Face2Face with David Peck

Stefan Forbes and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his film Hold Your Fire, conflict resolution, toxic masculinity, messy conversations, risk and bridging the gap and how we might be able to transcend street justice.

Trailer

For more info check out the website.

Synopsis:

Brooklyn, 1973. When Shu’aib Raheem and his friends attempted to steal guns for self defense, it sparked the longest hostage siege in NYPD history. NYPD psychologist Harvey Schlossberg fought to avert a bloodbath, reform police methods, and save the lives of hostages, police, and the four young Muslim men at the heart of the conflict.

About Stefan:

Stefan Forbes is an Emmy-nominated director. His award-winning documentary Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story won the IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award, the national Edward R. Murrow Award, the Polk Award for Excellence in Journalism, and was nominated for a WGA Award for Best Theatrical Documentary. It played 40 US cities theatrically and was seen on PBS's Frontline, The BBC's Storyville, the CBC's Passionate Eye, and was a Critic's Pick in newspapers worldwide. The Washington Post called it “one of the best political films ever made.” Mr. Forbes' award winning hourlong documentary One More Dead Fish (2004), about environmentally friendly fishermen in Nova Scotia fighting globalization, was broadcast on PBS. Ken Loach called it “excellent” and Howard Zinn termed the film “an inspiring example of working people resisting the giant forces of globalization, in the great tradition of civil disobedience on behalf of justice. Mr. Forbes wrote and directed the cinematic musical performance Monk Recut with Grammy-nominated jazz ensemble MONK’estra, which Monk biographer Robin D.G. Kelley called “fabulous…breathtaking.” Mr. Forbes is a former New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow and has served on the nominating committee of the Independent Spirit Awards.

Image Copyright and Credit: Fab 5 Freddy and Stefan Forbes.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Bent Hamer, Pål Sverre Hagen and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film The Middle Man, precise poetic comedy, empathy and philosophy, existential angst, satire and rich literary material, and why humour is a way through which we can begin to understand each other.

Trailer

Synopsis:

The Middle Man is a darkly humorous social satire which takes place in a small town that is experiencing an epidemic of accidents and deaths. The town is run by “The Commission” - the Sheriff, the Doctor and the Pastor - who decide to hire a ‘Middle Man’ whose sole responsibility will be to inform the family when an unfortunate incident occurs.

Frank Farrelli is a quiet, thoughtful man who proves perfect for the job. He takes his new role on with gusto and quickly becomes the town’s beacon of bad news. But the pressures of the job and a budding new romance overwhelm Frank. To ease his burden, he calls in a ‘favour’ that ends up in a horrifying yet oddly amusing murder.

About Bent & Pål:

Bent Hamer is a Norwegian director, writer, producer and owner of the film production company BulBul Film. After studying law at The University of Oslo he worked for some years as sailboat skipper abroad before he completed his education in Film Theory and Literature at the University of Stockholm, and in film making at Stockholms Filmskola. Bent’s feature films include the award winning O’Horten Factotum, Kitchen Stories and Eggs which all had their international premiere at Cannes International Film Festival. 1001 Grams, O’Horten, and Kitchen Stories were Norway’s entry for The Academy Award. In 2013 Bent was awarded the Norwegian Amanda Honorary Award for his complete work.

After graduating from the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo in 2003 Pål Sverre Hagen has played major roles in both Scandinavian and International films, for which he has received several awards and accolades. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Troubled Water, Kon-Tiki, In Order of Disappearance, Amundsen and the TV series Exit. He is also an award-winning stage actor. Amongst his 2020 releases are drama comedy Diana’s Wedding, Halo of Stars alongside Lily Collins, Holliday Grainger and Lukas Haas. Hagen achieved world-wide recognition for portraying Thor Heyerdahl in the epic historical feature Kon-Tiki directed by Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning, about the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition. He received an Amanda Award for his role and the film was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2013 he starred in fantasy adventure Ragnarok. The year after, he starred in the role of the eccentric villain and crime lord “the Count” in the comedy action feature In Order of Disappearance alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Bruno Ganz for which he was awarded Best Actor, at Austin Fantastic Fest.

Image Copyright and Credit: Bent Hamer, BulBul Film, The Film Farm & Pandora Films.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Sara Taksler and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film How Saba Kept Singing, entertainment as social justice, beautiful coping mechanisms, non-violent advocacy, relationships, love and closure and putting mindfulness into action.

Synopsis:

Ninety-four-year-old David Wisnia never told his wife, children or grandchildren in Levittown, Pennsylvania, the whole truth about how he survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. They knew that David's singing voice had entertained the SS guards, that his musical gift had changed his fate, but no one knew what, or who, gave him the will to live: a love affair with another prisoner. Accompanying David on a trip to Poland commemorating the 70th anniversary of the camp's liberation, grandson Avi learns about Helen "Zippi" Spitzer.

