#TIFF2023 coverage continues...

I never dreamed that I would ever get the chance to interview Hiam Abbas, let alone meet her director daughter, Lina Soualem. But it happened this year, and it's one of my moments of gratitude. "Gaza Mon Amour" was my favorite film at TIFF2020, and I've long admired Hiam for her work in films like "Satin Rouge," "The Syrian Bride," "Munich," "The Lemon Tree," "The Visitor," etc. However, many of you may know her from HBO's "Succession". "Bye Bye Tiberias" is not about Hiam's films; it's about Lina's personal journey through four generations of the women in her family, with the starting point being her mother's departure from Palestine to pursue an acting career.

Director Sara Summa and I discuss "Arthur And Diana", a brother-sister road movie through Germany, France, and Italy. It's a family affair since Sara (Diana) and Arthur (Robin Summa) are siblings in real life. Along for the ride is Sara's toddler, Lupo. It was my first time meeting Sara, and I enjoyed our conversation about filming this fictional biography.

Sara and I are both short. We had a good laugh trying to find the right spot on a daybed-sized couch that would accommodate our lack of height. 😊

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Toronto International Film Festival coverage with directors Hanna Slak (Not a Word) and Sara Margrethe Oskal (The Tundra Within Me).

TIFF DESCRIPTIONS

Not A Word: On a barren island, a mother and son confront years of silence and misunderstandings in writer-director Hanna Slak’s formidable fourth feature film starring Maren Eggert, scored by Amélie Legrand, and shot by Claire Mathon.-Dorota Lech

The Tundra Within Me: In Sara Margrethe Oskal’s debut feature, set amongst the reindeer herds of northern Scandinavia, a Sámi artist returns to her hometown where she confronts her past demons and finds an unexpected new love. -Jason Ryle

At first, I was turned off by the subject matter of Designer $hit but after watching it and chatting with director, Saffron Cassady, I think this is a topic that's not only important, but also a film that's immensely watchable. Infusing humour, animation and pixelation into her film, Saffron minimizes the ick factor and eases viewers into empathizing with her personal struggle and learn about fecal microbial transplant from a medical and pharmaceutical perspective.

Director's Statement (edited)

"As an ulcerative colitis sufferer, fecal transplant had been on my radar for years. But when I broached it with my gastroenterologist I was immediately shut down. “We simply don’t have enough research yet” he responded, while writing me prescriptions for the less-than-effective drug regimen I’d been on for nearly a decade. As with many of my doctor appointments, I walked away with no real answers to my burning questions, and no new options for getting myself out of an on-going cycle with this chronic illness. I was determined to find out more about this promising new treatment and if I didn’t have my doctor’s support, I was willing to go it alone. This film does not shy away from the difficult reality of what it means to be a person living with a chronic illness. Themes of love and caregiving, guilt and shame, are all touched upon...There are currently 416 active clinical trials studying the potential of fecal transplants in the treatment of various diseases ranging from inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, autism, bi-polar depression, cancer and COVID...In the end, our goals with this film are to give a voice to those suffering from chronic illnesses and to help alleviate some of the shame and embarrassment around something we all deal with everyday."

"In present-day Karachi, a medical student struggles to keep her family together while being stalked by forces she can’t entirely understand." -Norm Wilner, TIFF programmer

I'm joined by director Zarrar Khan and producer Anam Abbas to discuss their film In Flames and their fresh interpretation of genre films.

TIFF has public screenings which most of you are familiar with, however, there is parallel industry section where delegates buy and sell films--some of these films are available first industry eyes only.

The heist sequel, Umbrella Men Escape from Robben Island screened in the Industry section and I was invited you screen the film because of my past interview with the director, John Barker about the film that set it all off: The Umbrella Men. I'm joined by (right to left) Keenan Arrison, Shamilla Miller, Bronte Snell. Absent: Jaques De Silva.

I reconnect with director/writer Carolina Marcowicz (CHARCOAL TIFF '22) about the world premiere of her film, Toll (Pedágio), which tells the story of a Brazilian mother (Maeve Jinkings) willing to commit crimes to pay for expensive conversion therapy for her gay son (Kauan Alvarenga). September 8, 9, 16 at Scotiabank Theatre.

I'm joined by South African director Ian Gabriel (Forgiveness, TIFF '04, Four Corners, TIFF '13) and the cast of Death of a Whistleblower, a political thriller about a determined journalist chasing a corruption story whose seeds were sown during the Apartheid years and continue to blossom in post-Apartheid South Africa. September 9, TIFF Bell Lightbox September 10, 17, Scotiabank Theatre.

Guitarist Stevie Salas (executive producer of Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World) and I chat about his co-director role (with James Burns) in the Canadian documentary, Boil Alert. Our guide through this film is Layla Staats, a Haudenosaunee mother who shares her personal stories while connecting us to the environmental racism impacting reservations from Ontario, Canada, to Navajo Nations in the US. September 15, 16, Scotiabank Theatre.

Toronto International Film Festival runs September 7-17, various venues. www.tiff.net.

Canadian Bobby Del Rio (actor, writer, tv host) joins me to talk about his arts activism, his move to LA and his solidarity with striking colleagues in SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild Of America.

The second part of my show is a focus on the work of spoken word artist, (motivational speaker and event organizer) Dwayne Morgan from BHM2023 presentation by brick yard (brick books)

Spoken Word: d’bi.young anitafrika (bloodclaat)

Luis Fernandes, Co-Artistic Director and Booking Manager for The Assembly Theatre and I chat about the origins of his love of comic books and graphic novels and the August 12th edition of Comic Books Live!!! featuring Patrick Jenkins' Tales From Phantom City, described by the event page as a "neo-noir psychedelic journey revolving around a mysterious cat amulet of supernatural power."

Playlist: Amai Kuda et les bois Oshun, Maylee Todd (Aerobics in Space), dub poetry by Dr. Afua Cooper (My Piece + Steppin to da muse/ic, a poem for Bob Marley) Juno Award winner and 2023 Toronto Poet Laureate, Lilian Allen (Rasta), Dennison George (Grenada Will Rise Again)

Helen Juvonen of Guild Festival Theatre and I discuss why she chose to direct a play, set in the early 20th century, about three women murdered in their bathtubs by their bigamist serial killer husband, and the power of humour in the telling of the macabre tale from the women's perspective. On www.ciut.fm

Music and Spoken Word by: Malika Tirolien (Rise), d'bi young (Gawdess), Pearl Cleage (Turning 40), Kindred and the Family (I Am), Ursula Rucker (Letter to a Sister Friend), Maxx Botita (Femme), Shakura S'aida (Gotta Live)

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Canadian audiobook memoirs available from the Toronto Public Library, plus a YA treat from Drew Hayden Taylor.

Music by Mosa Neshama, Blaxam, Chet Singh and Tribe Called Red

Theatre performer, director, & cabaret artist Ryan Hinds chats about his dream come true: being a cast member of Midsummer Night's Dream, Canadian Stage 40th production in High Park; Dave Stevenson of Emissions Records and Sardé Hardie of Photon Films chat about punk films screening at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema's Long Hot Summer Series and a one of screening at Innis Town Hall theatre; and Leslie Ann Coles of The Female Eye Film Festival shared film and script readings happenings during its 21st festival, also screening at Hot Docs on Bloor.