UNbecoming is a cinematic exploration of consciousness and identity that challenges the assumption of a separate self.

Bridging neuroscience, lived experience, philosophical inquiry, and ancient contemplative traditions, the film examines what happens when the structures that define identity begin to dissolve. Featuring perspectives from leading researchers and thinkers, it moves beyond explanation into direct investigation -inviting the viewer to question the nature of perception, control, and reality itself.

Rather than offering answers, UNbecoming creates an experiential confrontation with the question: if the self is an illusion, what remains?

——

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Love for for you to try the Indy Film Festival AP.

• Daily new film festival of the best new films from around the world. New archived festival to watch anytime.

• Library of over 500+ award-winning films to watch anytime.

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Check out the daily film festival (and previous ones from last month) at https://www.wildsound.ca/browse

Always an amazing lineup of films. Inspiring for storytellers.

EP. 1800: Producer Nicholas Kusmich (UNbecoming)

Matthew Toffolo

ANGOISSE, 4min. Thriller Poetry film. USA

Plagued by relentless anxiety, a woman is caught between the weight of the past and the grip of the unknown—until the voices of her ancestors become the only path home.

Conversation with director Araeia Robinson & star/writer Sabrina Revelle

——

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——

Love for for you to try the Indy Film Festival AP.

• Daily new film festival of the best new films from around the world. New archived festival to watch anytime.

• Library of over 500+ award-winning films to watch anytime.

Go to https://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 3-day trial.

Check out the daily film festival (and previous ones from last month) at https://www.wildsound.ca/browse

Always an amazing lineup of films. Inspiring for storytellers.

EP. 1799: Actor/Writer Sabrina Revelle & Director Araeia Robinson (ANGOISSE)

Matthew Toffolo

Vanishing: A Love Story, Documentary Feature

Vanishing: A Love Story is a documentary about award-winning novelist Cai Emmons and her loving, open-hearted journey towards death. In 2021, at the age of 70, Cai was diagnosed with ALS. Taking place in 2022, during the last six-months Cai’s life, the film is, first and foremost, a story about the agency of expression —having a voice to create a legacy in the world.

"Sandra Luckow’s 'Vanishing' offers an almost shockingly close-up view of a life well lived and arguably well ended. Focused raptly on the late author Cai Emmons, the film is documented from so deep within her home and intimate circle that at times it also seems to have been shot from inside her head. Emmons is the intellectual driver of Vanishing—but it’s Luckow’s principled humility before her subject, and before the inescapable realities of illness and death, that enable this film to begin in voicelessness and dissolution and end in eloquent affirmation.

--Stuart Klawans, Film Critic, National Magazine Award winner for Reviews and Criticism

——

Subscribe to the podcast:

https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod ——

Love for for you to try the Indy Film Festival AP.

• Daily new film festival of the best new films from around the world. New archived festival to watch anytime.

• Library of over 500+ award-winning films to watch anytime.

Go to https://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 3-day trial.

Check out the daily film festival (and previous ones from last month) at https://www.wildsound.ca/browse Always an amazing lineup of films. Inspiring for storytellers.

EP. 1798: Filmmaker Sandra Luckow (VANISHING: A LOVE STORY)

Matthew Toffolo

12th House, 13min., USA

Directed by Ilona Laboy

12th House is a surreal meditation on grief, identity, and spiritual transformation. After losing her husband, a woman descends into a liminal dreamworld where memory fragments and archetypes guide her inward. Haunted by illusion and tethered to love, she confronts her shadow through symbolic rituals of self-loss and rebirth. Blending myth, psychology, and visual poetry, 12th House explores the sacred undoing required to become whole—and the alchemy of carrying love beyond death.

https://instagram.com/illusionoffamellc

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

- Initially, my late husband and I shared a dream of creating films together, to build a life doing what we love. After losing him, this project became my way of keeping that dream alive. Israel has been my motivation throughout this entire process. Finishing this film was a way to carry him forward, to honor his legacy, and to keep him present in everything I do.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

- The new storyline and the entire post-production process took a little over four months. It was an intense, concentrated period of rebuilding, editing, and reshaping the film into what it is now.

