Face 2 Face With David Peck

James Alan  James and I talk about mathematics, magic and mystery, risk and about how to leverage small secrets, and why it’s not about how smart you are, but it’s about what you know.  Biography James Alan is a professional magician and sleight of hand artist based in Toronto. James has performed across Ontario for small intimate audiences and on large stages creating performances, which are “thought provoking, funny, astonishing and thoroughly entertaining.” His one man shows, Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks and The Uncertainty Project have been featured at the Summerworks Performance Festival (Toronto), The Hamilton Fringe Festival and The Wychwood Theatre. His latest project, Magic and Martini (www.magicandmartini.ca), sets out to prove that magic really is for grownups. Read more about James here.  ----------  For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here.  With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.     See acast.com/privacy for priv

Bob Phillips Bob and I talk about residential schools, urban reconciliation, why he was thrown out of Burnamthorpe Collegiate some 55 years ago and how colonialism still is having its impact. Biography Dr. Bob Phillips (Great Bear) is a Non-Status Urban Micmac who was raised in the west end of Toronto. He is a Traditional Pipe Carrier who began university at age 51 and now holds a PhD in Indigenous Studies. Bob Phillips was also the host and producer of the AVR Arts Review Show for ten years on the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network where he discussed art, culture and contemporary issues with community members from across Canada and the Far North. Read this article for a little more background on Bob and his past. --------- For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here. With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.     See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Adrian Sitaru   Adrian and I talked about his new film “The Fixer”, journalism, abuse, slavery, human behaviour and why sometimes compassion is not enough.   For more information about TIFF go here.   IMDB Trailer   Synopsis   A headline-grabbing sex scandal gives a Romanian trainee at a French news network an opportunity for his big break, in this charged moral drama from Romanian director Adrian Sitaru.   At the heart of The Fixer lies a cautionary moral tale — on the surface a realist procedural in the vein of the Dardenne brothers, Adrian Sitaru's film is imbued with the signature minimalist approach of the Romanian new wave. Using journalism as his lens, Sitaru asks us to reflect on how far we're willing to go, and who we're willing to hurt, to get ahead in a competitive world.   Romanian-born Radu Patru (Tudor Istodor) is a trainee at a prestigious French news network. Serving as a translator and general problem solver, or "fixer," for the headlining journalists during his trial period, he's looking to

  Todd Minerson   Todd and I talk about masculinity, gender violence, “calling out versus calling in”, the business case for doing it “right”, and why Jack Layton believe you need a dream to live beyond yourself.   Biography   Todd Minerson is the Executive Director of the White Ribbon, the world’s largest effort of men and boys to end men’s violence against women. He is also the CEO of Parker P. Consulting, a social enterprise wholly owned by White Ribbon, working on gender issues with the private sector.   Initiated in Canada in 1991, the White Ribbon now has a presence in over 65 countries around the world.   The White Ribbon symbolizes a man’s pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.   Todd’s work on engaging men and boys in gender based violence prevention and the pursuit of gender equality has taken him around the world.   His also work includes numerous engagements with the United Nations, including as a member of the UN Women Global Civil Society Advisory Group.

Jonas and I talked about refugees and memory, about ambient noise, poetry, the new film I Had Nowhere To Go, and why he's spent a lifetime ignoring Hollywood. For more information on I Had Nowhere To Go (IMDB) and TIFF. Synopsis Internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Douglas Gordon (24 Hour Psycho, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait) returns to the Festival with this intimate portrait of avant-garde cinema legend Jonas Mekas. "An adventurer can always return home; an exile cannot. So I decided that culture would be my home." Jonas Mekas Internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Douglas Gordon returns to the Festival with an intimate portrait of Jonas Mekas, the legendary poet, film critic, risk-taking curator, "the godfather of the American avant-garde cinema" -- and, at 93 years old, among the remaining few to have escaped and survived Nazi persecution. I Had Nowhere to Go plunges us into both a collective and individual space of memory via long, imageless stretches over which Mekas narrates, in his inim

