Face2Face with David Peck

Ash Mayfair and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film ‘The Third Wife,’ sexual, historical and political context, choice and options, forced marriage and how the personal becomes universal.

Trailer

Synopsis

In the late 19th century in rural Vietnam, Fourteen-year-old May is given away in an

arranged marriage as payment for her father’s debt. On her wedding day she becomes the third wife to her older husband, Hung. After the wedding night, May learns that she can only gain status by asserting herself, not just as a sexual being, but also as a woman who can and will give birth to a male child. May also learns how she can find her position between the other two wives and how to navigate the expectation placed on them by the family.

May finally comes to an understanding of the brutal truth. The options available to

her are few and far between. The arrival of her child, a baby girl, makes this struggle

imminent. As May observes the unfolding tragedy of forbidden love and its devastating consequences, she must make a choice, to either carry on in silence and safety, or forge a way towards personal freedom.

Biography

Ash Mayfair was born & grown up in Vietnam, she received an MFA in filmmaking from NYU. Ash’s short films, ‘The Silver Man,’ ‘Sam,’ ‘Heart of a Doll,’ ‘Grasshoppers,’ ‘Lupo, ‘Walking the Dead,’ and ‘No Exit’ have been shown by numerous international

film festivals. ‘The Third Wife’ is her first feature film.

The screenplay won the Spike Lee Production Fund 2014 and was on the NYU Purple List 2015 for the best screenplays written by graduates. ‘The Third Wife’ also won the Grand Prix at Autumn Meeting Lab 2015 in Vietnam and the Best Award for a non-Hong Kong project at the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum 2016. In 2017, the project is also among the 10 films selected to be presented at IFP (Independent Filmmakers Project), New York 2017.

Image Copyright: Mayfair Pictures and Ash Mayfair. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ann Shin and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her important new film The Superfood Chain, ghetto gardens, sustainability, local versus fair trade, the butterfly effect and crossing into other cultures.

Trailer

Synopsis

Are so called superfoods really that great for you? And how does the burgeoning global demand impact the indigenous cultures who grow the food and depend on it as a staple? ‘The Superfood Chain’ is a beautiful cinematic documentary that investigates how the super food industry affects the lives of farming families from Bolivia, Ethiopia, Philippines, and Haida Gwaii.

Every year, the western world is introduced to a new ‘superfood’ that boasts extraordinary nutritional features, and year after year we buy them. The Superfood Chain is a feature documentary that explores the facts and myths behind superfoods, and reveals the ripple effect of the ‘Superfood’ industry on farming and fishing families around the world. Shot on location in four countries, the TVO produced film features the lush landscapes of Bolivia, Ethiopia, Philippines, and Haida Gwaii in Canada, following four farming and fishing families. The documentary examines the larger issues around globalization of superfoods, including unintended effects on food security and health, sustainable farming, and fair trade food practices and provides an opportunist to learn more about the good food revolution.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

When I became a mom, I became hyper aware of the food I was feeding my family. I wanted the very best for them and so whenever a new superfood came to market, I’d buy it and serve it up, no questions asked. But when my six-year-old daughter asked me where her quinoa crusted salmon came from, I had no answers. When I started to look into it, what I discovered was eye-opening.

While superfoods have become a globalized trend, few people know if they’re really that great for you, and even fewer realize the profound impact that the superfood industry has on the farmers who produce them and the indigenous communities who rely on them as a staple food. The Superfood Chain takes a closer look at the superfoods we eat as well as the lives of superfood producing families around the world.

In this film, I travel to meet superfood farmers and fisherfolk, to witness firsthand the impact the world’s obsession with superfoods.

How have their lives changed since the superfood boom? How have their diets changed? And what can we do as consumers to help sustainable practices in farming and fishing communities?

Biography

Ann Shin is an award-winning Director and Producer known for beautiful, compelling documentary films, series and innovative interactive projects. Her films and series have aired on CBC, TVO, HBO, ABC, CBC The Documentary Channel, Discovery Channel, HGTV, History Channel, SLICE.

