Two-time Dora Award Winner, Kanika Ambrose joins me again to talk about her second play running this month in Toronto, Moonlight Schooner.

Two-time Dora Award winner (our place, Truth) Kanika Ambrose joins me to talk about her latest play, 'The Christmas Market.'

DESCRIPTION: "Far from home, three Caribbean migrant workers carve out a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar—and often unforgiving—landscape...Razor-sharp, funny, and unflinching, The Christmas Market is a powerful exploration of community resilience and the hope created by found family." At Crows Theatre until Nov 30, 2025.

CIUT is YOUR radio station and community members area always welcome to share their love of the arts. Marc Starbuck joins me to talk about what attracts him to the film noir genre, a genre he's loved since his boyhood in Nottingham, England to his adulthood in Canada.

Directors Min Sook Lee (There are no words) and Timothy Yeung (Finch & Midland) talk about their respective films screening at the 29th Reel Asian International Film Festival. The festival runs Nov 5 - 15 (in-cinema) and Nov 10 - 17th on-line. www.reelasian.com

Movie lovers Gordon G and Anne Gallagher and I chat about dinner if their highlights of #TIFF50 and share their respective feelings about how the Toronto International Film Festival celebrated its 50th year.

Catching up with Volker Bertelmann, Academy Award-winning composer (All Quiet on the Western Front) about scoring the new Edward Berger film, Ballad of a Small Player, starring Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton and Fela Chen.

Revisiting #TIFF2012 with an archival interview with Michael McGowan director, Still Mine, starring Academy Award Nominated actors, James Cromwell and Genevieve Bujold. Still Mine is one of my favourite Canadian films. I first saw the film at #TIFF2012 before it was renamed Still Mine upon its release by Mongrel Media.

Resilience is the word that connects my two guests today, Leslie Ann Coles, the founder and executive and artistic director of The Female Eye Film Festival and filmmaker, J. Christian Hamilton, the host of CIUT's Dementia 13. Resilience is the theme emerged from the films programmed at FeFF this year and the word describes Christian who needs to forge ahead with her next film project, while dealing with a shattered wrist and the resulting obstacles to getting her project off the ground.

The Female Eye Film Festival runs October 14-19. Full disclosure, CIUT is a sponsor of the festival and I'm doing some behind the Scenes work for the festival. I've interviewed Leslie Ann in previous years when I had no connection to the festival, so this is my usual chat about what audiences can look forward to seeing this year, and what's new at the festival.

Christian and I have been programmers at CIUT for years, so I know her work as a DJ and as a host of her psychedelic show Dementia 13, but this was my first time getting to know her as J. Christian Hamilton, filmmaker. Like a fascinating Q and A, I get to share with you her journey and her films, and her GoFundMe appeal for assistance on her latest project, Dogs of Mercy Park.

Full show with an interview I conducted at the Toronto International Film Festival with Mexican director Karla Badillo about her gorgeous and thoughtful film 'Oca,' centered on the female perspective of faith and self-determination. The film had its world premiere in the Discovery section of the festival.

But up first, an interview with Jibola Fagbamiye and Conor McCreery about their collaboration on the new graphic novel 'Fela: Music is the weapon,' which explores the life of revolutionary Nigerian activist, politician, and father of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti.

The graphic novel is available for sale on October 7, with the official launch on October 16 at 7:00 p.m. at 1213 Bathurst Street, Toronto, with the authors in attendance. Tickets are $10, which also acts as a discount toward the purchase of the book. The event is presented by Supafrik and Space Unltd. Check Eventbrite for complete details.

BIOS:

Jibola Fagbamiye is a Nigerian-born visual artist based in Toronto, Canada. His work, inspired by African history and North American pop culture, has been exhibited in galleries across Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, and Lagos. Jibola illustrated the New York Times bestseller Black AF: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America, Promise That You Will Sing About Me: The Power and Poetry of Kendrick Lamar, and contributed to IDW's "FULL BLEED Vol.4" anthology.

Conor McCreery is a former journalist turned comics scribe. He co-created Kill Shakespeare, has written for Assassin’s Creed, Sherlock Holmes vs Harry Houdini, Adventure Time, Regular Show, and has worked for many of the industry's top publishers including DC, IDW, BOOM!, Titan, and Dark Horse.

Karla Badillo is a Mexico City–based director, producer, and screenwriter who graduated from Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. She wrote and directed the short films Oasis (17) and Sin regresos (19) and has served as producer on Ruido (22) and Eureka (23). Oca (25) is her feature directorial debut.

TALES OF THE DAMNED - Guests: Brandon White and Shannon Mills join me to talk about forming Whitemills Theatre Company and the challenges and delight of creating the immersive Gothic experience Tales of the Damned at the historic Campbell House Museum.

Jade Elektra on Legacy Project – STILL HERE Screening (General Admission)

CANFAR's first documentary short, Still Here – A Portrait of HIV & Aging, at Cineplex Varsity VIP on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. This documentary features the first-hand lived experiences of Billy Newton-Davis, Jade Elektra, and Trevor Stratton – all of whom have been living with HIV for over 35 years.

Event details

Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Time: Doors at 6:45pm, Screening at 7pm

Location: Cineplex Cinemas Varsity & VIP (55 Bloor Street West)Tickets are free for paying Legacy Project members, or $25 for general admission. All ticket sales support CANFAR's national youth awareness program – Sexfluent.

Music: A little bit of house by Jade Elektra 🇨🇦

Join me as I reunite with Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated composer Dustin O'Halloran to discuss his creative process behind the score for Scarlett Johansson's feature film debut, Eleanor the Great, featuring Academy Award nominee June Squibb. Dustin and I first crossed paths at TIFF 2016, where we had an engaging conversation about the film LION, alongside Academy Award-winning composer Volker Bertelmann.

Later in the episode, I reconnect with Sara Margrethe Oskal, director of The Tundra Within Me at TIFF 2023, who stars in A Sámi Wedding. I also meet filmmakers Åse Kathrin Vuolab and Pål Jackman. This comedy series, part of TIFF's Primetime program, is set in a Norwegian Sámi community where chaos ensues as Sara's character, Garen, attempts to organize a traditional Sámi wedding for 3,000 guests in just one month, all while facing limited funds and resources.

Tyler Mackenzie Evans joins me to discuss Sea Star, where he focuses on a grown Black Caribbean man overcoming his fear of swimming. Then, Kalainithan Kalaichelvan and I talk about Karupy, a Tamil Canadian film about a 65-year-old woman who has decided she's had enough of her family and life. Both films screen in separate sections of the Toronto International Film Festival's Short Cuts Programme.