How would you describe your film in two words!?

- Dream Shattering

——

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Love for for you to try the Indy Film Festival AP.

• Daily new film festival of the best new films from around the world. New archived festival to watch anytime.

• Library of over 500+ award-winning films to watch anytime.

Go to https://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 3-day trial.

Check out the daily film festival (and previous ones from last month) at https://www.wildsound.ca/browse

Always an amazing lineup of films. Inspiring for storytellers.

EP. 1797: Filmmaker Ilona Laboy (12TH HOUSE)

Matthew Toffolo

BALL LIGHTNIING, 12min., USA

Directed by Catriona Trina Baker

Ball Lightning is the true story of a refugee who fled the personal and social effects of Soviet run East Germany after the end of WWII and immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. The story is told through the eyes of the surrogate daughter that she raised after she was forced to give away her own infant daughter as the iron curtain rose. Gusta serves as an example of survival, kindness and the fortitude of human resilience. The film is dedicated to her lost daughter, Esther, a reminder that the children separated from families because of war are never forgotten by those who love them.

https://www.instagram.com/ball.lightning_film

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-ball-lightning

——

Subscribe to the podcast:

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——

Love for for you to try the Indy Film Festival AP.

• Daily new film festival of the best new films from around the world. New archived festival to watch anytime.

• Library of over 500+ award-winning films to watch anytime.

Go to https://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 3-day trial.

Check out the daily film festival (and previous ones from last month) at https://www.wildsound.ca/browse

Always an amazing lineup of films. Inspiring for storytellers.

EP. 1796: Filmmaker Catriona Trina Baker (BALL LIGHTNING)

Matthew Toffolo

Watch Poetry Movie HANDS FREE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dtiTChQVVI

Poem by Rhonda Yates

Voice Over by Val Cole

Visual Design & Editor by Kaitlin Manalili

Produced by Matthew Toffolo

——

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EP. 1795: Poet Rhonda Yates (HANDS FREE)

WILDsound

Watch Today’s Reading: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/esquisse-of-affliction

DANNY, a 23-year-old college graduate, returns to his childhood home in Monterey, California, following the sudden passing of his Mother, LORRAINE. After the funeral, Danny, his sister KATY, returned from LA, and their Dad, WAYNE talk about their plans for the immediate future. They run into GAIL, Lorraine’s former colleague, who has found Lorraine’s body at home. She tells Danny and Katy that Lorraine has some stuff left in her office, advising them to pick it up sometime.

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EP. 1794: Screenwriter Zicheng Li (ESQUISSE OF AFFLICTION)

WILDsound

THE SINGULARITY PROTOCOL, 40min., USA

Directed by Craig McCourry

Hong Kong, 1941. Trapped in a bombed-out underground bunker, two soldiers, William Kwok and Charles Evans await death. But their final hour takes a chilling turn when a voice from the future breaks through: Cosmos, an AI Singularity from 2046, reaches back through time to fulfill an enigmatic protocol. As Cosmos shares unsettling truths about history, love, and humanity’s place in the universe, William and Charles confront mortality, destiny, and leave behind a stark warning for the future.

https://www.instagram.com/banyantreemovies

——

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EP. 1793: Craig McCourry, Kathy Wen, Grace Yan-yan Mak (The Singularity Protocol)

WILDsound

Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnpDiGCQBd4

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?
A professionally trained chef stuck in a dead-end diner job gets a shot at culinary stardom when he’s chosen as a wildcard contestant in a prestigious fine dining competition. As he rises through the ranks, he must confront his self-doubt and the truth he’s been hiding about where he comes from.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Drama, with elements of comedy and ensemble-driven storytelling.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
It fits in a space that is currently underserved. Character-driven, mid-budget stories with a clear hook.

The culinary competition world provides a built-in engine and audience familiarity, while the execution focuses on grounded, performance-driven storytelling. It is contained enough to be produced efficiently, while still offering scale through the competition setting.

