Face 2 Face With David Peck

Jonas and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Valley of Shadows, Freud, fairy-tales, fantasy and fatalism, dream life, cognitive dissonance and why good questions are so much more important than answers. Biography Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen was born in Bjørkelangen, Norway, and he studied directing at the Polish National Film School in Lodz. He is the director of the shorts Darek and Everything Will Be OK.  Valley of the Shadows is his debut feature film. Synopsis Between the sea and the mountains in a small village in Norway, Aslak (6) lives with his mother Astrid. A tragic event occurs that Aslak can’t quite understand and Astrid struggles to handle. Aslak’s friend shows him a macabre scene; three half-eaten sheep killed in the forest on a full moon night. In a quest for answers, Aslak ventures into the menacing forest behind his house. Is what happens on his journey merely a boy’s imagination or is it reality? Valley of Shadows is a film in the tradition of Scandinavian Gothic fable. Trailer --

Urszula Antoniak and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her gorgeous new film Beyond Words, Identity, voice, racism and otherness, immigration and empathy and how a film is rarely about the plot. Biography Urszula Antoniak studied Film Production at the Polish Film Academy and Film Directing at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy. Her feature film NOTHING PERSONAL  won six awards in Locarno, including the Silver Leopard for Best Debut Film and the FIPRESCI Prize. Antoniak’s second feature, CODE BLUE, was selected for Cannes’ Quinzaine des Realisateurs. CODE BLUE won two Golden Calves, and the lead actress, Bien de Moor, won several international prizes for her role. NUDE AREA, Antoniak’s third feature, was nominated for the Golden Frog at Camerimage. The children's film LIFE ACCORDING TO NINO (2014), which was written by Antoniak, won the prize for Best Children's Film at the Cinekid Film Festival in 2014 and at BUFF in Sweden in 2015. BEYOND WORDS is Antoniak’s fourth feature film. Antoniak has rec

Iram Haq and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her stunning new film What Will People Say, gender, oppression, moralism, family, anger, fear and shame and why validating voice and identity are critical to a better future. Biography Iram Haq (b. 1976) is an actress, writer and director. She made and starred in her directorial debut, the short film Little Miss Eyeflap, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Her feature film debut I Am Yours premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2013 and was selected as Norway’s official Oscar entry. The film has gone on to win a number of prizes at festivals around the world. Synopsis Sixteen-year-old Nisha lives a double life. At home with her family she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but when out with her friends, she is a normal Norwegian teenager. When her father catches her in bed with her boyfriend, Nisha’s two worlds brutally collide. To set an example, Nisha’s parents decide to kidnap her and place her with relatives in Pakistan. Here

Boudewijn Koole and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Disappearance, looking closer, the wonder and mystery of life, Mother and daughter relationships and death as an inspiration. Biography Boudewijn Koole won the Discovery Award of the European Film Academy in 2012. He started as a documentary filmmaker after his studies at the University of Delft. His first documentary series for television on children in the Northern Ireland conflict and children and death were nominated for the UNICEF award and an International Emmy. He recently began to write and direct fiction films. His first feature film, Kauwboy (Little Bird) was sold to over 20 countries and won more than 30 awards worldwide, amongst them the First Feature Award at the Berlinale. Kauwboy was the Dutch entry for the 2012 Oscars. In 2016 Beyond Sleep, premiered at the opening night of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. In September 2016 Koole has won a Golden Calf for Best Director at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht. S

Kathleen Hepburn and Face2Face host David Peck talk about a Mother’s strength, life and the Canadian landscape, empathy, coming of age, Parkinson’s disease and death as a beautiful part if life. Biography Kathleen Hepburn is a Vancouver born writer and director who holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and a BFA in Film Production from the Universities of Guelph and Simon Fraser respectively, and is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre's Writer's Lab. Her debut feature, NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL is a film that exposes the tenderness that exists within struggle, and our ineffable connection to the landscape around us. Her most recent short film of the same name was included in TIFF's Canada's Top Ten, and was awarded Leo's for Best Dramatic Short and Best Direction, and Most Promising Canadian Director at VIFF 2015. Synopsis The feature film debut of writer/director Kathleen Hepburn, NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL is a tender and heart-breaking story of a physically disabled mother and discontent son ­ each alienated

