Canada

Filmmaker Alan Zweig reflects on life and meaning in ’15 Reasons to Live’

August 6, 2013Uncategorized15 reasons to live, Alan Zweig, Canada, CIUT, documentary, film, Hot Docs, Interview, life, meaning, Ray Robertson, The Public, toronto, Vinylkevincaners Leave a comment

For those who know his work, Toronto filmmaker Alan Zweig isn’t exactly renowned for seeing the brighter side of life. Indeed, through his previous films such as Vinyl and I Curmudgeon, he has built a reputation for exploring life’s darker aspects, including his own personal struggles and vulnerabilities.

Toronto Director Alan Zweig

It might, then, come as a surprise to some to learn of his most recent film, 15 Reasons To Live, in which he instead turns his eye to what makes life worth living; the various facets of the human experience which make our time on this planet worth holding onto and cherishing.

The film was inspired by a book of essays of the same title Why Not: 15 reasons to live, by Alan’s friend Roy Robertson. As soon as he heard the title, knew he wanted to make a film based on idea.

Based on this inspiration, the film takes the viewer through a sequence of chapters, each one adapted to one of the fifteen themes in Ray Robertson’s collection of essays Adventure, Art, Intoxication. Rather than being an abstract meditation, in the film each point is illustrated by a portrait of a person and a particular experience they have had, which brings to life the theme in question.

The portraits are both poignant and revealing, and the end result is a heartening film of meditations on the nature of life and resilience that will leave you thinking long after you’ve left the theatre.

The film premiered at Hot Docs in May, and will be coming out to Canadian theatres this October. I sat down with Alan Zweig during Hot Docs in May for our interview.

To find out more visit www.15reasonstolive.com/

Canadian Children’s Performer Fred Penner – Making a positive difference in the life of a child

May 13, 2013Uncategorizedarts funding, Canada, Canadian, CBC, CBC TV, CIUT, Culture, Down's Syndrome, Fred Penner, Fred Penner's Place, Interview, Intro, Kevin Caners, kids, Music, Musician, politics, Raffi, television, The Cat Came Back, toronto, TV, Winnipeg, Word Birdkevincaners Leave a comment

Well if you’re like me, and belong to a certain generation of Canadians, who grew up in the 80s and 90s, there’s a good chance that hearing the name Fred Penner triggers a series of fond memories from childhood. That’s because Fred Penner was the man behind Fred Penner’s place, a popular children’s television show that ran on CBC from 1985 to 1997.

Over the course of almost 1000 episodes, Fred Penner entertained his young viewers with stories, music, and words (you might remember the famous “Word Bird”) and in the process influenced an entire generation of young Canadians.

Fred Penner with The Cat Came Back

Fred Penner grew up in Winnipeg, and from a young age developed a love for music. But it was through playing songs for his younger sister Suzy, who was born with Down’s Syndrome, that he came to see music as a way to connect and make a positive difference in the life of children.

After graduating after from the University of Winnipeg, he started performing and touring around Canada both as a solo musician and as a member of various groups and acts. But it was in 1979 when he recorded His first LP of songs for children, The Cat Came Back that his career really took off. The album became hugely popular, and went on to sell more than 150,000 copies in Canada alone.

The success got him noticed by popular childhood musician Raffi, who invited Penner to tour with him around North America. And after a few years of performing both with Raffi and as a solo artist to ever increasing audiences, Penner was approached by the CBC and asked if he would be interested in developing a children’s show based around his musical performances.

And so Fred Penner’s place born, and it quickly became one of the most popular and beloved children’s shows on TV. His warmth and his obvious love for music endeared Fred Penner to a generation. And although the show was abruptly cancelled by CBC 1997, Penner never stopped believing in the importance of what he was doing, and continued performing and positively connecting with young people right up to the present.

He’s recipient of the Order of Canada and multiple Juno Awards. And when he’s not busy performing, he’s actively involved with numerous children organizations and causes. I can only imagine how thoroughly impressed my 5 year old self would be that I had the great pleasure of meeting and speaking with Fred Penner in person!

