Carolyn Talks..., Podcast

Oscar winning Production Designer Hannah Beachler joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss her stunning work on #SINNERS the multi-genre period feature by filmmaker Ryan Coogler. We spoke how she used the concept of duality, colour schemes, history, and spirituality as inspiration for the eye-catching set pieces. #SINNERSMovie #RyanCoogler #MichaelBJordan #WunmiMusaku #DelroyLindo #FilmCritic #Inter...

To celebrate the 2025 National Canadian Film Day, writer, director, and producer Kent Donguines joined me to discuss hos feature documentary CANADIAN ADOBO, and how his Filipino heritage and culture inspires his art and career. National Canadian Film Day is an annual that was created in 2012 by Reel Canada to celebrate and raise awareness of all the amazing filmmakers, creatives, and stories made...

Reel Canada founders Jack Blum and Sharon Corder joined me to discuss creating the organisation and the National Canadian Film Day program (held April 16th this year), and using film to teach Canadian students and immigrants new to the country, about Canada and the Canadian film industry. #ReelCanada #CanFilmDay #Interview #FilmCritic #CanadianFilms Visit the ReelCanada.ca and canfilmday.ca websit...

For #CarolynTalks, director, actor, and photographer, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine joined me to talk about his award-winning documentary MEMORIES OF LOVE RETURNED. Ntare shared the challenges of his 22 years long journey to creating this film to pay homage to Uganda photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo, who for 50 years took hundreds of thousands of beautiful portraits of the people of Uganda. #Memori...

In this episode of #CarolynTalks, filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes joined me to discuss his debut feature film MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE, which is based on Kyle's own life, starring Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales as Merit and Zoe, to best friends whose complicated feelings for each other keeps them tethered through their life in the U.S. Army and even death. #MyDeadFriendZoe was co-written with C...

Culture Critic and Journalist Candice Frederick joined me for Carolyn Talks.., to discuss the films nominated for the 2025 Oscars and the state of Hollywood. We discussed the culture of Hollywood shifting towards more conversative narratives in films and TV, GenAI in film, the culture of celebrity, and how they influence audiences and the work we do as critics and journalists. To read Candice's wo...

In this episode of #CarolynTalks, I chat with director and writer Sook-yin Lee about her humorous and thought provoking film PAYING FOR IT. Co-written with Joanne Sarazan, based on the real experiences the real experiences of a couple, Chester (Dan Beirne) and Sonny -Sook-yin's alter ego played by Emily Lê - who embark on a journey of self-discovery that challenges and reshapes how they view life...

Filmmaker, mountaineer, and athlete Alex Harz joined me to talk about his documentary THE QUEST: EVEREST, in which he documents in 2D and VR format, his epic quest to climb to the top of the world, Mount Everest, and meeting the Sherpa, the indigenous people of the Himalayas, the various cultures, and reaching the summit with expedition leader, Tashi Sherpa. #CarolynTalks #MountEverest #MountainCl...

Writer and director José Lourenço joined me for #CarolynTalks to chat about his film YOUNG WERTHER based on the1774 novel 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. José and I chatted about adapting the language of the novel for a modern day film and working with actors Douglas Booth, Alison Pill, and Patrick J. Adams to work out the speech and relationship dynamics of their charact...

Scholar and researcher of 19th century gothic mythology and literature, Madeline Potter joined me to discuss representations of NOSFERATU, the films and character in the 2024 film adaptation by Robert Eggers, and F.W. Murnau's 1922 adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel, 'Dracula'. #Nosferatu #Nosferatu2024 #Vampire #CarolynTalks #interview To learn about Madeline's research, visit h...

Writer, director and producer, Dani Feixas joined me to talk about PARIS 70, his multi-award winning short film about Jan a son trying to cope as his aging mother Angela's caretaker, who uses a white lie as a way to prompt Angela to take trips down memory lane as everything she knew and loved is stripped away by Alzheimer's. Thank you to our interpreter Gerard for taking part and translating for D...

For Carolyn Talks..., I spoke with writer and director Jean Liu and actress Harmonie He about their short film CORPSE FISHING, in which Harmonie plays Yan, a girl desperate to find her missing father even if means striking up an unlikely bargain with Old Bo (Jizhong Zhang), a corpse fisher who spends his days and nights searching the river for the bodies of lost souls along the shores of the Yello...

Independent filmmaker Kelly Yu joined me to talk about her sophomore short film ENDLING, about Dennis (Dennis Dun, Big Trouble in Little China, Year of the Dragon) the aging caretaker for Pao Pao, the very last living gold fish on earth. We discussed the film's themes of mortality, worthiness, and depression juxtaposed with its bright and whimsical narrative and visual style. And how Kelly and I s...

