Carolyn Talks..., Podcast

Writer and director Xiaodan He joined me to discuss MONTREAL, MA BELLE, her award-winning dramatic feature starring Joan Chen as a 53-year-old Chinese Canadian immigrant learning to carefully embrace her sexuality as a lesbian in spite of cultural, familial expectations, and her own insecurities. Co-produced by Red Dawn Productions, Montréal, ma belle (Montreal, My Beautiful) costars Charlotte Aub...

In my #CarolynTalks interview with the short film THE UNEXPECTED REUNION filmmaker ZhiMin Hu, we discuss how the members of a family represent the different staged of grief after the sudden loss of a loved one, and ZhiMin's approach to filmmaking after being inspired by Les Miserable THE UNEXPECTED REUNION stars Brenda Kamino, Christina Song, John Ng, Samantha Wan, and Peter Fernande, and produced...

Filmmaker Luke Angus, joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss SOLSTICE, his award winning animated short film about Tulak, an Inuit man living in the Artic Circle counting down the endless days of never ending sunlight and isolation, until he can spend the nights under the stars with his wife Luka. #AnimatedFilm #ShortFilm #Interview #3danimation You can watch Solstice, and Luke's previous short fi...

Sometime ago, over 2years actually, filmmaker  @antchen  took the time to sit down with me to discuss his film newest feature at the time THE BREAKING ICE 燃冬. In the film three, strangers are brough together by chance in northern China, where they form a life changing bond through loneliness and curiosity, to challenge each other and themselves to not be afraid of the unknown. #TheBrea...

In this interview for #CarolynTalks, I speak with award-winning Afghani filmmaker Brishkay Ahmed about her latest documentary IN THE ROOM, about the psychological toll war in Afghanistan has had on women. In the film Brishkay speaks to four incredible women, Mozhdah Jamalzada, Nelofer Pazira-Fisk, Vida Samadzai, Sahar Parniyan, and Shogofa Sediqi who've each made their own indelible marks on Afgha...

Filmmaker Guy Trevellyan and actress Anna Popplewell joined me to chat about PLASTIC SURGERY, a dramatic medical disaster short film about the physical impact of microplastics on the human body and the psychological impact on a trauma doctor caught between her duty to her patients, herself, and her unborn child. PLASTIC SURGERY was produced by Guy's company Nice Guy Pictures. Find me on Social Med...

THE THIEF or Anngeerdardardor in East Greenlandic, is the first professional short film produced Ammassalik Island, and filmmaker Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken, joined me to speak about what inspired him to make this special unscripted short about Kamil, a Tasiilaq teen searching for the beloved dog he believes has been stolen, and perhaps something more. #CarolynTalks #ShortFilm #Interview #F...

Award-winning filmmakers Melissa Haizlip and Chris Bolan spoke to me about their documentary SATISFIED that gives and intimate behind the scenes look at the life of Renée Elise Goldsberry; the ups and downs, disappointments, and joys of her personal life and career, including her Tony award winning role in the Broadway production of 'Hamilton'. SATISFIED is available to stream on AppleTV, VoD and...

For the season 2 premiere of their PoV docuseries FOR THE CULTURE, with Amanda Parris, show creator, writer, and host Amanda Parris, and producing director Allison Duke joined me to discuss how they wanted the new season to differ and improve on the first, covering multiple topics important to Black diasporans globally such as dating, tourism, and sports, and how the subjects covered reflect the c...

Filmmaker Janus Victoria joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss DIAMONDS IN THE SAND, her film starring Lily Franky as a man who runs from his life in Japan to Manila in a desperate attempt to escape the shadow of Kodokushi, 'the lonely death'. #FilipinoFilm #JapaneseFilm #IndepedentFilmmaker #FilmCritic #Interview #DiamondsInTheSand costars Maria Isabel Lopez and Charlie Dizon, and screened at th...

Award-winning animator and filmmaker Frank E. Abney III joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss BLACK MAN, BLACK MAN, his latest animated short film. We discussed how the black & white film is a step forward in his creative process as a director and writer, working with actors Yvette Nicole Brown and Aldis Hodge, who also co-produces the film, and how the animation film industry has changed ove...

Filmmaker Natalie Murao joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss her short film TEARS BURN TO ASH starring Veena Yamano as a young fourth generation Japanese Canadian (Yonsei), trying to find a connection to her Japanese ancestry during an all too brief trip to the country. #ReelAsian #Interview #AsianCinema #JapaneseFilm #TearsBurnToAsh screened at the 2025 @reelasianfilmfest⁩. Visit Natalie's webs...

AKASHI writer, director, executive producer, and lead actress Mayumi Yoshida, joined me for #CarolynTalks, to discuss her debut feature film about an artist returning home to Japan, her family, and the memories of a place and people who no longer feel as familiar as they once did after ten years of absence. #AkashiFilm #JapaneseFilm #Interview #Podcasr #Akashi costars Hana Kino, RyoTajima, Kimura...