A talented artist whose scale model of the camp earned her privileges, Zippi was able to orchestrate their encounters and keep them safe. They promised to find each other if they survived, but the war intervened.

Over 70 years later, they reunite, sharing unimaginable memories and even more startling secrets in this moving testament to the life-giving power of music.

About Sara:

Sara worked in late-night comedy for two decades, including 12 years at The Daily Show, where she was a senior producer. She is the director and producer of the feature film How Saba Kept Singing, Executive Produced by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, which will debut at Toronto’s Hot Docs 2022.

Taksler's previous documentary, Tickling Giants, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The New York Times declared Tickling Giants a “first-rate documentary”, Variety called it “an ebullient ode to freedom”, it reached the number one documentary spot on iTunes, and Rotten Tomatoes scored it 100 percent. TWISTED: A Balloonamentary, Taksler's first feature film, is a lighthearted look at the world’s premier balloon-twisting convention. The Hollywood Reporter hailed it a “thoroughly winning feature.” Taksler can talk backwards, has a remarkable fake sneeze, and grew an entire human inside her body while directing her most recent film.

Sara’s favorite song: Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips

How Saba Kept singing is her latest documentary and is executive produced by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.

Image Copyright and Credit: Sara Taksler & Hidden Light Productions.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Michelle Rempel Garner, Chloe Sosa-Sims and Face2Face host David Peck talk about the new film Hunting in Packs, idealism, political inertia, community, the calcification of beliefs, personal change, authenticity and why politics should be about the conversation.

Find out more here.

Synopsis:

What happens when strong-willed women join the circus of politics? How do they create the change? Make the policy real? Achieve their dreams?

The 3 female politicians in this film, Jess Phillips (Labour, UK) Pramila Jayapal (Democrat, US) & Michelle Rempel Garner (Conservative, Canada), represent different

ends of the political spectrum, with different constituents and vastly different agendas. That said, they share one common fight – enacting bold policy in the face of an

outdated political establishment. Sometimes that fight pits them against their country’s leaders, and other times against their own political parties. Taking place in three

Western countries, the film will explore three democracies currently being rocked by the deep polarization of party politics.

Just as they all begin to make progress, they are thrown into elections and leadership campaigns, and are expected to shift gears for “the good” of their leaders or

parties. As each woman’s portrait becomes fully realized, the viewer must decide whether our system allows for their success.

About Chloe:

Chloe Sosa-Sims is a Toronto-based director/ producer/ writer committed to documentary & stylized filmmaking. Her chilling and emotionally raw feature debut DAN

AND MARGOT illuminated the complicated truths of schizophrenia. The film has screened internationally, with special presentations at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the

Hot Docs Bloor Cinema. She has participated in the UnionDocs Documentary Lab, RIDM Talent Lab, and the Reelworld E20 Program for her new film on women in politics.

Her work spans independent documentary, television, branded content, and narrative shorts for CNN, VICE, CBC, History Channel, Super Channel, TVO, Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, and A&E.

She takes on issues from politics to pop culture, and advocates for a more equal, fair and sustainable industry through her work with Film Fatales and other

community groups. Her previous work includes 5 years as the Industry Programmer at Hot Docs.

She holds a BAH in Film & Media from Queen’s University.

Image Copyright and Credit: Chloe Sosa-Sims & Fathom Film Group.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Daniel Carsenty, Mohammed Abugeth and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film The Devil’s Drivers, universal problems, hard to find solutions, the

legitimacy of others, the pursuit of freedom and some of the things we take for granted.

Trailer

Website

Synopsis:

Chased by the army, a human trafficker crosses the border on a daily basis. An intimate yet harrowing portrait – shot over the course of eight years – about a man

living on the edge in one of the most dangerous regions of our world.

The film is an intimate and harrowing portrait of a group of smugglers risking everything on high-speed trips to help Palestinians workers cross the border into Israel

every day for work. Banned from obtaining legal work permits in Israel, and cut off from their lands, and water sources by the Israeli settlers, these men risk everything

to provide for their families.

An investigation into the human condition under the most difficult circumstances and an understanding of how to remain a decent human being in a world falling to pieces, the film underscores the harsh reality Palestinian’s face in day-to-day life.

About Daniel Carsenty:

Daniel Carsenty’s first film ‘After Spring Comes Fall’ won the award for Best Feature at the Zsigmong Vilmos Festival in Sziget, Hungary. In the following years he

worked for Arte and BBC as a TV journalist in the Middle East.

In 2020 he moved to Los Angeles as a directing fellow at the American Film Institute.

About Mohammed Abugeth:

Mohammed Abugeth worked as PA in Ramallah for Idioms Films, before working as a TV journalist for Arte and DW. The Devil’s Drivers is his first feature film. He

currently works and lives in Berlin.