Avi and I talked about his brilliant and beautiful new film Past Life, and letting go, about justice, pessimism and why he believes we need to "let life take over." For more information about Past Life(IMDB) and TIFF. Synopsis In the fascinating new film from director Avi Nesher (The Wonders), two Israeli sisters delve into the dark mystery of their father's former life in Poland during World War II. The newest film by Avi Nesher boldly charts dangerous emotional territory as it tells of two sisters trying to uncover their family's past. It is 1977, and talented but introspective singer Sephi Milch (Joy Rieger) is singing with her choir in a Berlin concert hall. At the reception afterwards, Sephi is shocked when an older woman, upon hearing Sephi's name, hisses "murderer." The woman is immediately hustled away by her son, but the incident haunts Sephi, and when she returns home to Tel Aviv, she shares the story with her older sister, Nana (Nelly Tagar). A fiery tabloid journalist with a political bent, Nana i

Ashley and I talk about her new film Werewolf, choices and addictions, modern existentialism, Albert Camus and about "paying attention." For more information about TIFF go here. IMDB Trailer Synopsis Blaise and Nessa are outcast methadone users in a small town that doesn't offer an easy way out. Each day starts in a long lineup at the tiny pharmacy, then it's door ­to­ door begging to cut grass for people who just want them to go away and die. At dusk they push their rusty lawnmower up a steep hill and crash in a filthy camper at the edge of town. In this bleakness, Nessa plots an escape, while Blaise lingers closer and closer to relapse, arrest, hospitalization, or worse. Tethered to one another, their getaway dreams are kept on a very short leash. Biography Ashley McKenzie ​is an emerging writer­/director from Cape Breton Island, Canada. Her 2015 short 4 Quarters screened at TIFF, VIFF, Stockholm IFF, Festival du nouveau cinema, and won Best Short Film at the Atlantic Film Festival. With her previous work,

Today we talk about a documentary which engages politics and religion, the Gaza Strip, the Middle East, and why surfing is a brilliant metaphor for community and change. For more information about Gaza Surf Club (IMDB, trailer) and TIFF. Synopsis of Gaza Surf Club This handsome and heartfelt documentary takes us into the world of the Gaza Strip’s surfing enthusiasts, and reveals a formidable resilience pulsing within a beleaguered population. Caught between Israel and Egypt, assailed by airstrikes and rockets, the Gaza Strip has been called "the world's largest open-air prison." But Gaza is also bordered by the Mediterranean, and the sea's majestic white caps are drawing a new generation to the country's coastline to taste freedom in the rolling surf. This heartfelt documentary from directors Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine takes us into the world of Gaza's surfing enthusiasts and reveals a formidable resilience pulsing within a beleaguered population. For the young surfers at the centre of Gaza Surf Club, soc

Katell Quillévéré and I talk about her new film Heal The Living, science over mystery, living for our loved ones, taking care of others and the rituals of death. For more information about TIFF go here. IMDB Trailer Synopsis Unintended consequence is the theme of this potent, pulsing drama, which draws seemingly unrelated stories together into a narrative about the moment when tragedy meets hope. Life's precariousness, its chance encounters, and the mysteries revealed by modern science all provide the foundation for Réparer les vivants. Director Katell Quillévéré brings both remarkable technique and sensitivity to this deeply moral, humanist tale, adapted from Maylis de Kerangal's novel Mend the Living, which was nominated for a Booker Prize. The film begins in innocence as a French teenager leaves his girlfriend's apartment and joins his friends on a road trip to a seaside surfing spot. In another town, a woman receives the news that her heart condition has become more serious. Elsewhere, medical staff at a

Maya and I talk about her important new film Forever Pure, racism, religion and hate, Israel, the cost of remaining silent, and politics as sport. Forever Pure recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. For more information about the festival go here. Watch the trailer. Synopsis Beitar Jerusalem F.C. is the most popular and controversial football team in Israel, the only club in the Premier League never to sign an Arab player. Midway through the 2012-2013 season, a secretive transfer deal by the owner, Russian-Israeli oligarch Arcadi Gaydamak, brought two Muslim players from Chechnya. The deal inspired the most racist campaign in Israeli sport that sent the club spiralling out of control. One season in a life of this famed club is a story of Israeli society, personal identity, politics, money and a window into how racism is destroying a team and society from within. Biography Maya Zinshtein is an Israeli filmmaker and journalist, who emigrated from Russia during her childhood. She now live