Her latest film, ‘My Enemy, My Brother’ won Grand Jury Prize at SDAIFF , the short version was shortlisted for a 2016 Academy Award, and nominated for an Emmy. Her cross-platform project ‘The Defector’ film won Best Documentary and Best Documentary Director at the Canadian Screen Awards. The Defector Interactive won the FITC Award, the Canadian Digi Award, and at the SXSW Interactive Festival. The Four Seasons Mosaic was a Gemini nominee for Best Performance Doc. Other credits include Chris Award-winning ‘The Roswell Incident’, ‘Western Eyes’, and ‘Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired World’.

Image Copyright: Fathom Film Group and Ann Shin. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tuva Novotny and Pia Tjelta and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new beautiful and challenging new film Blind Spot, shock and grief, parenting, PTSD and dealing with guilt, blame and responsibility.

Trailer

Synopsis

Swedish actor Tuva Novotny’s feature directorial debut is an uncompromising confrontation with family tragedy and heartbreak, about a mother’s struggle to understand her teenage daughter’s crisis. Shot in a series of harrowing long takes, Tuva Novotny's uncompromising Blind Spot documents every parent's worst nightmare. Maria, Anders and their two children — teenaged daughter Tea and son Bjorn — enjoy a uneventful and connected family life. But when an unexpected catastrophe happens, everything about their life is called into question.

As the family assembles and tries to deal with events, shock and hysteria lead to recrimination and self-doubt. Shot in a style reminiscent of the Dogme 95 school, with a handheld camera that's constantly chasing after the characters as they struggle with their trauma, the film never releases its grip. Indeed, it grows more and more claustrophobic and heartrending with each passing scene.

Biography

One of Sweden's most durable and in-demand stars, Tuva Novotny has appeared in everything from Josef Fares's international hit ‘Jalla! Jalla!’ to TV series (Dag) to Hollywood titles like ‘Eat Pray Love’, ‘Annihilation’, ‘A War’ and ‘Borg vs McEnroe.’ Tuva Novotny was born in Stockholm. She has acted extensively in television and film. ‘Blind Spot” is her directorial debut.

Image Copyright: Tuva Novotny. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to TIFF’s Steve Gravestock and producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Osborne and Face2Face host David Peck talk about The Third Dive, blame over responsibility, journalistic integrity, the power of storytelling, sawfish sharks and the 3 values of an activist.

Trailer

Watch the Film here.

Synopsis

In his 37 years, Rob Stewart had seemingly spent more time underwater than above. The Toronto-born marine biologist fuelled a literal sea-change with his 2006 film Sharkwater, about the endangerment of the seas’ top predator, and led an activist movement that saw more than 100 countries ban shark products. And it was on January 31, 2017, while seeking revolutionary footage of sawfish sharks mating near the wreck of the Queen of Nassau off the Florida Keys, that Stewart drowned in a bizarre series of events.

As detailed in Robert Osborne’s The Third Dive, both Stewart and his diving instructor Peter Sotis made a risky third deep-dive of the day using ‘rebreather’ apparatus, in murky waters that frustrated filming efforts. Both divers seemed okay when reaching the surface. But Sotis lost consciousness after climbing onto the boat. Stewart apparently lost consciousness also, as the boat was swinging around to meet him. He disappeared, and his body was discovered by a remote submersible search vessel three days later.

The Third Dive traces those events within the context of Florida Keys politics and accusations of whitewashing from within its community. Despite its reputation as a haven for ocean fun-seekers and pristine waters, at least 36 people drowned off the Florida Keys from 2013-2017. Many of them were mere statistics, attracting little notice in the media, but Stewart was not. Within 24 hours of his disappearance, it became clear that his plight would bring the attention of the world on the Keys’ community.

’Throughout the investigation and the filming, I tried to never lose sight of what Rob Stewart accomplished,’ says Osborne. ‘He virtually saved a species single handedly and I felt that achievement should be reflected in the film.’

Biography

Robert Osborne is the Senior Producer of Dam Builder Productions, and Jari Osborne is the Executive Producer. Robert has more than 30 years of working in long format television. For much of that time he was an investigative journalist working for the CTV show W5. He’s also worked for Marketplace and Pacific Report.

