WILDsound's The Film Podcast

Film Festival, film and television, filmmaking, Film of the DayMatthew ToffoloNovember 12, 2024Sophie Power, Michelene Mallard Billy, TENDU short film, Matthew Toffolo, filmmaker, under 5 minute festival, film

EP. 1350 - Filmmaker Moumita Das (CHRISTMAS CREW)

CHRISTMAS CREW, 7min., Canada
Directed by Moumita Das
“Christmas Crew – A Story About Collective Kindness” is a heartwarming documentary that follows the inspiring journey of John and Junie White, affectionately known as the Christmas Crew. What began as a simple act of generosity in their living room has blossomed into a remarkable community tradition, transforming the lives of many in Cape Breton’s Sydney and Glace Bay areas.

https://www.facebook.com/dasmoumita

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I am always drawn to human interest stories. They captivate me because of their realness, and I find immense joy in discovering and sharing the stories of real-life heroes. By pure coincidence, I came across the Christmas Crew, a group of kind-hearted people who spread joy during the holiday season by providing turkey dinners to those in need. Their generosity and compassion inspired me to create a film that would tell their story and share it with the world.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talk about your film in the feedback video?

The audience feedback was invaluable. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to watch and review my film. I was overjoyed that they appreciated my work, and winning the Best Human Interest Film award, as chosen by the audience, was a truly humbling experience.

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Film Festival, Film of the Day, filmmaking, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloNovember 8, 2024Moumita Das, documentary short film, CHRISTMAS CREW, film, Matthew Toffolo

EP. 1327 - Filmmaker Vanessa Mariveles (ECHOES OF DREAMS)

ECHOES OF DREAMS, 84min., USA
Directed by Vanessa Mariveles
Reyna, a struggling DJ in Silicon Valley, has to pivot her career in order to survive. Having the worst year ever, she is forced to join the “gig economy” so she can pay rent while living with her pushy mother. While dating women for the first time, she finds herself in comical situations. Through determination, self-discovery, and the power of faith, Reyna learns to overcome adversity and finds her true calling and love.

http://marivelesproductions.com/
https://instagram.com/mariveles.productions

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated me to make Echoes of Dreams was wanting to tell an underdog story mixed with romance and comedy since those are my favorite genres. I wanted to write something quickly and get it made in 2023 so I decided to tell my own story.

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film and television, Film Festival, Film of the Day, filmmaking, Independent Film, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloOctober 7, 2024Vanessa Mariveles (ECHOES OF DREAMS), Matthew Toffolo, filmmaker, documentary, film

EP. 1319 - Writer/Actor Paul Pecorino & Director Drue Pennella (THE DESTRUCTION OF JANE)

THE DESTRUCTION OF JANE, 12min,. USA
Directed by Drue Pennella
The Destruction of Jane is a campy, over the top, erotic, outrageous comedy which follows Miss Jane Parker to the African Jungle where it all began. Witness Tarzan and Jane’s first encounter, in what now has become a rather heralded expedition in the African Jungle, and one of our greatest love stories.

http://www.youtube.com/@thedestructionofjane9756
https://www.instagram.com/destructionofjane

Get to know Writer/Actor Paul Pecorino:

A1: I was motivated by an unstoppable combination of caffeine, an overactive imagination, and a jungle of weeds in my backyard that screamed “cinematic masterpiece.” I thought, why not turn my backyard chaos into a hilarious, campy adventure? Plus, playing both a gorilla and a damsel in distress was just too good to pass up.

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Comedy, Film of the Day, filmmaking, Independent Film, LGBT, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloAugust 27, 2024Paul Pecorino, Drue Pennella, THE DESTRUCTION OF JANE, lgbtq film festival, Comedy, filmmaker, film

EP. 1316 - Filmmaker Rachel Nemez (PIPPY AND THE TYPIST)

PIPPY AND THE TYPIST, 5min., USA
Directed by Rachel Nemez
Our protagonist, Pippy, discovers that a magical typewriter controls the events happening down below.

https://rachelnemez.com/
https://www.instagram.com/rachelnemez/

Get to know the filmmaker:

My studiomates and thesis friends single handedly kept me going. I was going a little bit crazy at the beginning of the process, and I think the fact that I just wasn’t alone in a studio made all the difference. There were three of us in our studio sharing the space, and it was really awesome to be able to just pop in and chat for a bit and then go back to your separate working stations.

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filmmaking, Focus Puller, Film of the Day, Independent FilmMatthew ToffoloAugust 27, 2024PIPPY AND THE TYPIST, Rachel Nemez, filmmaker, Matthew Toffolo, film

EP. 1315 - Filmmaker Nekia Wright (AFROLISTIC: BLACK HEALING FROM ZIMBABWE TO THE BAY)

AFROLISTIC: BLACK HEALING FROM ZIMBABWE TO THE BAY, 22min., USA
Directed by Nekia Wright, Shylet Ndarambwa
Black American healer shares about her practice and explores traditional healing, music, and dance in Zimbabwe.