Raoul Peck  Raoul and I talk about white privilege, consumerism and class economics, apathy and ignorance and how most issues are not about guilt, but about “knowing”.  For more information about TIFF go here.  IMDB  Synopsis  Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck (Moloch Tropical, Murder in Pacot) creates a stunning meditation on what it means to be Black in America.  In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his new endeavour: the writing of his final book, Remember This House, recounting the lives and successive assassinations of his friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Baldwin was not able to complete the book before his death, and the unfinished manuscript was entrusted to director Raoul Peck (Moloch Tropical, Murder in Pacot) by the writer's estate.  Built exclusively around Baldwin's words, Peck's I Am Not Your Negro delves into the complex legacy of three lives (and deaths) that permanently marked the

Half a Man   Kristina and Maja and I talk about their beautiful new film Half a Man, the Balkan War, innocence, overcoming trauma, denial and what family is really all about.   TIFF Runs from: September 8th – September 18th, 2016   For more information about the festival go here.   Trailer   Biography   Kristina Kumric   Kristina Kumrić graduated design at the Faculty of textile technology of the Univeristy of Zagreb and later Film and TV directing at the Academy of dramatic art in Zagreb. She is the author of several short fiction and documentary films. Her short documentary “Welcome to Igrane” won a special jury prize at the Vukovar Film Festival, 1st jury prize at Liburnia Film Festival and best film awards at FRKA festival. Kristina has been working with the Croatian Radiotelevision and since 2013 she is a lecturer at the Culturology department of the University of Osijek in Croatia. Maja Hrgovic   MAJA, born in Split, Croatia in 1980, is an award winning fiction writer, journalist and cultural activist.

Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla   We talk in this interview about Khushboo’s and Vinay’s new brilliant film “An Insignificant Man”, about social and political change and why India is a “very ambitious project”, inequality and hope and why these two young directors want  TIFF Runs from: September 8th – September 18th, 2016  For more information about the festival go here.   Trailer IMDB   Biography Khushboo Ranka Khushboo Ranka was born in Mumbai and studied documentary filmmaking at Goldsmith's College in London. She has directed the short film Continuum (06) and co-wrote Ship of Theseus (12), which screened at the Festival. An Insignificant Man (16) is her first documentary feature.   Vinay Shukla  Vinay Shukla was born in Raipur, India and studied at Mumbai University. He has directed the short film Bureaucracy Sonata (11).An Insignificant Man (16) is his first documentary feature.  ----------   For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here.   With thanks to

Kulvir Gill   Kulvir and I talk about generosity, the biggest delusion of humanity, our authentic selves and how the right thing can be done in the right way,   Biography   Kulvir Singh Gill is a Senior Principal with Clareo Partners, a corporate strategy and innovation management consultancy. He has over 15 years of consulting and mining industry experience. Mr. Gill started his career with Oliver Wyman as a management consultant before holding several positions with Barrick Gold Corporation’s supply chain and organizational effectiveness teams.    Mr. Gill serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for William Osler Health System Foundation and was previously on the board of Habitat For Humanity Brampton.   He is also the co-founder of the Seva Food Bank and coordinates the annual Toronto Sikh Retreat for Sikh-Canadian youth. Mr. Gill holds a B.Sc. and a B.Comm from the University of Calgary. He was a 2010/11 Action Canada fellow and is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.   Mr. G

Marko Papic   Marko and I talk about our multi-polar world, risk, why he reads the news for a living, American hegemony, and why “should” is a four letter word.   Biography   Marko Papic joined BCA Research in September 2011 and is the Chief Strategist of BCA’s Geopolitical Strategy service. Marko launched Geopolitical Strategy in March, 2012, a service that blends BCA’s macroeconomic research with the geopolitical methodology, with the goal of avoiding bias and providing investment-relevant forecasts. The GPS service is the financial industries only dedicated geopolitical strategy. Prior to joining BCA he was a Senior Analyst for STRATFOR, a premier global intelligence agency where he contributed to the firm’s global geopolitical strategy as well as its analyst recruitment and training program. Before joining BCA, he also helped create the Center for European Union Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.   Marko holds graduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Britis

