Coming from a background in management consulting, but having studied arts at university in Australia, Peta left her corporate career to pursue a career in film. Working on a couple of Hollywood productions as Producers Assistant, on films including “No Escape”, starring Pierce Brosnan and Owen Wilson, Peta established her own company Transcendent Media Capital with friend and Hollywood producer Andrew Pfeffer. TMC combines film, television and other media with real and measurable social and environmental impact projects. “Right to Be Forgotten” is Peta’s directorial debut.
Director Statement
Having studied art and social justice as a young adult and then building a corporate career, I decided to leave the stability of a 15 year career to pursue my dream of becoming a filmmaker and writer. Given the incredible resources we have at our hands to tell stories in such interesting ways, it occurred as odd…
A young woman confronts her past and present romantic partners. Culminating into a meditation on identity, Prey explores how one of the hardest choices one has to make is to simply put themselves first.
Prey is Vivien’s directorial film debut although she has increasingly been interested in engineering her own projects. She was a casting associate for the short film For Nonna Anna (recent recipient of a Sundance Special Jury Prize), is currently producing a short film entitled Chickens (directed by Canadian Screen Nominee Andrew Moir) and is creating her first web series, Big ART, set to shoot this summer. Her work behind the camera has a special focus on queer and female driven narratives.
As a performer, Vivien has been working well over half her life in film, television and theatre. At twelve years old she landed the series lead in BBC/ CBC co-production Shoebox Zoo for which she garnered a BAFTA Scotland nomination. Since then her work as a performer in television and film has been extensive and includes featured and recurring roles on TV shows Hemlock Grove, Copper, Murdoch…
The FEEDBACK Monthly Film Festival is back for 2018.. Our home is The Carlton Cinemas, located in the heart of downtown Toronto at 20 Carlton Street. The event runs from 7pm to 9pm.
Continuing to showcase the best of short films from around the world, while maintaining our audience feedback format moderated by Kierston Drier. Showcasing a festival twice a month in Toronto in 2018!
Tickets for 2018 are PAY WHAT YOU LIKE. Purchase your tickets online via Paypal or Credit Card. Tickets are first come first serve.
If you like to obtain seats in advance and pick them up on the day of the event (come for FREE, or make a donation), please email us at festivalevent@wildsoundfestival.com and we’ll reserve seats for you.
You can pick up the tickets on the day of the event at the cinema. Tickets are first come, first…
Full to bursting with bright color and dazzling city scapes, A PLACE IN THE CITY follows three stories of three people living with HIV in New York. Taking a dive into the personal and intimate lives of three brave individuals, we see many of the compelling issues the surround HIV- from how healthcare can innocently act to isolate the person living with HIV from their community, to how housing itself is a type of healthcare, to how the world of art and culture accepts artist living with HIV.
What sets A PLACE IN THE CITY apart from films of a similar nature is the tone- this is a not a heavy, stark or ominous work. It is bright, it is light, it is brimming with hope and it is nevertheless meaningful and informative. A PLACE IN THE CITY, has been excellently composed by directors Nate Lavey and Stephen Vider, and thoughtfully put together to consider the wide variety of people that can be touched by HIV. Now considered a chronic condition, HIV still holds massive stigma is society. Films like A PLACE IN THE CITY shed much needed light on the condition- and most importantly, the humanity, support and social movement behind it. A wonderful film to see.
Review by Kierston Drier
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:
A personal and intimate look at how caretaking, housing, and family intersect with experiences of HIV/AIDS today. CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!
This twenty minute documentary is a fascinating look into the world of professional online-dating profile writers. Following two different professionals who two drastically different methods, we see the ins and outs of a growing profession that targets people who want to find love online. Lisa Hoehn, takes a “gut” approach to profile ghost writing, reviewing people and tweaking what naturally feels best. She’s seen everything under the sun when it comes to online dating, from cheating lovers to terrible break ups. When she meets another online profile writer, who uses a more mathematical, data-based approach to his work, they completely clash- showing the love isn’t always easy to find- even when finding it is part of your job.
Our heroes are fascinating, engaging and loveable. The film paints an often humorous, honest and occasionally painfully familiar portrait for a vast numbers of people who have gone online to find their next partner. THE LOVE INDUSTRY is about a lot of things- our modern world, social media, niche business opportunities- but ultimately it’s about one incredible part of existence- the hurdles and rewards of meaningful human connection.
Review by Kierston Drier
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:
THE LOVE INDUSTRY, 20min., USA, LGBT/Documentary
Directed by Matt Cusimano
Lisa Hoehn has an unusual job: she makes a living ghostwriting online dating profiles for a large and diverse set of clients, eager to put their best foot forward in the labyrinthine world of social media. CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!
A seventeen minute UK film from director Monika Wilczynska, WHO I AM follows Eli, a young transgender teenager coming to terms with their identity despite their devoutly religious and unaccepting family. Facing isolation and ostracization from her family and community, Eli makes the final choice that is right for her.
