Carolyn Talks..., Podcast

Actress Anne-Marie Johnson and writer-director Martin Grey joined #CarolynTalks to discuss THE ADDICTION TO HOPE, their independent feature in which Anne-Marie plays Jo, an actress at a crossroads in her life where she has to decide which direction she wants to take her life and career in an industry that measures worth by apperances and perceptions. Co-procuced by Martin and Anne-Marie, the film...

Filmmaker Kunyu Cai and actress and martial artist Liana Hu joined me for #CarolynTalks, to discuss their award-winning multi-genre short film KILL ADA, about Ada, an NPC who awakens to her reality and has to fight her way out of the controlled environment built to destroy her. Co-written with Wang Hanmo and Lin Xiao, #KillAda screened at  @FantasiaFest  2026, and was produced by  @...

GOD SKIN หมัดเทวา writer and director Paween Purijitpanya, co-writer Pat Pataranutaporn, lead actor Sutthirak 'Gee' Subvijitra, and producer Surawut Tungkarak, joined #CarolynTalks, to chat about the Thai sci-fi action film about Win, a delivery rider who makes a deal to turn his body into a fighting avatar in exchange for money to help his ailing money. We talked about how the film delivers on hi...

For the Fantasia IFF premiere of her documentary BLACK ZOMBIE, filmmaker Maya Annik Bedward spoke with me about exploring the origins and history of the Vodou religion in Haiti, how the lore and mythology of zombies was borne through a need for the enslaved to visualise their oppression, and how Hollywood and racism appropriated and misrepresented the practices, meanings, and people. #Documentary...

Burmese filmmaker Arkar Soe Oo spoke with me for the #Fantasia2026 premiere of THE LAST FOOTAGE, his POV found footage horror about a group of friends whose relationships are tested when they encounter malevolent forces in Wingar Forest. Produced by Arkar and Li Li Kyaw Haing's https://www.youtube.com/@atwentythree, #TheLastFootage in which director is also actor and cameraman, stars an ensemble c...

For #CarolynTalks, filmmaker and photographer Tyler Shields joined me to chat about making CHAPTER 51, his film within a mocumentary within a film about the agony and frustrations of filmmaking, and the absurd antics of directors and writers obsessed with perfecting their craft. Co-produced with Giovanni Ribisi, #Chapter51stars Colman Domingo, Connor Paolo, Abigail Breslin, Emily Alyn Lind, Dylan...

Indie filmmaker Marcellus Cox, joined me for #CarolynTalks, to discuss his short film based on real events JARMARCUS ROSE & DA 5 BULLET HOLES, about a Black teen whose day with a new mentor changes both of their lives in the most tragic way. For screening information on the film, visit Marcellus's Social Media at https://www.instagram.com/cellusworld24/ Find me on Social Media at: @CarrieCnh12...

Métis writer, director, and actress of BLOOD LINES Gail Maurice joined me for #CarolynTalks, to discuss her 25 year journey to making the film a reality, her decades of work in the Canadian film industry, and what it meant to have her native language and female community elders be part of the project. BLOOD LINES stars Dana Solomon as Beatrice a Two-Spirit Métis woman whose life is thrown for a lo...

Métis writer, director, and actress of BLOOD LINES Gail Maurice joined me for #CarolynTalks, to discuss her 25 year journey to making the film a reality, her decades of work in the Canadian film industry, and what it meant to have her native language and female community elders be part of the project. BLOOD LINES stars Dana Solomon as Beatrice a Two-Spirit Métis woman whose life is thrown for a lo...

Ea (Sovereign)'s Kanaka ʻŌiwi filmmaker Noah Keone Viernes and Sancia Miala Shiba Nash, joined me to discuss using filmmaking as a tool to document and teach about the fight of native Hawaiians like Keʻeaumoku Kapu on Maui, to reclaim their ancestral lands in the colonial court system, protecting their culture, and what bearing these weights on their shoulders mean. Ea (Soverign) screened at the 2...

Writer and director Michael Cusmano, and actress and executive producer Charity Schubert, joined me to chat about their short LAST MINUTE, in which Charity plays Jackie, a single mother who due to her son Jasons's (Espyn Doughty) procrastination, has just one night to help him put together a chemistry homework assignment, and audiences feel the joy of 80s and 90s nostalgia, and the chagrin of what...

Independent filmmaker Benny Chen spoke with me to discuss making HAND 執手, his student short film about Lin (Zhan Wang), a Chinese immigrant, who having lived in the U.S. for over 20 years still faces uncertainty, isolation, and racism during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. HAND 執手 premiered at the 2026 Cleaveland International Film Festival, and was produced by Yanghuixiao Gao, edited by...

For the HotDocs 2026 premiere of her second documentary feature THE ART OF ADVENTURE, Canadian filmmaker Alison Reid shared what it was like putting together a film about biologists, conservationists, and naturalists Bristol Foster and Robert Bateman, and their journey across the world in their pale yellow Land Rover "The Grizzly Torque", and how it started their over 60 years of conservation work...

