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Richard Bell and Face2Face host David Peck talk his new film Brotherhood, dignity and self sacrifice, putting others before ourselves, rites of passage, real boys and toxic masculinity.

The film be will be available on the Super Channel in March 2020.

Synopsis:

Based on the harrowing true story that made newspaper headlines across North America in the 1920s, Brotherhood is a taut survival drama that feels timely and modern in this era of the very real Boy Crisis. A bristling piece of Canadian history, that is a clarion call for a return to Nature, as wonderful and lethal as it may be.

A band of teenaged boys arrive at Long Point Camp on sprawling Balsam Lake for the ultimate Canadian experience: two weeks of games, kite-making, lacrosse, sing-a-longs, marshmallow roasts, canoeing, swimming and adventure. Great War veterans, Arthur and Robert have their own approach to educating and nurturing these boys who are pugnacious with raw personalities.

Arthur and Robert set off across the lake in a thirty-foot Indian war canoe with the unofficial band of brother’s leader Waller and ten of his companions. When they encounter a freak summer storm and are capsized in the middle of the churning lake, the brotherhood’s holiday descends into a soul-shuddering fight for survival. Only four will survive.

About the Director:

Richard wrote and directed Eighteen, shot in twenty days and made with only $800, 000, it co-starred acting titans Ian McKellen and Alan Cumming, and featured a score by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. It hopscotched the world at film festivals and was broadcast on City TV and Movie Central and the Movie Network.

Bell was nominated for a Genie Award for co-writing the song “In a Heartbeat”, with composer Bramwell Tovey. Bell adapted the teen novel Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx and penned a television pilot for Brightlight Pictures, a ‘prairie noir’ based on the fleet of Russell Quant detective novels by Anthony Bidulka. Bell got his start in the industry by writing and directing the micro-budgeted indie Two Brothers. It was shot for $545.00 and went on to gross $150,000 on DVD. Richard is a graduate of Studio 58, the only conservatory-style theatre training program in Western Canada. He is an alumnus of the TIFF Talent Lab, the Praxis Centre for Screenwriters’ Screenwriting Lab, and the CFC’s Writers’ Workshop at the Whistler Film Festival.

Richard recently co-executive produced Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet for producer Kim Roberts. The film stars Cameron Monaghan, Peyton List, and Juliette Lewis.

Image Copyright: Richard Bell and Karma Film. Used with permission.

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

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

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.