Image Copyright and Credit: Daniel Carsenty.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Carlos Francisco Manatad and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Whether the Weather, disaster films, grief, trauma and loss, style over story,

spiritual fables, pushing back against the status quo and feeling secure and safe.

Find out about the film and see the trailer here.

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, religious fanatics, desperados, criminals and fleeing animals are loose in the city. Miguel, an escaped prisoner, roams the ruins in search of the two women in his life : his girlfriend Andrea and his mother, Norma. As soon as he finds them, the reason for Miguel’s incarceration – and his sacrifice – becomes clear. He tries to convince them to leave the city with him before he is arrested.

However, Norma is fixated on waiting for her estranged husband Luis and Andrea is entangled in rebellious acts paving the way for her to commit the unspeakable. As Miguel’s temporary release expires, his freedom and even his life are jeopardized.

He must decide whether to stay on to persuade his loved ones or to leave town on his own before the next disastrous storm devours him and the only home he knows.

About Carlos:

Carlo Francisco Manatad was born in Tacloban in the Philippines and is currently based in Manila. Manatad has worked on over 60 feature films as an editor and had been working as an editor for nine years before he started directing.

The film A Gentle Night, for which Manatad served as editor, won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Meanwhile, Manatad's short film Jodilerks Dela Cruz, which originally was created as a treatment to show to producers and practice for a feature, was submitted and unexpectedly accepted to La Semaine de la Critique, a parallel sidebar section of Cannes which aims to discover new talented filmmakers. It also won the Best Southeast Asian Short Film award at the 2017 Singapore International Film Festival.

Whether the Weather is Fine is his latest film. 

Image Copyright and Credit: Carlos Francisco Manatad.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Margaret Byrne and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film Any Given Day, context and community, safe places, honesty, vulnerability and

accountability, the ethics of film making and why it’s important to see ourselves as resources.

Find out about the film and see the trailer here.

Synopsis:

In 2015, during widespread defunding of community mental health care programs across the country, in Chicago, the Cook County Jail has become a default

treatment center for people living with mental illness. 

While investigating the treatment of detainees, filmmaker Margaret Byrne befriends Angela, Dimitar and Daniel, participants in a mental health court probation

program. Their friendship gives each of them the courage to be seen at their most vulnerable. In turn, Margaret begins to confront one of the most difficult periods of

her life, culminating in a hospitalization for depression.

What begins as a heartfelt desire to accurately portray the lives of Angela, Dimitar and Daniel, forces Margaret to reckon with her own history of mental illness.

Margaret’s own hospitalization that occurs during the making of the film, becomes an inspiration to weave her own story into the film. Byrne’s intimate observations of

the three, captures the hard-fought triumphs and struggles of living at the intersection of mental illness, poverty, and addiction.

Any Given Day provides deeply personal insight into the necessity of caring relationships, especially when life is at its most difficult.

About Margaret:

Margaret Byrne directed and produced Raising Bertie a feature documentary following the lives of three African American boys growing up in rural North Carolina.

She has worked as a cinematographer on over a dozen films including Surge, Waging Change, All the Queen’s Horses, and American Promise.

She was previously a creative director at Universal Music and directed live concerts and music videos for artists such as Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige. In 2005, Byrne

produced and edited the live series that launched MTV across Africa. Byrne is an adjunct professor at Columbia College and College of DuPage.

She is the founder of Beti Films, an all-women film collective based in Chicago.

Image Copyright and Credit: Margaret Byrne and Beti Films.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Derreck Roemer and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Come Clean, about addiction and mental health, recovery and misconceptions, statistics and stigma, friendship, healing, codependency and why recovery and community are connected.

Trailer

Watch it on TVO, TVO.org, YouTube and TVO streaming channels.

Synopsis:

Come Clean is a close look at what fuels addiction, as well as the herculean effort and hope recovery demands. Six million Canadians will meet the criteria for addiction in our lifetimes. COVID-19 has intensified the problem. Opioid-related deaths surged 25% in Ontario in the first few months of the pandemic and continue to be at a crisis point.

“The reality of addiction seriously impacts individuals, families and communities across Ontario,” says John Ferri, VP of Programming and Content at TVO. “With unflinching honesty, Come Clean shares the real struggle of overcoming addictions through deeply personal journeys—stories that most Ontarians will relate to.”

Written and directed by Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham of Insurgent Projects (Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel, The Lost Highway), TVO Original Come Clean begins on New Year’s Eve in the southwestern Ontario farming community of Thamesville, home to Westover Treatment Centre. Cameras roll as the dozen addicts in group 1313 embark on 19 days of in-treatment counselling. With intimate and unfettered access, the filmmakers embedded round-the-clock at Westover, living alongside the program participants. Post-treatment, filming followed select subjects’ stories for 18 months to experience their realities and see who among them could break the habits that landed them in rehab.