Robert has developed a specialty in directing underwater-based documentaries. He holds nearly a dozen certifications including a cave-diving specialty. Robert has won more than half a dozen RTNDA Awards, a CAJ Award and an Award of Merit from the Governor General. He has been nominated countless times for Gemini awards and has been part of a team that won two. In 2012 he was nominated for a CSA Award for Unlocking Alex. Robert’s last film Unstoppable was an investigation inside the fentanyl epidemic sweeping across North America. The documentary, broadcast in 2016, has proved to be prophetic: “There’s still no sign that any government fully understands what a virtual force of nature this drug has become,” says Robert. He won a CSA for best writing in a documentary for Unstoppable. Dam Builder Productions has also produced documentaries for the CBC’s The Nature of Things and for the Discovery Channel.

For more info head to the site here

Image Copyright: Dam Builder Productions and Rob Osborne. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don McKellar and Tina Keeper and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Through Black Spruce, residential school and family history, responsibility of Canadians, a lack of understanding and stories and truth.

Trailer

Synopsis

The film was shot on location in Moosonee, Moose Cree First Nation, Sudbury, Atikameksheng Anishinawbek First Nation, Killarney and Toronto, Ontario and it’s a ‘Collaboration and reconciliation,’ says producer Tina Keeper. ‘That’s what this production was all about. Indigenous and non-indigenous filmmakers coming together to tell a story that mattered to everyone.’ It’s the project she’s been building towards since founding Kistikan Pictures back in 2010, in partnership with Buffalo Gal Pictures in Winnipeg. The company is dedicated to the development and production of film and television with Indigenous artists.

Based on the Giller Award-winning novel of the same name by Joseph Boyden, Through Black Spruce is a story of identity and survival. The disappearance of a young Indigenous woman named Suzanne Bird triggers events in two worlds: in Moosonee, the remote Northern Ontario community she fled years ago, and Toronto, where she modelled for a while before vanishing into the ether.

Her sister Annie is a hunter, a fiercely-independent woman who’s always resented her weaker twin. But their mother’s despair sends her south to retrace Suzanne’s steps. Her life in Moosonee soon recedes as she’s drawn into the glittering “artists and models” scene her sister left behind. Meanwhile, her uncle Will copes with the dangerous consequences of Suzanne’s disappearance… and comes up against the ghosts of his own private tragedy. The two worlds finally collide in the fallout from the missing woman's troubled life.

Biography

Don McKellar

Don McKellar was born in Canada and has had a varied career as a writer, director and actor. He was the screenwriter of Roadkill and Highway 61, and co-writer of Dance Me Outside, the Genie Award-winning Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould and The Red Violin (he also appeared in the latter two). He received a Genie Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Atom Egoyan’s Exotica and the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes for his directorial debut, Last Night, which he also wrote and starred in. He also wrote, directed and played the lead in his second film, Childstar.

His stage writing credits include the five plays he co-created with the Augusta Company and the book for the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, for which he won a Tony Award. He also wrote and starred in the CBC television series Twitch City.

Other film and television appearances include David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ, Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies and the series Slings and Arrows for the Sundance Channel. He collaborated on the film adaptation of Jose Saramago’s Nobel Prize-winning novel Blindness. Directed by Fernando Mereilles, he also starred with Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal and Mark Ruffalo.

His recent work includes the Max Films feature The Grand Seduction, for which he won a DGC Award for Best Direction in 2014.

Tina Keeper

Tina Keeper is Cree, originally from Norway House Cree Nation, now a Winnipeg based media producer. She is President of Kistikan Pictures, a partner company to Buffalo Gal Pictures. Tina was formerly an actor, best known for her work on the hit Canadian series North of 60. Recent productions include Through Black Spruce, the 360-3D VR short film Sky Stories, Road of Iniquity, the critically acclaimed Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Going Home Star about the Indian Residential School history in Canada, and The REDress REdress Project a short documentary on the issue of Murdered and Missing Aboriginal women in Manitoba.

Tina also served as a Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Churchill.