Get to know filmmaker Nekia Wright:

I traveled to Zimbabwe in 2021 to study traditional healing and prepare for the Liberated Learning Teacher Fellowship. The trip had a profound impact on me and I wanted to share this experience with other Black folx. Especially those who haven’t had an opportunity to travel. I recorded entirely on my phone during that trip and began sharing clips during my community performances and sound baths. One audience member was so touched by this one clip from the Binga region that she began weeping. This was the final affirmation for me.

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film and television, Film Festival, Film of the Day, filmmaking, Independent Film, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloAugust 27, 2024AFROLISTIC: BLACK HEALING FROM ZIMBABWE TO THE BAY, Nekia Wright, filmmaker, Matthew Toffolo, film

EP. 1314 - Filmmaker Lefteris Parasyris (RUINS WITHIN RUINS)

RUINS WITHIN RUINS, 9min., Greece
Directed by Lefteris Parasyris
A group of dancers positions themselves between the ancient and modern ruins of the island of Crete, Greece. Drawing inspiration from its rich heritage, they craft a series of kinetic forms and patterns influenced by folk dances and Minoan frescoes. These installations, whether harmonising with or contrasting against the island’s culture, offer reflections on historical memory and the Cretan identity.

https://www.instagram.com/lefteris.parasyris/

Get to know the filmmaker:

This film was a tribute to the island of Crete and its complex identity. It started as a photographic project but I quickly realised that these beautiful but peculiar locations would be the perfect “character” in a dance film.

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Film Festival, Film of the Day, film and television, Independent Film, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloAugust 27, 2024Lefteris Parasyris (RUINS WITHIN RUINS), Matthew Toffolo, filmmaker, film

EP. 1312 - Filmmaker JM Balbuena (ROLL UP FOR EQUITY)

ROLL UP FOR EQUITY, 31min., USA
Directed by JM Balbuena
“Roll Up for Equity” is a short documentary that exposes San Diego’s struggle for social equity within its regulated cannabis industry, highlighting passionate local advocates pushing for accountability and change in America’s Finest City.

https://jmbalbuena.com/multimedia/
https://www.instagram.com/_jmbalbuena/

Get to know the filmmaker:
My motivation for this project arose from a deep-seated belief in the power of storytelling to ignite change, foster understanding, and bridge divides. As a filmmaker, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of film, and I’m compelled to leverage this medium to spotlight the critical issue of social equity in the cannabis sector—a realm where disparities and barriers persistently shadow the promise of progress and inclusivity.

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film and television, Film Festival, filmmakingMatthew ToffoloAugust 26, 2024ROLL UP FOR EQUITY, JM Balbuena, filmmaker, film, Matthew Toffolo

EP. 1309 - Director Dan Herz & Star Elizabeth Dunne (SAVING THE ELWHA RIVER’S LEGACY FORESTS)

LAST STAND: SAVING THE ELWHA RIVER’S LEGACY FORESTS, 23min., USA
Directed by Dan Herz
When a large, ecologically sensitive legacy forest in the heart of the Elwha River Watershed was identified for harvest, the Earth Law Center, Keystone Species Alliance, and Center for Whale Research began using all legal means possible against the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in an attempt to halt the impending clear-cut. Through breathtaking cinematography and intimate interviews, witness the profound beauty and ecological significance of the watershed, as well as the dire consequences of unchecked deforestation.

Get to know director Dan Herz & Star Elizabeth Dunne

Dan: I met a woman named, Missy Lahren, at an event in San Francisco and she told me about the legacy forests up in Washington state and how she and the law firm where she worked – Earth Law Center, were trying to prevent the state from auctioning off legacy forests for timber harvest. After she explained about the Elwha River, the undamming, the healing of the watershed, the salmon coming back, etc., and how logging could damage the watershed, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove the dams, I felt that it was a story that needed to be told.

Elizabeth: I want people to understand the imminent risk to our last remaining older legacy forests in the Elwha Watershed and Washington state, and really throughout the Cascadia Bioregion. My hope is that through watching the film people will understand what is happening to our forests and why it is important; that they will take action – including by voting for Dave Upthegrove, who was featured in the film, to be the next WA Public Lands Commissioner; and will feel empowered to bring people together in their own communities to protect the places they love.