Fred Penner with Kevin Caners

Humanitarian Jean Vanier on Becoming Human and Documentary Filmmaker Liz Marshall tackles Animal Rights in Ghosts In Our Machine

March 24, 2013Uncategorizedanimal rights, animals, Becoming Human, Canada, CBC, documentary, Documentary Film, film, Film Festival, filmmaker, Finding Peace, France, Hot Docs, Humanitarian, Interview, Jean Vanier, L'arche, Liz Marshall, Massey Lecture, Philosopher, Philosophy, social justice, The Ghosts In Our Machine, The Public, toronto, vegan, veganism, vegetarianismkevincaners Leave a comment

First up on today’s show, famed Canadian philosopher, author and humanitarian, Jean Vanier, on spirituality, community, and on the philosophy of becoming human. He is the founder of L’arche, a series of supportive community with branches around the world, where those with developmental disabilities and those who come to assist them, share life together in welcoming and friendly settings that are integrated into local neighbourhoods.

To find out more about L’arche you can visit them here

Philosopher and Humanitarian Jean Vanier

And in the second half of the program, I speak with award-winning documentary filmmaker Liz Marshall on her upcoming film The Ghosts in our Machine, in which she turns her lens to how we treat animals in our modern industrial society.

Documentary Filmmaker Liz Marshall

The Ghosts in our Machine will be premiering at the 2013 Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in Toronto this May.

The Ghosts in our Machine, the upcoming documentary by Liz Marshal explores how we treat animals

To find out more about the film and to keep abreast of upcoming screenings, visit www.theghostsinourmachine.com

Journalist Doug Saunders, on ‘The Myth of the Muslim Tide’

March 24, 2013UncategorizedCanada, Doug Saunders, Immigration, Immigrats, Interview, Journalist, Muslims, Myth of the Muslin Tide, politics, The Globe and Mail, The Myth of the Muslin Tidekevincaners Leave a comment

It’s an argument that is becoming increasingly common in the mainstream media throughout the west, that immigration by Muslims is undermining the liberal and progressive values of modern democracies around the world.

But in his new book “The Myth of the Muslim Tide”, Globe and Mail journalist questions this argument. And through a compelling look into the history of other waves of immigration, and by bringing to light some compelling statistics, Doug Saunders challenges this idea that western values are being threatened by a wave of Muslim immigration, and digs deeper into the issue.

Doug Saunders, Author of The Myth of the Muslim Tide

The Myth of the Muslim Tide

To find out more about the book, or to purchase a copy, visit muslimtide.com
HyperSmash

Writer and Philosopher Mark Kingwell on Solitude and The Examined Life

March 24, 2013Uncategorizedauthor, Canada, canadian democracy, Harper's Magazine, Harpers, Interview, intrinsic, Mark Kingwell, Philosopher, Philosophy, Professor, solitude, The Globe and Mail, The Public, University of Toronto, writerkevincaners Leave a comment

This week a conversation with writer, journalist and University of Toronto Professor of Philosophy Mark Kingwell. We had a wide ranging conversation, and over the course of the hour Mark shares his thoughts and insights on topics including solitude, the importance of the intrinsic, the state of Canadian democracy, as well about some of the early influences that shaped him as he was growing up and which opened his eyes to the worlds of literature and philosophy.

Writer and Professor of Philosophy Mark Kingwell

Toronto Filmmaker Sean Wainsteim: Finding Refuge in Stories

March 22, 2013UncategorizedCanada, Canadian Film, director, filmmaker, Hey Rosetta!, Interview, lost for words, Much Music, music videos, Sean Wainsteim, The Public, tokyo police clubkevincaners Leave a comment

Filmmaker Sean Wainsteim

Sean Wainsteim is a Toronto based filmmaker who also happens to be the creative mind behind some of the most imaginative and interesting music videos to come out of Canada in the past few years for bands from Hey Rosetta! and Toyko Police Club to Hannah Georgas

I talked to Sean about the creative process, the power of a good fable and the importance of producing art that rings true.