Tina has a BA Theatre from the University of Winnipeg and has trained at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, the Banff Centre and the Sundance Film Institute Tina currently serves as Chairperson of the board of trustees for the Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation, member of the advisory Committee to Urban Shaman Gallery, the advisory committee to Red Cross Manitoba, Honourary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is member of the Order of Manitoba, Canadians for a New Partnership, a recipient of an Aboriginal Achievement Award, a Gemini Award, 3 American Indian Film Festival awards for acting and producing, a 2014 Canadian Civil Liberties Association award for Public Engagement, was named ACTRA’s 2017 Women of the Year.

In June 2017, Tina received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Wilfred Laurier University and a Governor General Meritorious Service Medal along with the late Elder Mary Richard, and RWB Artistic Director Andre Lewis for the ballet Going Home Star.

Image Copyright: Serendipity and D Films. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Del Monte, Janae Kroc and David Peck talk about their new film Transformer, fear, pressure and identity, hateful and angry people, creating conversations and why this film has a heart.

Watch the trailer here.

Synopsis

From white trash kid, to decorated U.S. Marine, to bodybuilder, to world record powerlifter, Matt Kroczaleski faces his most challenging feat of strength yet: becoming a woman.

A world record power lifter faces his most challenging feat of strength yet: becoming a woman. Transformer takes audiences on the transition journey of world record powerlifter Janae "Kroc" Kroczaleski. A unique and inspiring look at the transgender community, Transformer explores Janae's discovery that letting go of Matt doesn't mean she has to let go of herself.

"I don't think I am comfortable as an extremely muscular woman but as a guy, that's the only way I'm comfortable."

Transformer was directed by Michael Del Monte and produced by Tad Munnings of Storystream Creative.

The film premiered at the Austin Film Festival where it won the Audience and Best Doc Feature Awards and also recently was the recipient of the audience award for best documentary at Hot Docs 2018. The film has since screened at the Big Sky Film Festival and at the Socially Relevant Film Festival this year.

Biography

Michael Del Monte is an award-winning director, working around the globe. His latest documentary "Transformer" (2018) follows former U.S. Marine and world-record powerlifter, Matt Kroc, as he sets out to become a woman.

Transformer premiered at the Austin Film Festival and won the Best Documentary and the Audience Award. His first documentary, Transcend (2014) follows Boston Marathon Champion, Wesley Korir, who sets out to earn a seat as a Member of Parliament in a politically corrupt Kenyan election.

Del Monte received his Master's in theology and philosophy from The University of Toronto.

For more info on the film head here.

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Image Copyright: Michael Del Monte and StoryStream. Used with permission.

For more information about his podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Camilla Henriksen and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film, childhood stories and neglect, mental health issues, secret dreams, parenting making choices and how we all have untapped resources of a particular sort.

Synopsis

In Camilla Strøm Henriksen’s startling first feature, a young girl struggles to keep her family together in the aftermath of a tragedy that forces her to grow up far too quickly. When Jill, the heroine of the startling Phoenix, arrives home from school, she calls out tentatively for her mother. She slips quietly around the family’s spacious yet dark apartment, laid out like a vampire’s lair with every piece of furniture as far from the light as possible. Relieved to find her mother Astrid asleep, Jill swiftly goes to work dumping the half-empty bottles of booze littered around the bedroom.

Phoenix fearlessly charts the horrors of living with a parent suffering from mental illness exacerbated by substance abuse. When Astrid’s depression gets the better of her, Jill is forced to cover things up in order to keep the family together. But there may be light at the end of the tunnel: an impending visit from their musician father, Nils (Sverrir Gudnason from last year’s Borg vs. McEnroe, which played the Festival), who could easily whisk them away.

Jill’s teenaged resilience and resourcefulness is on full display in Phoenix but there are also signs of the cost of being forced to grow up too quickly. Heartbreaking and courageous, Phoenix is a powerful debut establishing its director as one to watch.

Biography

Phoenix is an original story by Camilla Strøm Henriksen and is her first feature. As an actress she has appeared extensively in Norwegian films, TV and theatre productions. She studied at London Film School and graduated with an MA degree in directing in 2004.

