In The Seats with...

One of the genuine joys of being in the trenches at a film festival is that you get to be in honest to goodness awe of some of the cinema that gets produced. 'While The Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts' is a glorious chronicle of the miracles contained in everyday things and occurrences that allows for space to expose and embrace the fragility and profound nature of relationships, where reflections on the human condition and our environment flow together like streams in a river. Deeply personal, Intensely philosophical and all humanistic this film is something akin to visual poetry that wraps you up in it's over arching thematical message that wants us to appreciate the moment while acknowledging how quickly it can all change and be taken away from us. We had the pleasure of sitting down with filmmaker Peter Mettler about the making and process of this journey, his upcoming retrospective at the Lightbox and knowing when to say cut while in the editing bay on something that ends up being 7 hours long. A glorious slice of Canadiana art operating at it's highest level.

Getting enlightened to history that you both knew and didn't know was there is more then eye opening.... We're in the thick of the madness at the Toronto International Film Festival and there 50th anniversary as we had the honor to take in a brand new documentary that enlightens us to the realties of the history of racism in Canada and beyond in the brilliant 'True North'. Through the use of never before seen compelling historic archives and the voices of those who lived through the tumultuous period of 1960s Montreal, 'True North' uses a bold cinematic aesthetic that centers the power of memory and archive to expose the pivotal events of a moment that impacted the global movement for Black liberation. 'True North' is the kind of film that allows us to experience the realities of the time rather then get a didactic retelling of the history of it all and it makes for an immersive piece of cinema that transcends any kind of social politics and allows us to appreciate the genuine emotion of the time. We had the pleasure of sitting and talking with filmmaker Michèle Stephenson about this and so very much more with the film making it's World Premiere at TIFF. Keep your eyes open for 'True North' as it makes the festival rounds because it's an important piece of not only Canadian history but Canadian cinema as well.

Sometimes it's easy to forget to look up.... On this very special episode we dive into a movie on VOD platforms now that reminds us the need to look up.  It's time for 'Star People'. On March 13, 1997, thousands of people in Arizona witnessed the largest mass UFO sighting in U.S. history—now famously known as The Phoenix Lights. Among them was 10-year-old Claire, who felt as if the lights called to her. Years later, Claire (Kat Cunning), now a photographer, is still chasing that moment, hoping to capture the lights on camera and finally make sense of what she saw.  When a mysterious tip leads her deep into the Arizona desert during a deadly heatwave with her UFO streamer boyfriend (Connor Paolo) and troubled brother (McCabe Slye)  in tow, they encounter a vulnerable immigrant family whose plight complicates her mission. As tensions rise, Claire searches for the answers she seeks on terra firma and among the stars. We had the unique pleasure of sitting down with writer/director Adam Finberg to discuss the origins of the story and so very much more. 'Star People' is on VOD platforms now,

Story always has to come first.... On this special episode we look a sweet little rom-com that also happens to be an indigenous story.  It's time for 'Sweet Summer Pow-Wow'. 'Sweet Summer Pow Wow' is the story of a young Indigenous couple get a break from their troubled lives when they find each other through a summer of love on the Pow-Wow circuit. We've seen the story of young love finding each other in the middle of challenges in their youth before but seeing it through the prism of indigenous storytelling we are reminded that we're all pretty damn similar in the first place. And that's the whole point as we talk with co-writer/director Darrell Dennis and his star Tatyana Rose Baptiste about the importance of leading with story first, the built in nature of storytelling and the myriad of franchises that could be out there if Hollywood wants to mine some indigenous culture in a money making kind of way. 'Sweet Summer Pow Wow' is in theatres now.

There's nothing wrong with embracing a little bit of the weird.... On this special episode we look at some indie DIY animation that embraces being a little out there.  It's time for 'Boys Of Jupiter'. It's the day after Christmas in suburban Florida and Billy 5000 (Jack Corbett) and his friends pass the seemingly endless days by slacking, shoplifting, and beatboxing. In between lounging on the beach and sneaking into pools, Billy spends his time hustling on the food-on-demand app Grubster, desperate to make $5,000 before New Year's Eve. As he darts around the city delivering to a series of oddball characters, a routine stop at the mysterious Dolphin Groves Juice Company leads to a run-in with his former classmate—and crush—Rozebud (Miya Folick) and a surprise backpack stowaway in Donut, a bizarre creature from another world. But Dr. Dolphin (Janeane Garofalo), the powerful orange juice CEO, will do anything to get Donut back, and Billy is forced to make hard choices about love, friendship, and how far he'll go for financial security in a world ruled by capitalism. It's indie animation with a Gen-Z slacker feel that borrows from anyone from Kevin Smith and even Richard Linklater and we had the pleas of sitting down with writer/director Julian Glander about doing animation on a shoestring budget, the rounded edges of this universe and so very much more.... 'Boys of Jupiter' is at the TIFF Lightbox now.