For all of Sean Wainsteims creative work you can check him out at www.seanwainsteim.com but to get a small taste here’s a wonderfully short film he recently directed called Lost For Words

Lindsay Zier-Vogel on “Love Lettering” and Folk Musician Jeremy Fisher

March 22, 2013UncategorizedBiking, Canada, Folk, Folk Music, Jeremy Fisher, Juno, Lindsay Zier-Vogel, Love Lettering, Love Lettering Project, Mint Juleps, Project, torontokevincaners Leave a comment

Lindsay Zeir-Vogal of The Love Lettering Project

Lindsay Zier-Vogel is the creator of the very heart-warming community art initiative The Love Lettering Project.

The project is now in its 8th year, and for much of it, she alone undertook this mission to spread love. She would write love poems about the things big and small she most appreciated and enjoyed about Toronto, seal these handcrafted poems in airmail envelopes, and then place them anonymously around the city to be discovered by strangers.

This year she decided to expanded the project, and encourage other to also express their love for Toronto. So all summer long she’s been setting up booths around the city and inviting passers by to stop, take a minute to reflect about those things that they most love and appreciate about about the city, and write their own notes of affection.

Folk Musician Jeremy Fisher

Also on this show, Juno nominated folk musician Jeremy Fisher joined me to discuss his brand new (and wonderfully catchy) fifth album Mint Juleps.

It was such a pleasure to talk to Jeremy since even aside from his musical talents he is an impressively creative and adventurous person. To just give you one example, he’s biked across Canada touring and performing along the way on no less than three occasions.

He is also quite the talented film and video artist. He started out experimenting making stop-animation music videos for his own songs (such as this video for his hit song Cigarette). But soon he found himself enjoying the process so much that he now creates music videos for other artists such as Imaginary Cities and Hannah Georgas.

Here is a video of Jeremy performing an acoustic version of his song Built To Last off of Mint Juleps.

Public Intellectual John Ralston Saul on Citizenship and Democracy and “The Unconscious Civilization”

March 22, 2013Uncategorized1995, Canada, canadian politics, CBC, Citizenship, Corporatism, democracy, first nations, Globalism, Governal General, Interview, John Ralston Saul, Massey Lectures, On Equilibrium, Petro Canada, Philosopher, Philosophy, Society, toronto, Unconscious Civilization, Voltaire's Bastards, writing, youngkevincaners Leave a comment

John Ralston Saul is perhaps Canada’s best known public intellectual. He is the author of many groundbreaking works on matters of society and politics from On Equilibrium to Voltaire’s Bastards, and the book version of his 1995 CBC Massey Lecture The Unconscious Civilization received the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction.

Canadian writer and political thinker John Ralston Saul

In this episode of The Public, a full hour conversation with John Ralston Saul, on corporatism, reclaiming a sense of citizenship and his early days as a writer.

To hear other episodes of The Public, subscribe to the podcast or visit us in iTunes

Activist and Feminist Judy Rebick: On Occupy, Historic Social Movements, and Becoming A Radical

March 20, 2013UncategorizedActivist, Canada, Candian Politics, CBC radio, CIUT, democracy, Feminism, feminist, Interview, Judy Rebick, Kevin Caners, maple spring, media, Occupy Movement, Occupy This, politics, Q, Q media panel, Rabble, Rabble.ca, Radio, reproductive rights, Stephen Harper, The Public, toronto, women's rightskevincaners Leave a comment

Activist, author, and media commentator Judy Rebick

For the very first episode of The Public, a full hour interview with writer, political commentator and Q media panel member Judy Rebick.

Judy has been one of the leading progressive voices in Canada for years. She has been involved with many issues from social justice and labour rights to woman’s rights. She also is the founder of Rabble.ca, the progressive online news magazine.

She has recently published an ebook called Occupy This! which looks at the Occupy movement in a historical perspective. I spoke to Judy speaks about Occupy, the Quebec student protest movement, the state of democracy in Canada, as well as about her early transformative years traveling around the world from India to Iran, and how she started getting involved in political action.

Her new e-book Occupy This is available from Penguin Canada here.

To get each new episode, subscribe to The Public’s podcast or visit us in iTunes