Archival Episode: Revisiting TIFF 2019

Guests: Actor, Ricardo Darín ('Herioc Losers', Argentina), Director, Zaidah Bergroth ('Maria's Paradise', Finland) and Director, Grímur Hákonarson ('The County', Iceland)

Out of the archives! These interviews originally aired in 2019 when my show was broadcast in the Tuesday overnight spot from 1-2 am. I've added new music by Soca Cypher ('HEAT') and Michie Mee ('Jamaican Funk'). Enjoy!

ABOUT THE FILMS:

Heroic Losers: Starring Ricardo Darín, this is an Argentinian heist movie that tackles the serious topic of economic recession using humour. It was Argentina's entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Maria's Paradise: Zaidah Bergroth is the director of 'Miami' and 'Tove' (Finland's entry to the Best International film category at the 93rd Academy Award but was not nominated). At TIFF 19 she and I spoke about her film MARIA'S PARADISE about the Finnish Akerblom movement which some called a cult.

The County: Grímur Hákonarson (best known for directing 'Rams,' ) and I talk about the making of his film which tells the story of a farm widow who decides to fight against corruption in her community's co-op structure.

Christine McLean is a documentarian, broadcaster and academic based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is her third episode for CBC's The Nature of Things. Entitled 'Dad Bods', it explores new research into the impact of fatherhood on male physiology.

Description: "Scientists have since learned that the more a father is involved, the lower his T levels are. They’ve discovered dads, like moms, experience spikes in other hormones, like oxytocin, the “cuddling hormone”, when interacting with their infants. These changes don’t just show up in fathers, there’s evidence that grandfathers and male parents in same sex couples are impacted. Neuroscientists are now studying how men’s brains are changed by parenthood. “Daddy brain” is a thing!"

Christine was head writer on the Science Channel series Mega Marine Machines and the second season of If We Built it Today. She has also directed seven wildlife documentaries for CBC’s Land and Sea. In 2017 she received a Wave Award from Women in Film and Television for her dedication and mentorship in the documentary world.

PLUS audiobooks you can download with you library card using the Libby app. I used my Toronto Public library to bring you these samples of 2SLGBT+ audiobooks. Happy Pride! Happy Indigenous Month!

Fundraising is vitally important to keep CIUT 89.5 FM running and to ensure that I can continue to introduce you to fabulous people doing their thing in film, theatre and the arts-at-large. Please DONATE now and be sure to add The More the Merrier as the show you wish to support.

I had the pleasure of chatting with actor David Lopez (see credits below) about his role as a swing for the Toronto production of the Tony Award-winning play, A Strange Loop. Don't know what a swing is? Not to worry. David is going to give personal insight into this often publicly overlooked theatrical role and how it relates to him being in A Strange Loop. Due to popular demand the show has been extended until June 8, 2025. www.soulpepper.ca for details and tickets.

Four theatre companies came together to co-produce this multiple award winning musical: Crow's Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre, The Musical Stage Company and TO.Live.

David Lopez

For Soulpepper: Debut Other Theatre: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (YPT), Seussical (YPT, Citadel), The Wild Party, Passing Strange (Musical Stage Co.), The Rocky Horror Show (CanStage, RMTC, STC), High Society (Shaw Festival), The Little Mermaid (Globe Theatre), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (CanStage, Dora Award Nomination), La Cage aux Folles (Neptune Theatre, Merritt Award Nomination), Kinky Boots (Mirvish Productions) Film &Television: Once Upon A Mattress, At The Hotel, Stormy Weather, A Handmaid’s Tale, Workin’ Moms Other: Backup dancer for Patti LaBelle and Katy Perry.

Music/Spoken Word: Ebony Stewart 'Gay God' ; d'bi.young anitafrika, 'gendah bendah' ; Jade Elektra 'What a difference a day makes' (performed live at the 2024 Poz-To Awards.

Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival 2025 coverage with Colette Johnson-Vosberg about her film 'Unlabelled.' The film explores the diverse stories of three trans people with some surprising revelations.

Hot Docs and Inside Out Films festivals overlap with my interview with director, Noam Gonick and producer, Justine Pimlott about their NFB film 'Parade: Queer Acts of Love and Resistance'. My guests join me to talk about their Hot Docs experience and looking forward to their Inside Out screening.

Music: Jade Elektra, 'Basic Bitch'

Today's show features interviews with two National Film Board documentaries recently screened at Hot Docs, the Canadian International Documentary Festival. Both explore masculinity but are set in different parts of the country: director Sinakson Trevor Solway's film 'Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man' is set on a First Nations reserve in Alberta, while director Serville Poblete's short documentary King's Court, featuring subjects Marley Zion Raymond Lawrence, and Stephen ‘SK’ Danso, is set on the basketball courts of St. James Town in Toronto.