It also offers strong ensemble roles, which creates multiple opportunities from a casting standpoint. From a business perspective, it is the kind of film that can travel well across festivals, streaming platforms, and word-of-mouth audiences who connect with character-first storytelling.

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EP. 1792: Screenwriter Nathan Corpus (ON THE LINE)

WILDsound

WISHFEATHER, 3min., Australia

Directed by Ying Lei Zhang

A dancer wishes to soar beyond her eternal cage. But the key can only be found from deep within herself.

https://www.instagram.com/kila_ima/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-wishfeather

EP. 1791: Filmmaker/Animator Ying Lei Zhang (WISHFEATHER)

WILDsound

STORIES FROM THE STREET, 30min., Canada
Directed by Andrea Ramolo
Filmed over the duration of a year, this documentary gives voice to a handful of currently or previously homeless Torontonians surviving the harsh realities of unaffordable housing. Within a tapestry of shared stories and experiences, the film also closely follows Brent, an older gentleman who is granted transitional shelter in a Tiny Tiny Home and eventually his very own apartment after living on the streets on and off his entire life.

https://instagram.com/byheartproductions

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EP. 1790: Filmmaker Andrea Ramolo (STORIES FROM THE STREET)

WILDsound

Watch best scene reading: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/crime-mystery-festival-best-scene-flight-17-by-richard-geiwitz-interview

After surviving what seems to be a terrorist attack on an airplane, a woman must go under the radar as she stumbles on something much larger.

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EP. 1789: Screenwriter Richard Geiwitz (FLIGHT 17)

WILDsound

Cheap$kate, 6min., USA
Directed by Calvin Catania
While a crafty detective teaches you his unique style of catching criminals, another criminal is on the run and heading down a dark alley he shouldn't be going down. In the end, someone has to pay for their crimes

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EP. 1788: Filmmaker Calvin Catania (CHEAP$KATE)

WILDsound

A DANCE AWAY, 14min., USA

Directed by Maxwell Gilbert

A Dance Away tells the story of Ava, a college dancer who breaks her ankle during a performance a few months prior. Still traumatized and scared to go back on stage, her best friend, Riley, gives her a strange necklace, which mysteriously transports her into a realm. From there, she meets three dancers who give her a dance away.

https://www.instagram.com/adanceawayshortfilm/

——

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EP. 1787: Filmmaker Maxwell Gilbert (A DANCE AWAY)

Matthew Toffolo

Watch best scene reading: https://youtu.be/IhdiRMQznCY

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?
When Lizzie Franks, a gorgeous African-American paraplegic, is fired from her job at a company she helped start and her fiance dumps her, she joins The Iron Maiden, a women-only gym to find a reason to go on. But Brandon Wickie, the brilliant, ultra-wealthy owner of the gym kidnaps her. He uses a unique nannite technology he’s invented to assemble his ideal mate from the body parts of women bodybuilders he kidnaps from his gym and he attaches Lizzie’s head to his creation. Meanwhile, Mathew Tran, a Chicago detective, is hot on Brandon’s trail as he tries to discover who has been kidnapping women bodybuilders and who killed George Johnson, the husband of one of the women and also a Chicago Detective. The movie culminates in a fight to the death between Lizzie and Brandon, both of whom have super-human strength and healing powers due to the nannites in their veins. Lizzie, in her unfamiliar body, must find a new inner strength and push herself beyond her limits to save herself and Detective Tran.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Horror/thriller

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
The simplest answer is because it will be a money-maker if it’s done right. It can be made as a low-budget horror film, which are extremely popular worldwide. It can also be produced as a high budget superhero origin story with A-list actors such as Zandaya as Lizzy Franks and Michael Cera as Brandon Wickie. It could also be the first in a series of movies following Lizzie’s adventures, it could be turned into one or a series of graphic novels, and it would make a great animated film or series.

In addition, it has a multi-racial cast of quirky characters, its heroine is uniquely different from any other superhero or female movie lead, the world of female bodybuilding is an unusual environment, and it combines humor with mystery, intense action and a bit of grisly horror, so it will keep an audience emotionally engaged and guessing about what comes next.