Amr Salama and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Sheikh Jackson, pop music, cinematic language, identity, Islam, father figures, inclusion, imagination, and. Michael Jackson. Biography Amr Salama is a prominent young Egyptian writer and director whose credits include the prize-winning AIDS drama Asmaa and the coming-of-age comedy Excuse My French, which swept the board at Egypt’s equivalent of the Oscars. Says Amr, I never felt as vulnerable making a film, it was half writing a memoir and half fictionalizing a universal story that can transcend above stereotyping and prejudice, a story about fear of death and loving life, identity, temptation and self love. Synopsis The sudden death of Michael Jackson sends a former King of Pop devotee — now a young imam — into a tailspin. But, what does an imam have in common with the King of Pop? More importantly, can he now go back to his normal life, or will his memories and relationships with his loved ones raise the most prominent question in his mind: i

Jenna Bass and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film High Fantasy, the body swap genre, political satire, apartheid, land rights in South Africa, responsibility and racism. Biography Jenna Bass is a South African writer, filmmaker and former magician. Her multi-award winning films - Zimbabwe-set short, The Tunnel, and entirely-improvised debut feature, Love The One You Love, have screened around the world, including Sundance, Berlinale, Göteborg , Busan and Durban International Film Festivals, where she has been heralded as ushering in a ‘New Wave’ of South African cinema. Her second feature film, body-swap satire, High Fantasy, shot entirely on the iPhone 7, will premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Her third feature, Flatland, a feminist Western set in South Africa’s Karoo region, is scheduled for production in mid-2018. Jenna is the editor and co-creator Jungle Jim, the illustrated pulpliterary magazine for African fiction, established in 2011. In 2012, under her pseudonym,

Brian O’Malley and Face2Face host David Peck talk about ghosts, fear, love, freedom, choice and responsibility, Gothic overtones in life, art, sculpture and psychological horror. Biography Before moving into Directing, Brian studied Sculpture in the DIT School of Fine Art. Whilst there his fascination with the exploration of three-dimensional space inevitably led to him picking up a video camera and creating his first experimental short films. Through these experiments, he discovered visual directors like Sergio Leone and Martin Scorsese, and his desire to be a highly visual commercial film director was born. His video work in college got the attention of his fellow students and before long he was making no-budget music videos for college bands. He considered abandoning art school in favour of film school, however, he felt compelled to complete his studies. After leaving college Brian worked internationally as a snow, ice and sand sculptor, taking part in many international competitions and creating sculpture

Emmanuel and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new award winning film Makala, charcoal, life experience, cosmic materialism and liberalism, capitalism and the beauty of hard work. Biography Emmanuel Gras is a French director whose films deal with contemporary social issues and are marked by a commitment to form. He studied film photography at ENS Louis Lumière. His film Bovines was nominated for the César for Best Documentary in 2013. His most recent film Makala won the Grand Prix at the Cannes film festival in 2017. Synopsis The film begins at dawn in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as 28-year-old Kabwita Kasongo heads out with axes slung over his shoulder. He arrives at a majestic tree and begins the arduous process of chopping it down, one axe blow at a time. This is merely the first of several daunting tasks we witness Kasongo undertake in the process of making wood charcoal and delivering it to the marketplace. The film patiently observes Kasongo as he works mostly alone and interacts with h

Matt and Face2Face host David Peck talk Living Proof, about the medical community, MS, science and alternative approaches to health, activism and patient funded research. Biography Matt Embry is one of the most prolific producer/directors in Canada. Embry has produced and directed non-fiction programs for CBC, Global, CTV, TELUS, HBO Canada, PBS, OMNI, Animal Planet, OLN and Telefilm. His documentary directing credits include Jann Arden: Free, Ian Tyson: Songs From the Gravel Road, Curveball: WP Kinsella and Hell or High Water: The Rebuilding of the Calgary Stampede. Matt co-directed the Hot Docs selection Theo Fleury: Playing With Fire (HBO Canada) and coproduced the Gemini-nominated feature In a World Created By a Drunken God. As president and founder of Spotlight Productions, Matt proudly oversees the production of lifestyle and cultural content for TELUS and various other clients. Matt holds a BA in Communications from the University of Calgary and an MFA in Film Production from Concordia University in Mo

