Face2Face with David Peck

Paul Katis talks about Kilo Two Bravo, why we’re all potentially heroes and why he didn’t start out to make an anti war film.

Film Synopsis

Kilo Two Bravo

IMDB

Trailer

Rotten Tomatoes

A patrol of British paratroopers in Afghanistan find themselves caught in the middle of a deathtrap in this remarkable, fact-based war drama from first-time feature director Paul Katis.

Director Paul Katis’ extraordinary, based-on-fact first feature is one of the most rigorous, haunting, and riveting war films in recent memory. In the mountains of Afghanistan in 2006, a British platoon is sent to man a hilltop outpost in the country’s rugged interior. While a detachment is on patrol in a local valley, one of the company is injured by a land mine left over from the Soviet-Afghan War nearly two decades previously. Surrounded by mines and the invisible threat of encroaching Taliban fighters, the soldiers struggle to keep their wounded — and themselves — alive as casualties mount and the valley transforms into a deathtrap.

“Effectively tense and utterly unflinching in its depiction of battlefield carnage, dramatizing the story with a minimum of artistic licence and virtually no mercy”

Norman Wilner, NOW Magazine

Biography

Paul Katis is a British filmmaker who worked for years editing, producing, and directing television commercials before transitioning to narrative films. His shorts include Starting Over and Exposed. Kilo Two Bravo is his feature debut.

More info about the film here.

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

Pablo and I spoke about Argentina, critiques of power, finding life in death and about how film doesn’t pass judgment.

Eva Doesn’t Sleep - Film Synopsis

IMDB

Gael García Bernal gives a supremely creepy performance in the new film from visionary Argentinean director Pablo Agüero, which tells the unbelievable true story of the transport of the embalmed body of the country’s beloved First Lady Eva Perón.

The strangest thing about this story is that it’s true. With Eva Doesn’t Sleep, Argentine filmmaker Pablo Agüero takes an unbelievable chapter of his country’s history and transforms it into a deeply strange cinema experience.

In 1952, Argentina’s beloved First Lady, Eva Perón, died of cancer at the age of thirty-three. A renowned embalmer was commissioned by the grieving Juan Perón to preserve her body for display, and Argentines flocked to be near “Evita.” Three years later, when his government was overthrown by a military coup, Perón fled the country before he could make arrangements for the transportation of his wife’s body. The military junta now in control kidnapped the corpse; so afraid were they of Eva’s symbolic power that they even made it illegal to utter her name. Thus began the two-decade journey of Eva’s body throughout Europe and eventually back to Argentina.

Agüero’s coming-of-age debut Salamandra demonstrated a predilection for the surreal, and while his latest film tackles a very different topic, his absurd sensibility once again underlies the narrative. Agüero uses sociopathic Admiral Emilio Massera (a supremely creepy Gael García Bernal) as a sort of lightning rod for the misogynistic obsession with obliterating the memory of Eva. Responsible for orchestrating Argentina’s Dirty War, one of the darkest eras in the country’s history, the Admiral would not rest until Eva was buried under six metres of cement.

Interspersing his film’s eerie and bizarre scenes with found footage, Agüero creates a resonant reconstruction of the dream — or nightmare — that is Argentina’s past. Bold and original, and boasting brilliant set pieces, including a fight inside a truck between the driver (Denis Lavant) and a young officer who wants to open Eva’s coffin, Eva Doesn’t Sleep showcases the talents of one of Argentina’s most visionary and politically engaged cinematic voices.

Biography

Pablo Aguero was born in El Bolsón in Patagonia, Argentina. His shorts include Lejos del sol and Primera Nieve. His first feature, Salamandra, played the Festival and was followed by 77 Doronship and Eva Doesn’t Sleep.

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

Join in as we talk about Tonje’s new important film Drone, truth, Sun Tzu’s Art of War and how it’s been misunderstood, the greater good, freedom, choice and responsibility.

Drone – Film Synopsis

IMDB

Trailer

Inside the secret CIA drone war. Intimate stories from the war on terror. People living under drones in Pakistan and drone pilots struggling with killing through joysticks in the US. Recruitment of young pilots at gaming conventions, the re-definition of going to war, the moral stance of engineers behind the technology, world leaders giving the secret “greenlight” to one of the biggest targeted killing programs in history and people fighting for transparency, accountability and justice. This is just the beginning. In the midst of fast advancement of technology and lagging international legislation the film shows how drones change wars and possibly our future.

DRONE is a documentary about the covert CIA drone war. Through voices on both sides of this new technology, DRONE reveals crucial information about the drone war in Pakistan and offers unique insights into the nature of drone warfare.