Finally, it explores important topics such as the danger of tech-bros with too much money (looking at you, Bezos and Musk), the dangers and benefits of AI-based technology, and female empowerment, so it’s more engaging than if it were just a whiz-bang popcorn movie.

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EP. 1786: Screenwriter Art Fox (THE BODY BUILDER)

Matthew Toffolo

I WISH I WAS A DOG, 12min., Canada
Directed by Katherine Costal
When a young woman's desire to become a true member of her favourite art club turns her into a dog, she finds the newfound relationship between her and the members poses a different kind of challenge.

https://www.instagram.com/kat_costal/

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EP. 1785: Filmmaker/Actor Katherine Costal (I WISH I WAS A DOG)

Matthew Toffolo

Final Transmission, 10min., UK
Directed by Sean Coleman
Alone aboard a crippled transport drifting through deep space, Commander Elias Walker records what will become humanity’s final message. Earth is gone, and the ship, once a vessel of hope, now carries only failure and silence. As oxygen fades, Elias begins a calm mission log, clinging to duty and procedure. But as systems die around him, the truth surfaces. He isn’t just facing his own death, he’s witnessing the extinction of mankind.

https://www.instagram.com/sean_coleman7/

——

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EP. 1784: Filmmaker Sean Coleman (FINAL TRANSMISSION)

WILDsound

CROWDED RIVER, 9min., Australia
Directed by Andrew M Sully
When Jane, a mid-career novelist racing a looming deadline, accepts a last-minute dog-sitting stay in a secluded riverside home — the perfect hideout to finish her book, or so she thinks — ordinary moments begin to feel charged with unease. The quiet quickly curdles. A stranger arrives, claiming to be ‘maintenance.’ No phone signal. A river sealed in ice. Footprints in the snow. What starts as a working retreat becomes a tightening psychological trap.

https://www.instagram.com/crowdedriver

——

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EP. 1783: Filmmaker Andrew M. Sully (CROWDED RIVER)

WIDsound

Watch the Best Scene of THE MEMORY TAX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDLcReloL8k

A 14-year-old girl with an experimental neural implant can access the entirety of human knowledge with her mind, but every ‘download’ costs her a piece of her past. While hiding in plain sight from the shadowy corporation that created her, she must decide how much of herself she is willing to forget to save the people she loves.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I would clarify that The Memory Tax is actually written as a one-hour television pilot, although I believe the concept is cinematic enough to work in a visual medium.

It should be produced because it has a strong, immediately understandable science-fiction hook with deep emotional consequences. The central idea involves a teenage girl who can access unlimited knowledge but loses her memories every time she does is both high-concept and character-driven.

The story also speaks to modern anxieties about technology, identity, artificial intelligence, medical ethics, corporate ownership, and the cost of constant access to information. But instead of telling that story through machines or institutions alone, it filters everything through a vulnerable teenage girl who simply wants to live a normal life.

That gives the project both genre appeal and emotional accessibility.

How would you describe this script in two words?
Costly knowledge.

What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
E.T. is one of the films I’ve returned to the most. I’ve always admired how it takes a science-fiction premise and grounds it in childhood, loneliness, friendship, and family. That is something I tried to bring into The Memory Tax. The genre concept matters, but the emotional experience of the child at the center matters even more.

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EP. 1782: Screenwriter Russell Babcock (THE MEMORY TAX & THE HOLMES ENIGMA)

Matthew Toffolo

REDLINING, 18min., USA

Directed by Jason Stuart

REDLINING is about a black & white family who live on the same property during the 1970s in the Georgia REDLINING era. The film explores the themes of generational wealth, prejudice, homosexuality, women’s rights and the legacy of discrimination in the American South. Who gets to live where? What happens when the parents pass? Who gets the house? And why?

https://www.instagram.com/thejasonstuart/

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EP. 1781: Filmmaker/Actor Jason Stuart (REDLINING)

Matthew ToffoloEP. 1781: Filmmaker/Actor Jason Stuart (REDLINING)