Sean Kelly on Movies Interviews Podcast

I spoke via Zoom with producer, writer, and star Jonas Chernick about The Burning Season

Alena and her husband spend a summer up at Luna Lake Resort. JB runs the place. He and Alena begin a dangerous and passionate secret affair. Summers only. That’s the rule. Until they break it. A sexy and tragic love story – told backwards.

The Burning Season directed by Sean Garrity is now playing in limited release, distributed by Northern Banner.

00:00 Introduction

00:25 Jonas Chernick on where the idea for THE BURNING SEASON came from.

02:03 Jonas Chernick on the title of THE BURNING SEASON

04:43 Jonas Chernick on the effect THE BURNING SEASON’s secret has on his character JB

05:54 Jonas Chernick on the role of the spouses in THE BURNING SEASON

07:09 Jonas Chernick on why the characters keep returning to the resort

07:55 The resort as a character in THE BURNING SEASON

08:58 Jonas Chernick on his working relationship with director Sean Garrity

10:00 Jonas Chernick on whether he prefers writing comedies, dramas, or a mix of both

11:19 The Writing Accolades of THE BURNING SEASON

11:36 Conclusions

Big Horns Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://audionautix.com/

At the 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, we sat down with Mexican-Canadian filmmaker Ilse Moreno to speak about her short documentary The Canadian Dream. The 9-minute-long short had its World Premiere as part of the Hot Docs 2024 Shorts Program 1. The film is based on an interview with Ilse’s father Alberto Moreno Sartorius and his poor experiences as a migrant worker on a farm in Leamington, Ontario. The ultimate goal of the short film is to spread awareness about the rights of migrant workers in Ontario, regardless of their status. Enjoy this short, but poignant interview.

Note: The interview was recorded in Varda at the TIFF Lightbox and despite efforts to clean it up, ambient noise can still be heard in the background.

At the 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, I met with director and subject Patricia Franquesa to speak about her film My Sextortion Diary, which had its Canadian Premiere at the festival. Before listening, please note that the film’s topic involves being blackmailed over stolen personal photos, so listener discretion is advised.

With Love and A Major Organ is the debut feature film from director Kim Albright. The film is written by Julia Lederer, based on her stage play, and is set in a world where hearts are made of inanimate objects and people suppress emotions to escape into technology, the story shares the travails of a vibrant young woman deftly played by Anna Maguire (Violation), who rips out her heart for the man she loves, played to mild-mannered perfection by Hamza Haq (Transplant) who promptly disappears with it. I spoke to director Kim Albright via Zoom to discuss With Love and A Major Organ, which is now playing in limited release in Canada.

00:00 Introduction

00:16 How Did With Love and a Major Organ Come About?

01:50 How Does With Love and a Major Organ Differ from the Play?

03:15 Depicting Hearts as Everyday Objects

04:34 What With Love and a Major Organ Says About Lack of Interpersonal Connections

06:30 The Casting of With Love and a Major Organ

10:23 Anabel and George’s Character Trajectories in With Love and a Major Organ

13:16 The Ultimate Message of With Love and a Major Organ

14:40 Conclusion

Big Horns Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://audionautix.com/

I spoke to director Matthias Hoene about his film The Last Exit (aka Little Bone Lodge), which screened as part of the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival.

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We spoke to Czech writer-director Robert Hloz about his science fiction film Restore Point, which screened as part of the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival.

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To coincide with the theatrical release of his sci-fi comedy RELAX, I’M FROM THE FUTURE, which won Best Feature Film at the 2022 Blood in the Snow Film Festival, I Zoomed in with the writer/director Luke Higginson to talk about the film.

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We spoke to writer and director Cord Jefferson on the TIFF 2023 red carpet for the World Premiere of American Fiction, which would go on to win the TIFF 2023 People’s Choice Award.

Following the Canadian premiere of their horror documentary Satan Wants You at this year’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, I had the chance to speak with filmmakers Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams about the film. The film recently went on to screen at the Fantasia Film Festival and today the film is opening across Canada, including a run in Toronto at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.

I hope you enjoy our interview for Satan Wants You.