Sam and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film premiering at TIFF race relations in America, courage and why Sammy Davis Junior was the greatest entertainer of the 20th century. Biography Sam Pollard is an accomplished feature film and television video editor, and documentary producer/director whose work spans almost 30 years. His first assignment as a documentary producer came in 1989 for Henry Hampton's Blackside production Eyes On The Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads. For one of his episodes in this series, he received an Emmy. Eight years later, he returned to Blackside as co-executive producer/producer of Hampton’s last documentary series, I'll Make Me A World: Stories of African-American Artists and Community. For the series, Pollard received a Peabody Award. Between 1990 and 2010, Pollard edited a number of Spike Lee’s films: Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Girl 6, Clockers and Bamboozled. Pollard and Lee also co-produced a number of documentary productions for the small and big sc

Wayne and Face2Face host David Peck talk about “glib patriotism”, community as the way to healing, how talent and bravery are connected, love and the importance of “powerful fiction”. Biography Wayne Wapeemukwa is a filmmaker of Métis and settler heritage from Vancouver, BC (Unceded Coast-Salish Territories). Luk’Luk’I is his debut feature film. His previous short works include Foreclosure (TIFF’13), Luk’Luk’I : Mother (TIFF’14), Balmoral Hotel (TIFF Top 10’15) and Srorrim (VIFF’16, Best Film – Dawson City Film Festival). He reads philosophy and psychoanalysis. Synopsis Nationalism gets a searing reality check in Wayne Wapeemukwa’s uncompromising debut feature Luk’Luk’I. Following the lives of five Vancouverites living on society’s fringes during the 2010 Olympics, this film takes us into uncharted territory, falling somewhere between a fiction we need to see and a documentary we wish didn’t have to exist. Trailer More about the film here. ---------- For more information about David Peck's podcasting, writing

Violeta and Face2Face host David Peck talk about Cocaine Prison, freedom, power and politics, the “War on Drugs” and indigenous history and truth. Biography Violeta Ayala is an award-winning indigenous filmmaker and writer born in Bolivia. Her credits include Cocaine Prison (2017) premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Fight (2017) distributed by The Guardian Shorts, winner of the Doc Dispatch Award at the Sheffield Doc Fest, The Bolivian Case (2015), premiered as a Special Presentation at Hot Docs, was nominated for Premios Platino and Fenix (the two most prestigious awards in Ibero-America) and was distributed by Ibermedia across Latin America to an audience of 625 million. Stolen (2009) which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, screened in 80 festivals worldwide has won 15 awards and aired on PBS. Violeta is currently working the feature version of The Fight and WAR, a documentary about black rights in Australia. She is also writing the screenplay El Comunista about her gr

Erika and Face2Face host David Peck talk about Shari’a law, gender justice, and life for women in the Middle East, education, power, politics and storytelling. Biography Erika Cohn has received numerous accolades for her work, including a Director’s Guild of America award for her film, When the Voices Fade, a narrative profile of the Lebanese-Israeli war of 2006. Erika co-directed/produced, In Football We Trust, an Emmy nominated, feature documentary about the unique faith and culture that ultimately drives young Pacific Islander men into the NFL, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS’ 2016 Independent Lens series. Most recently, Erika completed The Judge, a film about the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East’s Shari’a courts, which will premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and broadcast on PBS’ 2018 Independent Lens series. Her work has been supported by IFP, the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Institute, Hot Docs, Sheffield, ITVS, Women i

Peter Gajdics talks about "The Inheritance of Shame", dealing with trauma, surviving conversion therapy and how remembering helps in his recovery. Photo by Erich Saide Photographer Biography Peter Gajdics (pronounced “Guy-ditch”) was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, to immigrant parents from Europe. Gajdics knew from an early age that he was gay, but, for myriad reasons, that truth only seemed to cause him pain. In his early 20s, while struggling with an overwhelming sense of shame, Gajdics turned to a local psychiatrist for help. Within months he found himself embroiled in a bizarre sort of conversion therapy that attempted to “cure” him of his homosexuality. The Inheritance of Shame documents Gajdics’ six-year journey through, and eventually out of, this therapy; the legal battle with his former psychiatrist; his complicated family history; and his attempts to reclaim his life—and, most especially, his truth.  Peter is an award-winning writer whose essays, short memoir and poetry have appeared in, amon

