The YVR Screen Scene Podcast Sabrina Furminger

Actress Loretta Walsh (When Calls The Heart) returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to discuss The Lifespan of a Fact, the based-on-real-life play that she’s producing and starring in this month at Studio 16 in Vancouver. The Lifespan of a Fact tells the story of a fresh-out-of-Harvard fact checker for a prominent but sinking New York magazine, a talented writer with a transcendent essay about a high stakes event concerning a teenage boy, and a magazine editor-in-chief who needs to balance truth and art with the unsentimental realities of the magazine business. The Lifespan of a Fact is funny but, given how it holds up a mirror to our culture’s current fascination with bending lies into “alternative facts,” it’s also terrifyingly timely. As Emily the editor-in-chief, our dear Loretta shares the stage with longtime collaborator Ben Immanuel and Tal Shulman from So Help Me Todd, under the direction of renowned theatre artist Jennifer Clement. The Lifespan of a Fact runs May 2nd to the 12th at Studio 16, and the May 8 performance will feature a post-show Q & A with the cast, director, and special guests. And that’s not all: Loretta can currently be seen in season 11 of Hallmark Channel’s wildly popular When Calls the Heart, which kicked off its latest season on April 7. In this compelling and at times emotional interview, Loretta talks about The Lifespan of a Fact, how When Calls The Heart’s Florence has changed since season one, acting opposite Hrothgar Mathews, and the ways that theatre can soothe a broken heart. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

In this DOXA Documentary Film Festival double-header, Sabrina Rani Furminger speaks with two filmmakers whose films are featured in the 2024 edition of the popular fest. Up first is Rachel Epstein, the filmmaker behind The Anarchist Lunch. The film is the story of a lunch – or rather, 35 years of lunches enjoyed each week by a group of ardent leftists who congregated in a Vancouver Chinese restaurant to discuss the important topics of the moment. Among them is Rachel’s father, Norman. The Anarchist Lunch follows these revolutionaries over a period of several years, through the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and during the unfolding of resonant global events. As some members struggle with personal health issues, Rachel’s film takes on new layers to explore the meanings of activism, camaraderie, and growing old. Next up (at timecode 26:13) is Cindy Mochizuki, whose film Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama re-introduces viewers to the famed Vancouver photographer and activist who passed away in 2018. Tamio spent several years of his childhood in an internment camp, after being held with thousands of other forcibly displaced Japanese Canadians in cruel and dehumanizing conditions at Hastings Park – and after the internment ended in 1946, Tamio and his family moved to Chatham, Ontario, once the terminus for the Underground Railroad. And that remarkable beginning is only just that: the beginning of Tamio’s remarkable life as a photographer and activist. In these two fascinating conversations, the documentarians discuss legacy, activism, and the joys and challenges of fact-based filmmaking. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Jennifer Spence (Travelers, Continuum) returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about her leading role in The Trades, a new half-hour single-camera comedy series on Crave. Set in a blue-collar community where the high stress of working in a refinery are balanced by the comedic high-wire antics of its plant workers, The Trades centres around Todd (played by Robb Wells, AKA Ricky from The Trailer Park Boys), a pipefitter, and his sister and roommate, Audrey (Moonshine), who follows in her big brother’s footsteps pursuing a career in the trades as a carpenter. Jennifer plays (and shines as) Chelsea, an ambitious young executive from head office who arrives in town, announces she’s the new site manager, and immediately sets about making changes. At its heart, the eight-part comedy series – which is produced by Trailer Park Boys Inc and Kontent Use Productions for Crave – is a love letter to skilled trade workers, written with grit, humour, and heart. In this entertaining and fascinating episode, Jennifer talks The Trades, dick jokes, welding, East Coast vibes versus West Coast vibes, and naughty parade floats. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

When Natasha Burnett and Viv Leacock work together, something special happens. Natasha and Viv play Minnie and Joseph Canfield on When Calls the Heart. The first Black family to feature prominently on When Calls the Heart, the Canfields arrived in Hope Valley a few seasons back and quickly became touchstones for many of the town’s residents. Natasha and Viv are fun to watch, and they look like they’re having fun working together. This fun can be seen in Legend of the Lost Locket, a film that is at once a rom-com and a mystery that spans the centuries. Natasha is Amelia, an antiques dealer from England desperate to complete the quest her late mother started to reunite two halves of a legendary locket. Amelia’s quest takes her to America, to a sleepy town on the eve of its 200th anniversary, and straight into the path of the town’s Sheriff, Marcus, played by Viv. Legend of the Lost Locket is currently streaming on Hallmark Movies Now, and will have its Hallmark Channel premiere on Saturday, April 13. In this fascinating conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Natasha and Viv reflect on their journey to this moment, lost lockets, what to expect for Minnie and Joseph in season 11, what Peter DeLuise said that helped them make sense of the Canfields’ presence in Hope Valley, their shared love of Columbo, and what it is that makes their collaboration work. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

The award-winning documentary feature Union Street chronicles the ongoing effects of racism, displacement, and the cultural erasure of African-Canadians in Vancouver. Before systemic and political mechanisms destroyed Hogan’s Alley – the historic Black neighbourhood located on Union Street – in the 1970s, the area was the home of train porters, speakeasies, juke joints, and a thriving community, and a regular touring stop for iconic musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald. The reverberations of this thriving community and its intentional and egregious erasure are still felt – and in the face of adversity, a new generation of Black Vancouverites is working tirelessly to rebuild community and facilitate Black joy.

Union Street elevates and amplifies the voices of Black Vancouverites who have decided to create their own spaces. It examines how community spaces can help people heal from racism-related trauma, which is especially important in a city where the powers-that-be actively worked to erase you. Union Street was an official selection of the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival and the 2023 Reelworld Film Festival, where Jamila Pomeroy, the film’s director, won the award for Outstanding Director for a Feature Film. The film is now available on Telus Optik TV Channel 8 and the Telus Originals website. Jamila joins Sabrina Rani Furminger to talk about the past, present, and future of Vancouver’s Black community, and how what happened when she tried to organize a party on Union Street speaks volumes about the barriers that exist today. 

Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Meredith Hama-Brown is the force behind Seagrass, one of the most talked-about feature film directorial debuts to come out of Western Canada in recent memory. Seagrass is the story of a family falling apart. Ally Maki stars as Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman who brings her family to a self-development retreat after the recent death of her mother. When Judith and her husband befriend another interracial couple (one who seems to have the perfect marriage), Judith begins to recognize how irreparably fractured her relationship actually is. Seagrass is devastating, engrossing, and somehow at once a family drama and a ghost story and a 1990s period piece, all set against a startling Pacific North West backdrop and lovingly shot by exceptionally talented cinematographer Norm Li. Seagrass played to sold out crowds at TIFF, won the coveted International Film Critics Awards Fipresci Prize, and was selected for Canada's TIFF Top Ten showcase screening. The film had its highly anticipated North American theatrical release in February, and will be available on VOD on April 2. In this fascinating and thoughtful conversation, Meredith discusses her journey to and with Seagrass, casual racism, where Seagrass should be placed in a video store, and what comes next. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment