In this episode, David Peck chats with magician James Alan and director James Biss about their upcoming show Mysteries and Lies at the Toronto Fringe Festival. They talk about creativity, philosophical issues surrounding truth, illusion and lived experience and explore the intersection of magic, AI, and technology and how their performance challenges perceptions of reality.

For more info about James and the show: www.jamesalan.ca

James Alan proves that magic really is for grownups. Performing for over fifteen years, he has earned a reputation for producing experiences which are “thought provoking, astonishing funny and thoroughly entertaining.” For seven years he was the star of his own shows, Magic & Martini and James Alan’s Magic Tonight, which ran weekly in Toronto with over four hundred sold out performances. His one-person show Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks was featured at the Summerworks Performance Festival. During the pandemic he crated Bring Magic Home, a live interactive online magic experience which was presented for audiences in twenty-six countries, as well as hosting and co-producing a series of virtual fundraisers that raised over $22,000 for local charities including North York General Hospital, the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and the Daily Bread Food Bank.

In addition to performing, he works with Magicana, a charitable organization with community outreach programs organizing performances for seniors and workshops for children in hospitals. His writing and original magic have been featured in the world’s largest magic periodicals, M.U.M., The Linking Ring, Genii - The Conjurer’s Magazine, Magicol and MAGIC Magazine.

James Biss is a Canadian theatrical creator, mentalism author, and director whose work blends psychological illusion, storytelling, and immersive audience experience. Over the past three decades, his original ideas and performances have been presented across five continents within the worlds of magic, mentalism, and unusual theatre. Mysteries & Lies is Biss’s fifth theatrical production, following The Demon Haunted Cottage, Mental Telepathy for Dummies, The Ghost Experience, and Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks, which he also directed. His productions are known for combining mystery, humour, audience interaction, and psychological themes in ways that challenge perception and blur the line between truth and performance. With Mysteries & Lies, James Biss continues an exploration of deception, belief, memory, and human behaviour through a theatrical experience designed to leave audiences bewildered and intrigued.

David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation.

He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

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David Peck sits down with acclaimed actors Radha Mitchell, Ioan Gruffudd, and Bianca Wallace to discuss the tense new action-thriller Seven Snipers on Face2Face. Together they explore the film’s emotional core, the psychology of survival, the lingering effects of trauma, and the complicated relationships that exist beneath the bullets and battlefield tactics. What begins as a gripping sniper thriller quickly reveals itself as a story about family, love, sacrifice, and redemption. The conversation touches on strong female characters, the realities of violence, PTSD, independent filmmaking, and why some films linger long after the credits roll. A compelling look behind the scope of one of this year’s most intense action films.

Seven Snipers brings together an impressive ensemble led by three accomplished performers whose careers span film, television, and independent cinema.

Academy Award-nominated actor Radha Mitchell leads the film as Kris Hendricks, a retired elite sniper whose carefully constructed life is shattered when a ruthless enemy from her past resurfaces. One of Australia's most respected international actors, Mitchell is known for standout performances in Pitch Black, Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, and Silent Hill. Throughout her career, she has built a reputation for portraying strong, complex, and emotionally layered characters, making her a natural fit for the heart of Seven Snipers.

Joining her is acclaimed Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, whose extensive screen career includes memorable roles in Titanic, Black Hawk Down, King Arthur, Fantastic Four, Forever, and Harrow. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Gruffudd has earned international recognition for bringing intelligence, warmth, and depth to every role. In Seven Snipers, he plays "Milk," a loyal former member of the sniper team whose courage and humanity become central to the film's emotional core. He is also the recipient of the Welsh BAFTA's Sian Phillips Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television.

Rounding out the trio is Australian actor Bianca Wallace, whose work spans feature films, television, voice acting, and producing. Originally from Queensland, Wallace first began performing as a singer before transitioning into acting, earning recognition for her award-winning work in Bloodline and other film projects. In Seven Snipers, she portrays Kaldayev, a skilled member of the elite team brought together to face an increasingly dangerous threat.

Together, Mitchell, Gruffudd, and Wallace help elevate Seven Snipers beyond a traditional action thriller, grounding its intense action in themes of loyalty, family, sacrifice, and survival.

David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation.

He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the Toronto International Film Festival, I sat down with acclaimed filmmaker Darlene Naponse to discuss her stunning new film Aki. More than a documentary, Aki is a poetic meditation on land, memory, community, and our relationship to the natural world. Together they explore narrative sovereignty, Indigenous storytelling, mining and environmental responsibility, truth and reconciliation, and the power of listening more closely—to the land, to one another, and to ourselves. Naponse reflects on how making the film transformed her as an artist and why hope, connection, and responsibility remain at the heart of her work. A thoughtful conversation about belonging, beauty, and finding our way home.

Darlene Naponse is an award-winning Anishinaabe filmmaker, writer, and community advocate from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek in Northern Ontario. Widely recognized as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Indigenous cinema, her work explores themes of land, identity, language, sovereignty, community, and the enduring relationships that connect people to place.

Over the past decade, Naponse has built an acclaimed body of work that includes the feature films Falls Around Her, Stellar, Every Emotion Costs, and Aki. Her films have screened at major festivals around the world, including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), imagineNATIVE, and the American Indian Film Festival, earning praise for their poetic visual style, emotional depth, and commitment to authentic Indigenous storytelling.

Beyond filmmaking, Naponse has spent years working in community development, governance, and nation-building initiatives within her own community. That lived experience informs much of her creative work, which often bridges personal stories with broader questions about history, reconciliation, environmental stewardship, and cultural resurgence.

Her latest film, Aki is a striking visual meditation on community, memory, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Created through a process rooted in respect, observation, and Indigenous ways of seeing, the film reflects Naponse’s ongoing commitment to narrative sovereignty and storytelling that emerges from community rather than speaking for it.

Whether working behind the camera, mentoring emerging artists, or engaging in conversations about Indigenous futures, Darlene Naponse continues to challenge audiences to look more closely, listen more carefully, and reconsider their relationship with the land and with one another.

David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation.

He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.