Tanya and Face2Face host David Peck talk about mutual trust, Smart Risks, peace-building, mattresses, innovation and a grassroots manifesto for change. Biography Tanya Cothran is Executive Administrator at Spirit in Action International, a granting organization that supports community organizations and individuals in Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda. She started working for Spirit in Action in 2007. In 2009, she completed her Masters in Library and Information Science at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She grew up in California and moved to Toronto, ON in 2012. More about the book here. ---------- For more information about David Peck's podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here or check out the site of his podcast on film, social change and much more. With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound. Image Copyright: Tonya Cothran. Used with permission.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chris and Face2Face host David Peck talk about engaged Buddhism, Cambodia, power and politics, photographs as symbols and hope. Trailer Synopsis Fading from black, the frame fills with the image of a rice field, leaves of grass billow in the wind. Cut to construction along the Mekong river in the capital Phnom Penh. On the soundtrack the metronome of steel girders being pushed deep into the ground keeps time. In the foreground a young man prepares to cast his fishing net into the river as an old sampan fishing boat chugs by. In the background a new bridge is under construction, the sound of which marks the unsteady pace of progress in Cambodia. The film is an intimate portrait of three Cambodian’s involved in forced evictions. We meet the characters at the very beginning of their journey, unsure of themselves and unaware of where they will end up after years of protests against their government. Biography Chris is an award-winning video journalist and documentary filmmaker and the founder of Little Ease Films

Kelita and Face2Face host David Peck talk about country music, trauma, suicide, resilience, and the importance of story telling, listening and how we can break the “cycle”. More about Kelita’s new album project here. Biography KELITA writes, sings and speaks from her own life experiences, sharing her powerful and inspiring healing journey. Coming from a life of countless tragedies and family dysfunction, she shares the lessons of overcoming and victory with an endearing transparency and honesty that engages, encourages and inspires. Her ability to touch and penetrate the hearts of audiences is what drives her success. KELITA’s is a message that rings true and pours out through the words she shares from her inner being. She has the innate ability to write, sing and speak what others are feeling. From her imaginary stage in the hayloft of the big barn of her parents’ Claresholm, Alberta ranch, she began to sing at the age of four under the yard light that was her first “spotlight”. Her love of music and perform

Heather and Face2Face host David Peck talk about greed, activism and sweatshops and her new film Complicit and why consumers have so much power when it comes to making a difference. Trailer IMDB TIFF Synopsis: The documentary follows the intimate journey of Chinese migrant worker Yi Yeting, a benzene-poisoned victim-turned-activist who takes on the global electronic industry. While struggling to survive his own work-induced leukemia, he brings his fight against benzene from his hospital room where he helps other workers, to Silicon Valley and the international stage. Yi's efforts along with the support of others, ultimately contributes to Apple banning two of the most toxic chemicals, benzene and n-hexane, in its final assembly. Against huge odds Yi directly confronts corporate and government interests, while empowering and inspiring the people around him. His wife Liu Huihui, a stay-at-home mom, goes undercover to investigate an Apple supplier. Xiao Ya, an teenager rural migrant, who arrives in the city with

Anna Jane Edmonds, Karl Janisse and Zach Ramelan and Face2Face host David Peck talk about immersive storytelling, collaboration and inclusion, globalization and how movies can in fact change the world. More about Blackout Media here on the website. Biographies Anna Jane (AJ) Edmonds is an emerging leader in the film industry, working in Toronto and Los Angeles as a producer and idea creator for movies with an edge. After working on set with a number of Toronto based film productions, in 2014 she secured the opportunity to work at Silver Pictures Entertainment and be a part of its management and development team during the production of the films THE NICE GUYS and COLLIDE.  Zach Ramelan is an award winning independent filmmaker from Ontario, Canada. From the age of 17, Zach has pursued his passion as a full time filmmaker. Since then he has created several award-winning short films, music videos and feature films. His music videos have enabled him to collaborate with international artists such as Sixx AM and F