Biography

Tonje Heesen Schei is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has worked with independent documentary production since 1996. Her films focus on human rights, the environment and social justice. Tonje directed and produced PLAY AGAIN and INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION, both of which have won several international awards. The films have been screened on all continents in over 100 countries, and are used by schools and universities globally. 

In the U.S., Tonje worked for ENG (Electronic New Group, LA) and she was co-distributor and the researcher for documentaries All Power to the People! (1997) and Downwinders (2000). In Norway, she worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK (2005-2006). Tonje was the festival director of Human Rights Human Wrongs (2011), Scandinavia’s sole documentary film festival that focuses only on human rights. Tonje started Ground Productions in 2005, an international documentary production company based in Portland, OR, USA and Oslo, Norway.

For more info check out the website here. 

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

Amos talked about his new film, about Israel not being a monolithic culture, peace, and why the “other” should exist.

Film Synopsis

Rabin, The Last Day

IMDB

Trailer

Lauded director Amos Gitaï (Kippur) delves into the prelude and aftermath of the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in this gripping docudrama.

For many Israelis, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 marked a grim turning point for their country. In the words of the commission set up to investigate the murder, “Israeli society [would] never be the same again. As a democracy, political assassination was not part of our culture.” In the eyes of even more people, the murder ended all hope for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process through the Oslo Accords and altered the course of history. But, as Amos Gitaï sets out to prove in his brave and provocative new film, Rabin’s assassination was not just the act of one fanatic; it was the culmination of a hate campaign that emanated from the rabbis and public figures of Israel’s far right.

Gitaï has done an immense amount of research on the subject, digging deep into the precursors to the assassination. The mandate of the official Commission of Inquiry was severely limited; to Gitaï, Rabin, the Last Day is meant to be the inquiry that wasn’t, and he is determined to provide a wider context. While he mixes in documentary footage and occasional interviews with key figures (among them Shimon Peres and the PM’s late widow, Leah Rabin), most of the film is a dramatic re-enactment of the investigation, the hearings, and the testimony of Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir. Basing every line of dialogue on documentary evidence (including a full transcript of the Shamgar Commission hearing), the director probes the collective psyche of a country so divided that certain elements would stop at nothing to get their way.

Gitaï broadens his net, too, touching on the issue of the controversial settlements as well as the anti-Rabin invective that came from certain synagogues and the mouths of rival politicians. Rarely has such an important historical figure, and event, been given such respect from a filmmaker. The revelations in Rabin are spellbinding.

Biography

Amos Gitaï was born in Haifa, Israel, and received a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Many of his films have played the Festival, including the documentaries Brand New Day, The Arena of Murder, and Carmel, and the narrative features Berlin Jerusalem, Kadosh, Kippur, Kedma, Alila, Promised Land, Free Zone, Disengagement, One Day You’ll Understand, and Roses à credit. Rabin, The Last Day is his latest film.

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

Kay talks about why it’s too bad we’ve “stopped lamenting”, how mental illness is the silent killer and about finding purpose in one’s pain.

Biography

Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church with her husband, Rick, is an international speaker, best-selling author and Bible teacher who has a passion for inspiring and motivating others to make a difference with their lives. She is best known for her 10 years as a tireless advocate for those living with HIV and AIDS, and the orphaned and vulnerable children left behind. As an advocate, she has traveled to 19 countries, calling the faith community as well as the public and private sectors to respond with prevention, care, treatment and support of people living with the virus.

Kay is author of several books including her newest Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough (Revell, April 2012), which was adapted from a Bible study she first taught at Saddleback Church in July 2011, drawing more than 5,000 women for the four-week sessions. In the book, Kay describes how painful experiences – two bouts of cancer, watching as life-threatening illnesses attacked her children and grandchildren and living with mild depression most of her life – have shaped her conviction that joy is a choice and within the reach of every person, no matter how desperate or dark circumstances may be.

She is also author of Dangerous Surrender, which was originally released in 2007 and revised, expanded and published as Say Yes to God (Zondervan) in 2010, and coauthor of Foundations: 11 Core Truths to Build Your Life On with Pastor Tom Holladay (Zondervan) in 2004.

Additionally, Kay has also written for Christianity Today, Purpose Driven Life, CNN.com and The Washington Post, and has been featured in Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, Guideposts,Sojourners, POZ and Today’s Christian Woman magazines, among others. Kay attended California Baptist College and earned her B.A. from California State University, Los Angeles.

She is mother to Amy, Joshua and Matthew, and grandmother to Kaylie, Cassidy, Caleb, Cole and Claire.

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

The new President of World Vision Canada has plenty to say about global development, leadership and generosity. He talks about the nuance of helping others and why he continues to remain hopeful.

