and The Cosplayer.

  • Amen Jafri
    Director
  • Amen Jafri
    Producer
  • Marc Adornato
    Key Cast
  • Janet Hetherington
    Key Cast
  • Richard Wong
    Key Cast
  • Hingman Leung
    Editor
  • Derek Price
    Director of Photography
  • Laszlo Szijarto
    Sound
  • Julien Desormeaux
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Reality
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 18 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 17, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    5,029 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Brooklyn Web Fest
    Brooklyn
    United States
    October 6, 2017
    North American Premiere
    Nominated: Best Cinematography and Best Reality/Documentary Series
  • The Secret Lives of Public Servants Screening Party
    Ottawa
    Canada
    October 21, 2017
    Local Premiere
  • Mirror Mountain Film Festival
    Ottawa
    Canada
    December 1, 2017
    Nominated: Best Local Film
  • HollyWeb Festival
    Los Angeles
    Canada
    April 7, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Pilot Light TV Festival
    Manchester
    United Kingdom
    May 6, 2018
    UK Premiere
    Official Selection
  • die Seriale
    Giessen
    Germany
    German Premiere
    Nominated Best Series and Best Documentary Series
  • Stareable Daily Pick
    Online
  • New Media Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Nominee for Best of Category Award and Audience Award
  • International Academy of Web Television Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    August 24, 2018
    Winner - Best Directing, Non-Fiction
Director Biography - Amen Jafri

Amen Jafri spent 10 years in communications and HR in the federal public service, before pivoting into film and television. She got her start on the feature thriller Penthouse North before working on Radio Canada's Toi et moi: malgré tout and in Acquisitions at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Her first film, The City That Fun Forgot?, was made without any prior experience and it had a sold-out premiere in 2014, garnering local and national media coverage. Since then, her other works have been shortlisted for the TVO Short Doc Contest and screened for TVO, the American Documentary Film Festival and more. Her latest project, The Secret Lives of Public Servants, is currently on the festival circuit and she is directing a Wingd/Bell Media documentary series on entrepreneurship. She is a 2018 fellow for Hot Docs' Doc Accelerator Emerging Filmmaker Lab and a 2018 IAWTV award winner.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Paper pushers. Suits. Lazy. It's always the same story when it comes to public servants. This documentary web series exposes you to the other side. We take a look at the unusual side hobbies and incredible side careers: from comic book creators to cosplayers, to radical artists.