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Directing, Documentary FilmMatthew ToffoloAugust 26, 2024SAVING THE ELWHA RIVER’S LEGACY FORESTS, Elizabeth Dunne, Dan Herz, Matthew Toffolo, filmmaker, documetnary, film

EP. 1305 - Filmmaker Jana Sturmheit (MITOTE – SMOKEY MIRROR)

MITOTE – SMOKEY MIRROR, 9min,. South Korea
Directed by Jana Sturmheit
In today’s world us humans have developed a complex social system of rules and expectations. Children are taught from the day they are born on how they are expected to behave. They are told what is right and wrong, what is possible and what not. That is, by the standards of the children’s parents and other people in their surroundings, in other words the society they grow up in.

https://instagram.com/jaystorm24.mov

Get to know the filmmaker:
It was not a graduate requirement to make a film in my department of video content design, but I felt like it would be the perfect opportunity to create my first work as director and choreographer. I have choreographed stage performances before but never a video and I wanted to portray the vision that I had inspired by the opening excerpt from the book “The Four Agreements” by Miguel Ruiz talking about Mitote – the smokey mirror.
When I have a dance vision, it plays like a movie in my head, rather than a stage performance. Often I find dance visuals intensely focused on the movement rather than the cinematic aesthetics and depth that different camera angles, movement and shot size and cuts add on the final film. I find one of the decisive factors are the intimate closeness that you can create through a camera that is impossible in a stage performance. A second factor is that the camera can move in between the dancers, which a spectator of a stage performance can’t either in most cases.

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Directing, Documentary Film, film and television, Film Festival, filmmaking, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloAugust 16, 2024MITOTE – SMOKEY MIRROR, Jana Sturmheit, filmmaker, documentary, film, wildsound

EP. 1304 - Filmmaker Rita Hencke (SALT IN THEIR VEINS)

SALT IN THEIR VEINS, 16min,. Australia
Directed by Rita Hencke
East Indonesia. Communities of sea people live a life that ties them closely to the marine environment. They are known as Bajo, descendants of former sea nomads who were once roaming the ocean to fish and trade.

https://www.ritahencke.com/film

Get to know the filmmaker:

The inspiration for “Salt in their Veins” came from my passion for freediving. I was captivated by the extraordinary diving and spearfishing skills of the Bajo sea people. During my visit to one of their remote communities in Indonesia a few years ago, I saw how their lives are being transformed by modern influences. This experience motivated me to capture the contrast between their traditional and modern fishing practices.

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Environmental, Documentary Film, Film Festival, filmmaking, Independent FilmMatthew ToffoloAugust 16, 2024Rita Hencke (SALT IN THEIR VEINS), filmmaker, Matthew Toffolo, documentary, film, wildsound

EP. 1293 - Filmmaker Jerrod D. Brito (HORNED)

HORNED, 4min,. USA
Directed by Jerrod D Brito
When a cocky cam boy jokingly live-streams a creepypasta dare, he inadvertently summons an ancient demon who craves more than just his soul.

Get to know the filmmaker:

Funny story. I attended Dan Savage’s HUMP Film Festival, a traveling film fest that features short films of an adult nature, and though they had many diverse films, I didn’t see any strictly horror movies. I felt there might be an opportunity there, so I tried to come up with a way to merge horror—my signature genre—with sex. I just started jotting notes and tried to find a way to combine them both, but be fair to both, too, and then I added a little humor. Those were the ingredients for “Horned.” But I really wanted to make sure it stood alone as a horror story, with a beginning, middle, and end, and as much character development as I could squeeze into a short in under five minutes of length. So I cut it two ways—a more explicit version for HUMP with thirty more seconds of content and a better punchline to the film (it was selected, by the way—it tours this fall), and the somewhat censored version we were lucky enough to screen at Horror Underground.

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Directing, film and television, Film Festival, filmmaking, Horror, Independent Film, Matthew ToffoloMatthew ToffoloAugust 7, 2024Jerrod D. Brito (HORNED), filmmaker, horror underground festival, Matthew Toffolo, film

EP. 1237 - Writer/Performers Gica Pucca and Constantin Augustinus Sieve (SAUDADE)

SAUDADE, 6min., USA
Directed by Josie Hull
A dancer faces a ghost of her past and has to come out victorious to find her true self once again.

https://www.instagram.com/josie__hull/

Get to know writer/performers Gica Pucca and Constantin Augustinus Sieve:

GICA: One night I was going through my drawer and I found a love letter from a past relationship. After reading all those words, my heart was divided in two. A part that wanted all those memories again and the other, that knew this was not quite possible. Maybe this is what old love letters do to you. I brought it to Constantin and said “I need to make a movie about this so I can understand this feeling.”

CONSTANTIN: I was curious to see how the emotional and intention of a love letter would express itself visually and physically. I couldn’t stop thinking about a duet between a girl and a ghost.

GICA: And then, we decided to explore how to navigate the rite of passage that follows the end of a love story, and give a name to the love that remains from it.

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