Allison Walsh

Allison Walsh is an independent documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and fine artist, who is committed to documenting social issues in the Midwest. Walsh’s films have screened around the world including France (Paris Art and Movie Awards), Mexico (Festival Sayulita), Spain (BSF2019), and across the United States (PBS Short Film Festival, Pride Film Fest, Femme Filmmakers Showcase). Walsh’s feature documentary, Teaching About Religion (working title), is In Association with Kartemquin Films and is currently in post-production.

Walsh is the founder and program director of the Big Picture Film Festival, an international film festival in Peoria, Illinois (returning in 2024). She is a recipient of the Kartemquin Emerging Storytellers Fund (2019), Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Program (2019), and the Acorn Equality Grant (2018), awarded to work that positively impacts the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons and allies. She has been invited to speak about her films at Western Illinois University and the El Paso Museum of History. Walsh was trained in documentary by the powerhouse Kartemquin Films in Chicago, where she worked on the documentary film Dilemma of Desire (SXSW, 2020), led by the Emmy and Peabody award-winning director Maria Finitzo, and City So Real (Sundance, 2020), led by the Oscar-nominated director Steve James.

Recently, Walsh was a cinematographer and field producer for documentaries for ESPN+, Discovery+, Magnolia Network, and dir. Allison Berg for her upcoming feature film, UNTITLED (currently in post-production). Walsh is the owner of Aluma Media, a full-service video and photo company that serves clients with creative solutions. Aluma highlights women and diverse voices in front of and behind the camera.

When she’s not making films, Allison likes to travel the world, speak Spanish, and play soccer. Walsh holds a BFA from Bradley University where she studied Painting, Spanish, and Philosophy.