She has since directed multiple episodes of the longest running series in Scandinavia, Hotel Caesar, as well as the drama series Hvaler. She’s currently developing a TV drama series and a feature film, as writerdirector.

Image Copyright: Camilla Strøm Henriksen. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar, Chato and David Peck talk about their new film, empathy engines, recovering history, dictatorship, Spain, memory and the narrative of the people.

Synopsis

The Silence of Others reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Filmed over six years, the film follows victims and survivors as they organize the groundbreaking Argentine Lawsuit and fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, in a country still divided four decades into democracy.

The Silence of Others is directed/produced by Emmy-winning filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. It is Executive Produced by Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García.

The Silence of Others had its world premiere at the 2018 Berlinale in the Panorama section, where it won both the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Berlinale Peace Prize.

Biography

The Silence of Others was written, produced and directed by Emmy-winning filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. Their previous film, Made in L.A. (MadeinLA.com), which tells the story of three Latina immigrants fighting for better working conditions in Los Angeles garment factories, was praised by The New York Times as “an excellent documentary... about basic human dignity.” Made in L.A. screened at 100+ film festivals, premiered on United States public television’s POV series and won numerous awards including an Emmy, the Henry Hampton Award and the Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism, among others.

Born in Madrid, Spain, Almudena Carracedo has developed her professional career in the US, where she directed and produced her debut feature film, the Emmy-winning documentary Made in L.A. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Creative Capital Fellow, a Sundance Time Warner Documentary Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, and the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Illinois Wesleyan University. Prior to Made in L.A., she directed the short documentary Welcome, A Docu-Journey of Impressions, which won Silverdocs’ Sterling Prize. In 2012 Almudena returned to Spain to begin work on The Silence of Others.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Robert Bahar lives and works between Madrid, Spain and Brooklyn, New York. He won an Emmy as producer/writer of the documentary Made in L.A., and he spearheaded a three-year impact campaign that brought the film to audiences around the world. Prior to Made in L.A., he produced and directed the documentary Laid to Waste, and line produced several independent films. Robert is a Creative Capital Fellow, a Sundance Documentary Fellow, and holds an MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television.

Image Copyright: Almudena Carracedo & Robert Bahar. Used with permission.

For more information about his podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carolina Hellsgård and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her gorgeous new film Endzeit (Ever After), faith in humanity, collective guilt, environmentalism and why having a positive view of the apocalypse is important. 

Trailer

Synopsis

Two years after the zombies have overrun earth, the German towns Weimar and Jena are possibly the last holdouts of human civilization. Endzeit follows two very different young women, VIVI (22) and EVA (26), who are involuntarily forced to join forces.

While fighting against the undead, they develop a strong friendship, and must also confront the demons of their past. Vivi is desperately trying to find out what happened to her little sister, whereas Eva dreams about starting anew, far away from her role as the expert zombie-killer and Weimar they have left behind.

Their adventurous journey takes place in a lush and beautiful apocalypse; now that the humans have gone, nature is taking over. But nature knows no boundaries and soon the two young women have to deal with a new and fantastic reality. In the end, their relationship survives it all.

Biography

Carolina Hellsgård is a writer-director, born in Sweden and based in Berlin.

She studied experimental media design at the Berlin University of Arts and film directing and screenwriting at Cal Arts in Los Angeles.

Her critically acclaimed debut feature film WANJA premiered at the Berlinale 2015 and was nominated for Berlinale Best First Feature Award. It won Best Screenplay and Best Feature Film Debut at the Biberacher Filmfestspiele. It was theatrically released in Germany in the summer of 2016.

Hellsgård's award winning films have screened in numerous international film festivals including Montreal WFF, Mostra Sao Paulo, Gothenburg IFF, Clermont-Ferrand, Filmes de Femmes and the Oberhausen Short Film Festival.

She has been a recipient of the Dorothea Erxleben Fellowship and a guest lecturer at the Braunschweig University of Art (HBK).

In 2017 she was a Villa Aurora Fellow in Los Angeles.

Image Copyright: Carolina Hellsgård. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.