Biography

As President and Chief Executive Officer of World Vision Canada, Michael Messenger is the head of Canada’s leading humanitarian relief, development and advocacy organization. With its Canadian operations based in Mississauga, Ontario, the Christian charity works in more than 100 countries around the world.

Prior to becoming president, Michael was the agency’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for five years, giving oversight to the senior leadership team and to all operations, including sponsorship activities that benefit over 480,000 children, emergency response in a variety of crises, and revenue of more than $415 million.

Michael travels regularly to take part in World Vision’s work around the world. This has included on-the-ground assessment during the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and during Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and an extended visit to Zimbabwe in 2013 to participate in community development and humanitarian relief programs. He is passionate about child and maternal health issues, community advocacy, and education. He believes strongly in the power of innovation to help bring lasting solutions to poverty.

Michael was born and grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts and a law degree from the University of Toronto.

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

Luc talks a great deal about leadership, freedom, choice and responsibility. He reminds us about what it means to lead and to listen.

Biography

Luc is a leadership coach and coach trainer. He is co-founder of Leadership Coaching Canada and is Director of Leadership Development and Distance Education at Master’s College and Seminary.

He trains and coaches leaders across Canada to transform their organizations into collaborative and supportive networks of people that create empowering communities.

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

Curt talks openly about Syria, the middle-eastern crisis, refugees and why we can’t survive without others. He reminds us that every person matters, chats about trust, trauma and loss.

Biography

Dr. Curt Rhodes is the founder and international director of Questscope, a non-profit, non-governmental organization working with, and on behalf of, marginalized communities and young people across the Middle East since 1988.

Curt was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the Middle East, by the Schwab Foundation and the World Economic Forum in 2011.

In 2014 he was awarded the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award from Tufts University. Dr. Rhodes holds an MPH degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and MS and PhD degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

----------

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

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

Listen is as producer Mark Terry talks about the Paris climate summit, adaptation versus mitigation, hopeless data and how we need to cultivate courage with regard to the crisis we find ourselves in.

Film Synopsis

The Youth Climate Report film project includes a 45-minute linear documentary film and a multi-linear documentary film project. The multi-linear documentary is represented by a Geographic Information System (GIS) map of the world and created in a beta program developed by Google called Fusion.

The map shows pinpoints around the world that when clicked (or touched on a tablet or mobile device) opens up various media related to information on climate research being conducted at those coordinates.

The media includes a video of the researcher and their work, a link to their organization or institution for additional reference and a link to the online profile of the researcher or climate change maker.

The map is part of the PhD research being conducted by York University grad student Mark Terry.

It was introduced in Paris this year at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21).

It can currently be accessed on two UN websites: UNEP & UNFCCC

Trailer

Link to Film Here

IMDB

Biography

After graduating from York University’s Glendon College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1980, Mark Terry embarked on 25-year career as a journalist and documentary filmmaker. His science and nature films have made a significant impact with the policymakers of the United Nations. His work with the UN and the world’s scientific community has been recognized on many fronts. He has been decorated with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Stefansson Medal, the Gemini Humanitarian Award and in August this year was named one of Canada’s greatest explorers by Canadian Geographic Magazine.

In 2014, he returned to York to pursue his Master of Arts degree in Humanities with a research focus of how documentary film can be mobilized as an instrument of social change. He continues this research today as a PhD candidate at York University in Toronto working closely with the United Nations Environment Programme.

His innovative work with a new beta program developed by Google called Fusion is being presented to delegates and policymakers attending the 21st Convention of Parties in Paris this December at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The interactive geographic information system map is a multi-linear documentary project that showcases climate research from around the world.

For more info about the UN initiative please look here.

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

David talks about his crazy approach to raising money for education, relief and development, why his heart is in Africa and why Malawians are tired of handouts.

Biography

David Morrison ‘Mo’ was born in Toronto, Ontario.  After high school he travelled to California on a football scholarship.  An injury took him out early, but in the process Mo found his true calling, ministering to young people.  He attendedTyndale College and Seminary while working part-time at Ontario Pioneer Camp, where he eventually became the Boys’ Camp Director.  At camp, David met his wife, Joanna. 

Pioneer was in fact the training ground for a call that came in 2003, when David and Joanna, together with their three young children, moved to Malawi to begin creating families for children left alone in the world. 

Today, there are 80 children living in 7 homes, which surround the Morrison home. 

David’s heart is to see children adopted into families, and established as world changers. 

One of the keys to transformation is education and the Dreamriders were born out of a desire to offer more children the opportunity to be educated.  

Here’s an Oakville Beaver article here for more info.

Or maybe here for a Calgary Herald piece talking about the campaign.

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