Petr and I talk about his new film Never Alone and about choice, fascism, ideological issues that concern us all and why he’s still an optimist.   TIFF Runs from: September 8th – September 18th, 2016  For more information about the festival go here.   Trailer IMDB   Biography  Petr Vaclav graduated from Prague Film Academy FAMU. His short documentary MADAME LE MURIE (1993) was nominated for Student Academy Award.  Vaclav ́s first feature film, MARIAN (1996) - the story of a Romani child - won the Silver Leopard and the FIPRESCI Award in Locarno and other prizes at Angers, Thessaloniki, Belfort, Cottbus, Bratislava and Tehran film festivals, and had theatrical release in France, the Netherlands, the USA and South Korea.  His second feature, PARALLEL WORLD, (2001) was selected for the San Sebastian Official Competition.  His recent feature THE WAY OUT about a young Romani woman fighting for an ordinary life was screened at Cannes (ACID Selection 2014) and released in France under the name ZANETA.  Petr is curre

Nick Saik   Nick talks about his new film Know GMO, drought resistant crops, weed management and rational optimism versus irrational pessimism.   Synopsis A 90-minute science based documentary that shows the public what the words “Genetically Modified Organism” really mean; Know GMO examines the real world challenges of Organic food production globally. We want to know: has biotechnology contributed to global food security? Are new agriculture technologies actually decreasing disease? Are they conserving land? Can it all really be done in a sustainable manner? We’ve set out to improve the public understanding of sustainable agricultural tools spanning Organic and Genetically Modified food production all across the globe. Know GMO is a film about different points of view. This film is really three films in one. It’s a story about Genetically Modified Food, and how it’s been setup as the antithesis of Organic Food. It’s a story about fathers and sons, how Director Nick Saik and his father, Rob Saik have taken o

  Rick and I talk about kitchen table culture, aspiring leaders, 3 part epiphanies, and why conversation is a deeply creative process.   Biography   Rick Wolfe is the originator of the Kitchen Table Conversation approach to facilitated dialogue. He developed the process for use in his management consulting practice. As a consultant he specializes in strategic planning, brand development, stakeholder engagement and business development. Based in Toronto, Rick has frequently undertaken assignments across Canada, the US and in the UK. Stakeholder engagement assignments have also taken him to various European centres and Tokyo.   Among the clients he has served: IBM, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Smith & Andersen, RBC, TD Bank, Barclays Bank, Sun Life, Lifelabs, EXL, TCS, Siemens, SAS, Microsoft, Clifford Chance, Norton Rose Fulbright, Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, LG Electronics and the University of Waterloo.   Prior to opening his consulting practice, Rick was a senior account servi

Anita and I talk about racism in Canada, why we need to build inclusion, how hate speech and free speech are very different and why there is only one human race.   Biography   Anita Bromberg is the Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, a Canadian Crown Agency dedicated to eliminating racism and maintaining harmonious relations across diverse communities. A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Community Program Excellence Award, Anita brings to the position three decades of experience working on issues of racism and discrimination, as well as human rights, countering hate and intergroup relations. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Anita is a lawyer by profession, and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1982. She is a frequent spokesperson, lecturer, trainer and media representative on topical issues of the day, particularly as they relate to racialized communities. A court recognized expert on racism and extremism, she has also instituted and participated in nu

Charles Plant   Charles and I talk about fear, doubt and uncertainty, success and entrepreneurship and why gossip is a way to regulate one’s own behavior.   Biography   Charles is a serial entrepreneur. He has an MBA in marketing and was trained as a Chartered Accountant and a banker.   He spent 15 years as co founder and CEO of Synamics, a telecommunications software firm that provided mass calling platforms to telcos. Since then he has co-founded two other technology companies and been an officer, director or investor in a dozen others. He’s provided financing, consulting and coaching services to several dozen other firms and provided training to thousands.   Charles spent four years at MaRS ending as CFO. For most of his time at MaRS he spearheaded a group of former entrepreneurs and specialists who developed thought leadership, provided education, mentorship, market intelligence and capital to over 2,000 technology startups in Ontario.   Among several other jobs in management consulting and investment ba