Heads of the Hair and Makeup Departments Andrea Mona Bowman, and Para Shardé Malden joined me for #CarolynTalks to discuss their work on the film adaptation of August Wilson THE PIANO LESSON, and careers in Hollywood working on various film and TV projects such as 2024's #TheColorPurple and #WomenInTheMovement #ThePianoLesson is available for streaming on Netflix. #FilmCritic #Interview #HairAndMa...

For her short film MAWTINI (My Homeland) director and producer Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller spoke with me about making a story to honor her Palestinian heritage, and the struggle and trauma of displacement from the land experienced by her people, Canadian First Nations, and immigrants in Canada. #CarolynTalks #Mawtini #RPFF2024 MAWTINI stars Rena Dine, and Monique Mojica screened at the 2024 Regent...

During TIFF24, I met with stage and screen actress and writer Akiko Iwase to chat about the challenges of adapting her stage play A MATTER OF SHARING for the 2023 feature film directed by Shinji Kuma. We spoke of her path to becoming an actress, writer, and working in Japan and North American film industries. #CarolynTalks #TIFF24 #JapaneseFilm #JapaneseActress #AMatterOfSharing was produced by Bi...

Filmmaker Mukaddas Mijit joined me for the premiere of her film NIKAH, to discuss this dramatic mid-length feature through which she gives the world just a brief look into the life of young Uyghur women through the eyes of Dilber (Guzalnur Uchqun), a 27-year-old young living under constant surveillance with her family in the North Western regions of China. #CarolTalks #ReelAsian28 #FemaleDirector...

Senior Culture Reporter and Film Critic of the Huffington Post Candice Frederick, joined me to chat about Coralie Fargeat's horrifically thought provoking THE SUBSTANCE, starring Demi Moor and Margaret Qualley, as a former and aspiring Hollywood starlet doing whatever she can to stay relevant and beautiful in society's eyes, however she can. #TheSubstance #DemiMoore #MargaretQualley #CarolynTalks...

Writer and director Belkıs Bayrak spoke with me about her debut feature film about Gülizar (Ecem Uzan), a Turkish young woman whose life is traumatically changed when she's sexually assaulted on her way to meet her fiancé Emre (Bekir Behrem)to begin final preparations for their wedding in Kosovo. #Gulizar #CarolynTalks #TIFF24 #SHWHTIFF24 #TIFF #TurkishFilm Images courtesy of TIFF and https://www....

Writer and director Arshile Egoyan joined me for #CarolynTalks during #TIFF2024 to discuss his short film BEFORE THEY JOINED US in which he depicts how war and immigration changes the ways children look at their parents and the choices they're forced to make in unimaginable circumstances. #BeforeTheJoinedUsFilm #ArmenianFilm #CanadianFilm #TIFF24 #TIFF #Interview Images courtesy of TIFF Find me on...

Writer and Director Karen Chapman, and actresses Olunike Adeliyi and Zahra Bentham joined #CarolynTalks to chat about VILLAGE KEEPER, Karen's debut feature film about the secrets mothers keep, how women can subconsciously deprive themselves of the most simple pleasures, and the effects of shared trauma between mothers and daughters. #VillageKeeper premiered in the Discovery program of the 2024 #To...

Director Kourtney Roy and actor Jason Deline joined me for #CarolynTalks, to chat about their supernatural thriller KRYPTIC, about a woman Kay (Chloe Pirre) who's venture into the forests of British Columbia in search of a missing cryptozoologist leads to cryptic and undefined supernatural encounters. Written by Paul Bromley, KRYPTIC premiered at 2024  @FantasiaFest  2024. #Fantasia #Fan...

In her feature documentary A SISTERS' TALE, filmmaker Leila Amini reveals her sister Nasreen's journey to finding the pieces of herself lost over 14 years of being a wife and mother, through her passion to become a professional singer in Iran. Joining Leila for the interview was producer Afsaneh Salari who acted as interpreter and shared her own challenges and blessings of producing a film like th...

Writer and director Akihiro Toda 戸田彬弘, spoke with me for #CarolynTalks about his dramatic feature IICHIKO starring Hana Sugisaki as Ichiko, the enigmatic young woman running from a past she fears and doesn't understand, and a possible future with her boyfriend Hashikawa (Ryuya Wakaba) who finds more questions than answers the more he searches for her. #JapaneseFilm #AsianCinema #FilmFestival #...

During #TIFF24 I had the pleasure of speaking with writer and director Lakshmipriya Devi about her debut feature film BOONG, about the precocious Boong (Gugun Kipgen), who travels from his home in Manipur to Moreh, in Northern India to find his long lost father in the hope of increasing his mother Mandakini's (Bala Hijam), happiness. #TIFF #SHWHTIFF24 #CarolynTalks #IndianFilm #AsianCinema #FilmCr...