About Derreck:

Toronto-based filmmaking duo Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham have worked together for over 20 years, producing and directing everything from shorts to feature-length documentaries. In late 2000, the pair began work on Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel, a film that premiered to critical acclaim and sold-out screenings at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, then played festivals worldwide before television broadcasts in Canada and elsewhere. The film garnered Roemer and Graham a Gemini Award for best direction in a documentary series, as part of TVO's documentary anthology The View From Here. In 2009, Graham and Roemer formed Insurgent Projects, and in 2014 released the Canadian Screen Award best-doc-nominee The Lost Highway. In 2018, TVO commissioned Roemer and Graham to create Come Clean.

Image Copyright and Credit: Derreck Roemer and TVO.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Nikhil Mahajan, Jitendra Joshi, Gauri Nalawade and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Godavari, wisdom and tradition, freedom and acceptance, getting back to basics, why love is found within and building a life of significance

Trailer

Synopsis:

Filmed in India in the Marathi language, Godavari stars a who’s who of Indian talent including the film’s lead actor Jitendra Joshi (Sacred Games, Ventilator) who has headlined numerous Marathi feature films including award-winning Ventilator and his turn as the lovable police constable Katekar in Netflix's first Original Indian series Sacred Games. Alongside Joshi, Godavari also stars Sanjay Mone (Dhyasparva), Vikram Gokhle (Anumati), Neena Kulkarni (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Gauri Nalawade (The Disciple) and Priyadarshan Jadhav (Bhootatlela)

Godavari marks a new beginning for Mumbai-based filmmaker Nikhil Mahajan, who is best known for his work directing the neo-noir Pune 52, vigilante action film Baji and the Netflix Original zombie horror series Betaal by Blumhouse. With Godavari, Mahajan shifts gears seamlessly into a dramatic space after a 6-year hiatus from filmmaking. It marks a decided metamorphosis of directorial style and vision and is his most personal film to date.

About Nikhil Mahajan:

Nikhil Mahajan is a genre filmmaker who debuted with the Marathi film noir Pune-52, and followed it up with the vigilante action film, Baji. A graduate of the International Film School Sydney, he made the Netflix original series Betaal in 2020, which was produced by Blumhouse and Shah Rukh Khan. Nikhil returns to feature filmmaking after six years with Godavari, his most personal film yet. Nikhil lives in Mumbai with his dog, Sherlock.

Image Copyright and Credit: Nikhil Mahajan and Jitendra Joshi Pictures

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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

Rachel DeCruz, Jeremy Levine and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new Sundance film The Panola Project, convenience stores, persistent grace, poverty and racism and real change, relationships, and the absence of shame and why community matters.

For more info on the film and to WATCH it head here.

Synopsis:

The Panola Project highlights the heroic efforts of Dorothy Oliver to keep her small town of Panola, Alabama safe from COVID-19. Dorothy runs a makeshift vaccine coordination center from the convenience store she runs out of a mobile home. Today, nearly 99% of adults in her town have received the shot in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. The Panola Project illuminates how an often-overlooked rural Black community comes together in creative ways to survive.

About Rachel and Jeremy:

Rachel DeCruz is a Black woman with a complex family history related to race, her work centers on how race impacts people’s ability to navigate systems. Nine, her feature debut, will examine the deep bond between two men who met in prison and how their love gives them the strength to fight for justice. The film was an official selection of the 2021 Big Sky Pitch and received a development grant from the Ford Foundation.

DeCruz is the director of The Panola Project, a short film highlighting the heroic efforts of Dorothy Oliver to keep her small town of Panola, Alabama safe from COVID-19. The film was released with The New Yorker, featured on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell and Morning Joe and written about in numerous publications including USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and Business Insider. The film received hundreds of thousands of social interactions, with posts from figures like Margaret Atwood, Ibram X. Kendi, and Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the CDC during the Obama Administration. The Panola Project received Audience Awards at GlobeDocs and the Sidewalk Film Festival, where Dorothy was honored with the Spirit of Sidewalk award.

Jeremy S. Levine’s films explore race, class, and trauma, and seek to unearth buried tragedies in a society in active denial of its own past. An Emmy award-winning filmmaker and two-time Sundance Institute fellow, his work has screened at over one hundred film festivals around the world including the Berlinale, Tribeca, and Sundance, streamed on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sundance Now, and Hulu, broadcast nationally in nine countries, and received over a dozen festival awards.

In 2008, Levine co-founded the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective (BFC), a community of professional filmmakers dedicated to collaboration and mutual support. He is currently developing projects exploring issues including the criminal justice system, the unresolved legacy of white supremacy, forced separation, and the representation of mental health in horror films.

Image Copyright and Credit: Rachel DeCruz and Jeremy Levine

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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