In this episode of Carolyn Talks..., I speak with writer-director Annemarie Jacir about PALESTINE '36 / فلسطين 36, her feature film about the 1936 Palestinian uprising in the town of Al Basa against the threat of colonial violence by the growing Israeli settler population, and British and French imperialism. We spoke about the perseverance and dedication of the cast and crew to make the film amids...

CEREMONY documentary film subject, radio host AND Nuxalk knowledge keeper Qwaxw Siwallac, joined me to talk about what the return of the ooligan to the Bella Coola River means to him and his people, the Nuxalk First Nations. Directed, produced and written by Banchi Hanuse, CEREMONY premiered at #HotDocs 2026, visit https://smayaykila.com/ for information on Banchi's work and screening dates. Visti...

CONSTANT BATTLES director Mackenzie Stannard and Writer and producer Sepideh Yadegar joined #CarolynTalks, to discuss their documentary about Iranian Canadian boxer Nyousha Nahkjiri's battles with ADHD and anxiety to make it as a professional athlete in the ring. Mack and Sepideh also speak about how Nyousha's mother Elehah's own story became an integral part of the film when she revealed she had...

In this episode of #CarolynTalks I discuss what it takes to be a production designer with award-winning veteran creative Neil Patel, and his two most recent projects, Bughouse, the immersive museum experience of the life of "outside artist" Henry Darger put on by the Vineyard Theatre, and the thriller Drag by Ravluv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer which premiered at SXSW 2026. Find me on Social Media...

In my interview with SŪNNA (Listen) writer and director Radha Mehta, she shared her journey from being a civil engineer, to artist and filmmaker, and how this short about Lakshmi (Aaliya Mehta) a young traditional Indian musician losing her hearing, is inspired by Rahda's own lived experiences and journey. SŪNNA also stars award-winning stage performer and musician Anisha Nagarajan as Lakshmi's mo...

FEELING TOGETHER multimodal filmmaker and anthropologist Fukuda Pero, joined me to discuss his unique short form documentary of an intense family argument that takes place one night in close knit Batwa village, Central Africa. Present in the film are Kidau, Sadede, Daraza, Mwarabu, Bigirabagao, Kagano, Paci, and Panzinga. Learn more about Pero's work and his poetry on on his social media https://w...

Fellow YouTube and podcast host Maddy Myer joined me to discuss MADDY MANIA, her new entertainment channel where she interviews professionals in such industries as Broadway and wrestling, what it's like taking that leap and hos it differs to her work as a film publicist. #CarolynTalks #FilmCritic #Podcast #Interview Find me on Social Media at: @CarrieCnh12 To donate to my work, fund can be given t...

Filmmaker, journalist, and novelist Brooke Obie joined me to discuss ABANITU: A Family Documentary, her debut feature film and documentary about her ancestor Lucy Obie, a woman who started a family legacy of farming and resiliency through strife in 1906, North Carolina. For screening information for ABANITU, visit Brooke's official website at https://www.brookeobie.com/films/abanitu-film/ Find me...

Filmmaker YuHan Tsai, joined me for the SXSW 2026 premiere of her short film DUA JI, starring award-winning Taiwanese actress KueiMei Yang 楊貴媚 as a daughter unable to fully grieve her mother's passing when her desire to perform certain ancestral rights is denied due to patriarchal customs. DUA JI co-stars hiaKeui Chen陳家逵, YuPing Wang王渝屏, and JieFei Huang黃婕霏 Visit YuHan's official webpa...

Writer, director, and producer Fia Perera joined #CarolynTalks, to discuss her feature film MERMAID, about Cassie (Devyn McDowell), a Transgender 10-year-old who finds understanding and protection with Pepper (Arturo Luiz Soria), a world weary and grieving drag queen who reluctantly let's the little girl into her heart and under her sequined wing. #LGBTQ #IndepdentFilm #Interview #Podcast For film...

Writer, director and actor Mekhai Lee joined me for #CarolynTalks, to discuss THEM THAT'S NOT, his short film starring Angel Theory as a deaf queer poet caught between her feelings of grief at her Grandmother's passing, and feeling isolated amongst her family members at the funeral. #LGBTQ #ShortFilm #Disability #Interview #FilmCritic THEM THAT'S NOT co-stars Biko Eisen-Martin and Carrie Compere,...

Filmmaker and producer Honey Lauren spoke with me about her latest dramatic feature MISTAKE, starring Dominic Bogart as an intersex man in America's deep south in 1941, whose relationship with his girlfriend Lily (Jiji Heis) is his only comfort in their small town filled with people that don't understand him or her. MISTAKE co-stars Matt Bogart and Kay Lenz, and co-produced with Erik Bakken and Da...