It may be said that this short him has an unrealistically happy ending- that not all stories end so concretely, so completely, or so triumphantly- but WHO I AM is story about visibility in a community. Eli’s journey is about her relationship with God, and the strength is takes to acknowledge that the flaws of unacceptance are not within God or spirituality- that is a flaw that lies within humanity.
People who see themselves in Eli’s struggle may argue that not all stories end as easily as Eli’s does in WHO I AM- but our hero’s story ends, essentially, right at the beginning of the rest of her life- a life free from the judgement of those who treat her poorly for who she is. WHO I AM is an important film to see- it gives a voice to many stories that go unheard, and for that alone- go see WHO I AM.
Review by Kierston Drier
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:
A coming of age tale about Elijah, a young transgender teenager from a very religious background, who has to try to reconcile their identity with their faith and their family’s expectations of them. With the help of anti-conformist Lisbeth and their friends, Elijah learns not to compromise their own integrity in face of prejudice and adversity. CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!
A ten minute historical film about the Old South and the trails of race and freedom, MASQUERADE tells the story of a young black couple, enslaved by their master. When the master makes an advance on his male worker, the young couple decide to flee for their own safety. While the master of the house throws a masquerade ball, the couple attempt to pass as an elderly rheumatic man and his black attendant. When the wife, Ninny asks if they should run away, her husband answers “Master wants to run away to the city, so I reckon it’s normal for folks to want to run away.”
MASQUERADE is a film about “running away” and “passing”- whether passing as white or passing as heretosexual, running to the city, or running to the north, all the characters are looking for something similar- freedom. This is a film about the trapping of society and how they push us all to extremes, it is a film the ripples with tension from the first frame to the final credits. Wonderfully cast and performed, and stunning in its design and cinematography- creating a full period piece is not an easy task in a short film. MASQUERADE is dedicated to all the people who “Passed” as a way to reach freedom- and to all those who could not. It is a powerful piece worth seeing.
Review by Kierston Drier
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:
MASQUERADE, 10min., USA, LGBT/Drama
Directed by Andrew Hawkins
1848 Virginia. Slave couple Sam and Ninny execute an escape after their slave master George makes an unconscionable advance. ‘Masquerade, A Story of the Old South’ is an uncommon slave narrative, capturing the experience of both African Americans and gay people during this complicated time. CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!
This thirteen minute film from Denmark is a heartbreaking and moving story about a man in the last moments of living a lie. After a weekend spent with his friend Jesper, our hero realizes he is in love, not with his live-in girlfriend, but with his best friend. His partner is loving and doting, which makes it harder for him to reveal to her that he is gay. When he is able to do so, the situation turns messy and he leaves the apartment- to make a phone call to Jesper.
Wonderfully edited, with a style that creates the rushed sense of panic that courses through our hero, THE LAST GIRL has a searing, red-hot intensity to it. It is a strong film, with wonderful performances and keen and emotionally intelligent score. There is smoldering suffocating feeling in certain scene that accurately portrays the hero’s feelings of being trapped in his world.
A film about what happens when take the plunge and answer the call of the question “what if..?” THE LAST GIRL is an excellent, gripping film.
Review by Kierston Drier
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:
THE LAST GIRL, 13min., Denmark, LGBT/Romance
Directed by Bjarke de Koning
Life is not the same after a holiday with Jesper and there is no avoiding the truth now.CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!
This twenty-six minute documentary coming out of the USA by directors Jay Root and Todd Wiseman, BEYOND THE WALL takes a three-part look at the political crackdown on illegal immigrants and border crossings. Remarkably informative and incredibly educational and in depth for a film in only twenty-six minutes, BEYOND THE WALL breaks down the incredibly complex social and political platform of illegal immigration quickly and effectively. From explaining the social pulls like gangs and crime violence in Central America, to the drug smuggling supply and demand chain in North America, to the corporate desire for cheap, unregulated, undocumented labor in the North American employment sectors, we see how ingrained and complex the situation is really is.
BEYOND THE WALL must be highly commended for its research- it does its due diligence in researching many sides of the issue. It follows families fleeing gang violence, speaks to officials and police officers on the ground zero of Central American gang violence, talks to American ranchers who watch undocumented immigrants cross the border, and speaks to people in process of getting their documentation for citizenship, who have been exploited by the demand for undocumented laborers. A meaningful and impactful look at the gravity behind a hot-bed political issue, this is a film that goes beneath the surface and takes a look at the deeper issues that exist.
Watch BEYOND THE WALL. It is a film that will inform you, regardless of your political affiliation. For education alone it is a v
Get past the rhetoric and experience the reality of the U.S.-Mexico border. The film puts viewers into the shoes of undocumented immigrants, Border Patrol agents and a Texas borderland rancher to explore the nation’s most pressing border and immigration issues.
CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!
Review by Kierston Drier
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Festival Reviews 