Now Toronto

Viola Davis stars as the leader of a fierce female army from the kingdom of Dahomey, which was built on slavery. Dancer, choreographer and director Esie Mensah joins us to discuss the movie's alternate and perhaps fanciful take on history and why it is still a must see.

Comedian Dewayne Perkins and actor Antoinette Robertson tell us about heir TIFF Midnight Madness movie The Blackening, a horror comedy that lands somewhere between Scary Movie and Cabin In The Woods. The Blackening is about college friends reuniting at a cottage. But then they come across a game that forces them to test how Black they are or else … 

In a conversation between two filmmakers, Sarah Polley tells Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers about adapting Miriam Toews novel Women Talking and unpacking the implications of its conversations on justice and forgiveness.

In a special TIFF episode, Black Ice director Hubert Davis, producer Vinay Virmani and hockey player Saroya Tinker discuss the relationship between hockey and Canadian identity and what it means to be excluded from the game.

I Like Movies director Chandler Levack discusses her look back at early-2000s video store culture, the makings of a toxic film bro and how she found a sympathetic and redemptive arc for a character that had the makings of an incel.

In a TIFF special episode we have the team behind This Place,  a queer love story that stars Mohawk actor Devery Jacobs and Tamil-Canadian writer Priya Guns. Guns, co-writer and director V.T, Nayani, co-writer Golshan Abdmoulaei and producer Stephanie Sonny Hooker join us to discuss the evolution of the film, what they all brought to this story and the questions they hope audiences ask themselves after watching This Place about allyship and what it means to be colonized while benefitting from colonization.

Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs discusses co-writing season two episode four, which was directed by Danis Goulet, paying tribute to the joy in her community, how the series handles trauma and uplift and bringing her old new film This Place to TIFF.

Jo Koy joins the NOW What podcast to explain why he had to pay his own way to get comedy specials on Netflix, how his humour builds bridges between communities, why colonized people compete when it comes to religion and resurrecting Tia Carrere in his new movie Easter Sunday.

Kes The Band lead singer Kes discusses why his music breaks through in a changing soca and Carnival landscape and what to expect from IzWe at Markham Fairgrounds and J'ouvert in Toronto.

Soca royalty Nailah Blackman and her producer Anson Soverall explain what two years locked down in Trinidad looked like, how Carnival season is bouncing back hard, the new music they’ve been working on while we’ve been in our bubbles and what truly defines the soca genre.   Plus, Issa Rae and Syreeta Singleton discuss their new show Rap Sh!t, the struggles for women in rap that inspired it and what they think is so special about WAP.

Slash/Back director Nyla Innuksuk discusses her Inuit alien invasion thriller (hint: it's a metaphor for colonization) and Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow and actor Hayden Christensen talk about going from Toronto to a galaxy far, far away and the politics in Star Wars.

Loot co-creators Allan Yang and Matt Hubbard explain how their series starring Maya Rudolph searches for laughs in the wealth gap. Plus: Director X (who also has a new show tackling the wealth gap) and LeSean Harris recollect movie memories for Telefilm in an initiative to celebrate the theatrical experience.

Writer and performer Fatuma Adar discusses representing the refugee experience and the Somali-Canadian community in her moving musical Dixon Road with writer Huda Hassan and NOW What host Radheyan Simonpillai. Read more about Dixon Road, which is playing at the High Park Amphitheatre until June 19, here: https://nowtoronto.com/stage/fatuma-adar-is-reclaiming-the-narrative-on-dixon-road

Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani discusses her love of artsy foreign films, going to the same Markham high school as Hayden Christensen (aka Darth Vader) and reconnecting with her roots by playing Kamala Khan, the first Muslim superhero

Old classics are returning to the streamers: a new take on Cinderella called Sneakerella co-starring Brantford's Devyn Nekoda arrives on Disney+ and The Kids In The Hall brought a new season 27 years after the last to Prime Video Canada. Nekoda (01:00) discusses flipping the glass slippers into fancy new kicks and how we could possibly realize the dream of seeing a great Toronto dance movie. NOW's former senior film writer and podcast host Norm Wilner spoke to Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson of The Kids In The Hall (19:35) last year about how their comedy survives in a new climate.

Author Andrea Werhun and photographer Nicole Bazuin discuss expanding the sex work memoir Modern Whore with stories from a Toronto strip club and even more stunning imagery. Plus, Stephanie and Rad get into the 20th anniversary of Spider-Man, the trans joke Dave Chappelle made after being attacked on stage and reactions to a leak revealing that the US Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade. CHAPTERS (1:15) Sam Raimi's Spider-Man turns 20 Looking back at how Spider-Man broke the movies. (4:30) Dave Chappelle attacked onstage A man tackled Dave Chappelle while he was finishing off a set at the Netflix Is A Joke festival. The comedian then made another joke directed at the trans community as violence was being committed behind him. (12:55) Roe vs. Wade Steph shares a personal story reacting to a leak revealing that the US Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade, which protects people's rights to an abortion. (24:55) Spotlight Interview Author Andrea Werhun and photographer Nicole Bazuin discuss balancing seri

The Wire creator David Simon joins to discuss his new series We Own This City, the dystopia created by the war on drugs and why defunding the police may be the right thing to do in some cases. Culture writer Stephanie Hinds joins to discuss Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde; Vin Diesel and Fast & Furious director Justin Lin; Elon Musk and Twitter; Freshii and Nicaragua; Toronto and Carnival. And we introduce you to Quebec filmmaker Miryam Charles, who is showing her haunting and beautiful debut feature This House at the Hot Docs Film Festival. CHAPTERS (1:20) Elon Musk and Twitter Tesla CEO Elon Musk is tired of being owned on Twitter, so instead he’s about to own Twitter. (7:50) Freshii and Nicaragua Canadian salad chain Freshii introduces “Percy,” a digital cashier at its restaurants connecting customers to an employee in Nicaragua who makes about $3.75 an hour. (13:05) Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis Actor and director Olivia Wilde was served custody papers from her ex, Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, whi

Angelica Lisk-Hann is nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in the Best Stunt Coordination category that she had a hand in creating. Lisk-Hann joins us to discuss her journey from performing stunts on movies like AVP to becoming the first Black woman to be a stunt coordinator. She discusses the challenges in an industry that still relies on Blackface to meet demands for diversity.

Norm and NOW editor Radheyan Simonpillai talk to stars Alex Mallari Jr. and Rong Fu and co-creator Nathalie Younglai about what their new CBC Gem series Hello (Again) hopes to do for Asian-Canadian representation, and the challenges of creating a consistent performance when shooting a time-loop story out of sequence. 

NOW editor Radheyan Simonpillai talks to actor turned filmmaker turned author Sarah Polley about her new book Run Towards The Danger: Confrontations With A Body Of Memory, and how after 14 years behind the camera she’s finally thinking about getting back in front of one.