Music: Ndidi O, 'Inside Looking Out'

Laurie Evan Fraser, artistic director of the Upper Canada Choristers, and singer/poet Jacinto Salcedo, coordinator of Cantemos, join me to discuss their upcoming concert Venezuela Viva, celebrating Venezuelan choral music with African, Spanish, Caribbean, and Indigenous influences. Special guests include composer César Alejandro Carrillo, poet Laura Morales Balza, and La Petite Musicale of Toronto. The concert is on Friday, May 16, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto, with a choral workshop on May 14. For more info: www.uppercanadachoristers.org

Frequent collaborator Heidy M joins me to discuss Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. Heidy is an arts and culture writer and creator of hyemysings.ca. She is also a programmer for the the genre festival Blood in the Snow and. Rotten Tomato approved movie critic.

Sarah Kambe Holland is the writer and director of a clever coming-of-age teen comedy called Egghead and Twinkie. In the film, Twinkie—freshly out of the closet—talks her best friend, Egghead, into stealing his parents’ car. The two then travel 500 miles to meet the DJ-ing woman who’s been sliding into Twinkie’s DMs. Needless to say, things happen along the way. Available on Demand April 29 (U.S. & Canada)

Then 'Angel's in the Dark, an audio drama from the Wireless Theatre Company Limited. This Scrooge meets The Twilight Zone drama is about a boss from hell who may or may not learn for his past actions.

Music: 'Aerobics in space' by MayleeTodd

Award-winning director, Nik Sexton and Canadian Screen Award nominee, Sean Dalton (former drummer for The Trews) and I have a good chat about the film SKEET.

SYNOPSIS: Fresh out of prison, Billy Skinner (Sean Dalton) returns to his transformed low-income neighborhood, now populated by Syrian refugees. Struggling to overcome his dark past, Billy forges an unexpected bond with Mo (Jay Abdo), a compassionate Syrian immigrant determined to build a better life for his family.

Playing for one night only April 16th at the Royal in Toronto. Get your tickets at https://theroyal.to Click on EVENTS. Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.) Location: The Royal Theatre - 608 College St, Toronto, ON Age requirement: +16 TICKETS: $15

NEXT STOPS: Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver

https://skeetfilm.com/

Catherine Bourgeois, Artistic and Executive Director of Montreal's Joe Jack et John Productions joins me to talk about the company and Cispersonnages en quête d'auteurice/Cis-characters in Search of an Author which will run April 24 to 27, 2025 at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, Toronto

SYNOPSIS: Five neurodivergent performers gather in a rehearsal studio to kick off a new creative process. But when they realize they can’t put on the unicorn show they originally envisioned—because, well, they’re not unicorns—they each start pitching ideas to break through the creative block.

http://www.passemuraille.ca/

The show is the first collaboration between Théâtre français de Toronto and Théâtre Passe Muraille. All performances are in French with ENGLISH surtitles.

Music: Poso Oyo by Naxx Bitota

My featured guest today is the dynamic Alphonso King Jr. Alphonso is an HIV/AIDS activist and public speaker, aka drag queen Jade Elektra and aka DJ Relentless.

Alphonso joined me to talk about Top Star Live 2025, his weekly Wednesday evening talent show, but our conversation veered off into other areas of his fascinating life and some interesting and personal LGBT+ history facts came to light.

Later on in the show you'll hear a bit more from Alphonso from his appearance on Season 3 of Drag Heels.

Music: Live performances by Ackeria Smith (Top Star Live 2024 winner) of "Saving all my Live for you" and Jade Elektra sings "What a difference a day makes" at the historic El Mocambo during the POZ-TO 2025 Awards.

Award-winning writer and director, Karen Chapman shares her journey of making 'Village Keeper', a family drama set in the Lawrence Heights community in Toronto, and why it was important for her to add a sense of hope to the film. 'Village Keeper' focuses on a grieving widow struggling to protect her kids from neighbourhood violence while dealing with her own buried trauma. The film opens in Cineplex Cinemas March 28, 2025.

Kevin Matthew Wong is a Hakka Chinese-Canadian theatre creator, dramaturg, facilitator, video artist, and producer. The co-founder of Broadleaf Creative joins me to talk about the world premiere of his work 'Benevolence,' running April 8 - May 4, 2025 at the Tarragon Theatre

Music: 'Home' by Miss Neshama