Mr Toilet: The World’s #2 Man / Film School Radio interview with Director Lily Zepeda

In the entertaining and informative documentary we meet Jack Sim, MR. TOILET: The World’s #2 Man. To strangers, Jack Sim might come across as an eccentric entrepreneur who is obsessed with toilets, but to those who know him he’s “Mr. Toilet,” a crusader for global sanitation. Born in the Singapore slums, Sim knows first-hand the agonies of not having a proper loo. Sim’s is dedicating his life to a crisis no one dares talk about. 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. He founded the World Toilet Organization and spent the last 13 years lobbying 193 countries to raise awareness for proper sanitation. He even successfully lobbied the United Nations to create World Toilet Day (November 19) – the first International day of celebration for the toilet. Now he is plunged into his biggest challenge yet when asked to secure 6 million toilets for the “Clean India” initiative. But with few resources and no help from the government, his epic project and reputation are in jeopardy. Jack’s once supportive staff begins to doubt him; and when his family bonds start to fray over his obsessive dedication, Mr. Toilet realizes there is a price to pay for being the world's #2 man. But as a "su-poo-hero”, he can't quit. Director, producer and writer Lily Zepeda joins us to talk about a man possessed with bringing sanitation to a world that may not be ready to embrace it and how his mission has impacted the people closest to him. For news, screenings and updates go to: mrtoiletfilm.com Toilet Facts: Almost 40% of the world’s population does not have access to safe sanitation Almost 1 million children die every year from diarrhea due to a lack of sanitation Over the past 200 years, toilets have added 20 years to the lifespan of humans i in 5 girls in India drop out of school when they start having periods due to the lack of private toilets Jack Sim was named one of the heroes of the environment for 2008 by TIME magazine Social Media: facebook.com/worldsnumber2man instagram.com/mrtoiletfilm instagram.com/lilyzepeda