Canadian filmmakers and co-writers Shane Belcourt and Tanya Talaga joined me to discuss their documentary NI-NAADAMAADIZ: RED POWER RISING, chronicling the life and struggles of of Ojibway Warriors Society leader Louis Cameron and Anishinabeg youth leaders and members of the American Indians Movement who lead a series of sit-ins and protest actions for Indigenous rights in Canada throughout the ea...

Award-winning filmmaker and actress Hannah Cheeseman joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss MARRIAGINALIA about the words unsaid in a marriage where the words left unsaid linger in the space of their comfort with each others. #Marriaginalia stars Kayla Lorette and Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll #ShortFilm #FilmCritic #Interview #IndependentFilm #Podcast Visit Hannah's official website for more informatio...

Writer, director, and executive producer Solara Thanh Bình Đặng, joined me to discuss Chín, her gothic fairytale short about a young Vietnamese woman whose life on her father's durian farm on the Mekong Delta, is about to change when she meets people significant to her life in her dreams and reality. #CarolynTalks #Interview #FilmCritic #VietnameseFilm Chín, which translates to Ripe in English sta...

Writer, director, and producer Ava Maria Safai joined me at  @FantasiaFest  2025, to discuss her debut feature length horror FOREIGNER about the trauma of cultural erasure and assimilation experienced by Yasi (Rose Deghan), a young girl attempting to fit into her new Canadian school after immigrating with her family from Iran. #CarolynTalks #Fantasia2025 #IndependentFilm #FilmCritic #Int...

In this episode of #CarolynTalks award-winning documentarian Hind Meddeb discusses her 2025 documentary SUDAN, REMEMBER US, in which she documents Sudanese youth during the 2019 and 2020 revolution using poetry, music, art, and writing as tools of resistance against the ongoing genocide, colonialism, and oppression perpetrated by the imperial forces tearing their homeland apart. #SudanRememberUs #...

Award-winning Hong Kong filmmaker Adam Wong 黃修平 spoke with me for #CarolynTalks about his new dramatic feature, THE WAY WE TALK 看我今天怎麼說,, about a trio of deaf young adults, Sophie, Wolf, and Alan learning to navigate a world where they face discrimination, roadblocks, and disapproval in their personal and professional lives. #TheWayWeTalk #看我今天怎麼說 stars Neo Yau 游學修, Chung Suet...

For the North American premiere of their dramatic period film SEPPUKU: THE SUN GOES DOWN 切腹：日が沈む, actors Masayuki Deai, Takeshima Yuka, and Sasada Yuka spoke with me about portraying a samurai experiencing fear at the prospect of dying, a wife tasked with supporting her family through her grief and her close relationship with her maid. #CarolynTalks #JapaneseMovie #Samurai #Interview #Seppu...

For the Canadian premiere of his period drama RIVER RETURNS 光る川 filmmaker Masakazu Kaneko 金子雅和 spoke with me about working with his young lead actors Asuka Hanamura, Yo Aoi, Sanetoshi Ariyama, and using the traditional Japanese visual storytelling artform of Kamishibai to tell a time traveling folktale of honoring traditions and nature rather than sacrificing them for modernisation. #光る川...

Following the theatrical release of their film #40Acres, producer Jennifer Holness and actress Jaeda LeBlanc joined me to talk about developing the films characters with director R. T. Thorne, and it's not so far fetched dystopian and postapocalyptic themes, and how their feelings about the Canadian film industry and the world has changed since working on the film. #CarolynTalks #Interview #FilmCr...

For the North American premiere of her earnest romantic comedy SHE TAUGHT ME SERENDIPITY, director Akiko Ohku joined me to discuss working with actor Riku Hagiwara to find the balance in his character's Konishi's introverted nature with his blossoming love and appreciation for the small moments in life, and being inspired by the film's themes of spontaneity, and world events. #CarolynTalks #Japane...

Toronto Director Reza Dahya and lease cast Ashton James and Zoe Lewis joined me for #CarolynTalks to chat about their film BOXCUTTER, which follows aspiring musician Rome, and artist Janaya from the west site of the bustling city to its heart at Yong & Dundas as they confront what it means to be an artist in today's social media driven society how to navigate the way their individual outlooks...

CELLS AT WORK! はたらく細胞 Director Takeuchi Hideki and producer Takeguchi Ikumi of WB Japan, sat with me for the 2025 Toronto Japanese Film Festival premiere of the first live-action feature film adaptation of the famous manga and anime series created by Shimizu Akane. #HatarakuSaibo #Manga #Anime #CarolynTalks #Interview #FilmCritic #JapaneseFilm #CellsAtWork #はたらく細胞 was adapted for the s...