When Darren and Sasha learn they are about to become parents, they celebrate with a romantic weekend in the countryside. | dG1fQnIzZ1U5VGZ1SEk
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Short filmTranscript
00:00What was supposed to be a romantic getaway for an expecting couple turns into a deadly
00:27night of survival.
00:28Isn't that how it always goes?
00:29No, it's not.
00:30That's not normal.
00:31It's welcome.
00:32It's a new psychological thriller premiering at the Toronto Black Film Festival this week
00:36and joining us right now, the director and lead actor of the film, gentlemen, welcome
00:40Emidio and Javon.
00:41Appreciate you being here.
00:42Congratulations.
00:45Appreciate that.
00:46I know this is a labor of love for many years.
00:47And this is your first feature film that you've directed and written as well.
00:53Tell us about a little more of the background of this story.
00:55Well, the background of the story is just how it came about.
00:59Well, it was during COVID and we were actually watching, we were watching Malcolm and Marie
01:06and it was just the setting of it was just so unique.
01:09It was one location.
01:10There wasn't much to it.
01:11It was very minimalistic.
01:13And we were discovering, we were trying to think about what we should do next.
01:17And he kind of came up with the idea of saying, why don't we just do something like that?
01:21Yeah.
01:22But then I kind of just put my own little twist on it.
01:23And the twist on it is fire, man, because it is really well done.
01:27You have four main cast right there.
01:29Emidio, you kind of lead this and, you know, you and your partner in this are the ones
01:33that are going through this, this weird journey and this scary situation.
01:38Talk about working with this team and kind of in this environment, which is kind of almost
01:41in one setting.
01:42Yeah.
01:43Well, I've worked with Javon many times.
01:47So this collaboration that we have is something special and there's just a creativity that
01:53we can build that's so effortless.
01:56We actually, I ended up staying at the house.
01:58Yeah.
01:59Does that, okay.
02:00So because, you know, when we see it in here, it's kind of creepy with some of the stuff.
02:03Does that add to, you know, kind of the character and add to you preparing for it?
02:10Does it help in that way?
02:11Most definitely.
02:12Yeah.
02:13I think it's all energy and being around the environment and the whole thing takes place
02:20in one day.
02:21Yeah.
02:23I'm staying there in the morning.
02:24I'm staying there at night.
02:26It's all kind of reflective to what he's dealing with, per se.
02:32Yeah.
02:33And again, the rest of your cast is great.
02:34I know Emmanuel Kabongo really well.
02:36We played some basketball against each other.
02:37He does a nice charity thing around the film festival time and played in that.
02:42This is a tight group that you guys have worked with before.
02:44Telling stories like this, which is a universal story, but being able to bring a cast that
02:50looks like this as well.
02:51How important is it to be able to tell these stories in that way?
02:54I think it's really important to try and push the boundaries and tell the stories that people
02:58are maybe too afraid to talk about.
03:01You know what I mean?
03:02Just the subject matter.
03:03It comes off as your traditional thriller movie, but the messaging in it and the story
03:10in it is a lot deeper.
03:12And I think it's really important to kind of jump outside of the scope of what you're
03:17used to and talk about the things that people may be going through and maybe be too afraid
03:22to speak about.
03:23Yeah, because it is.
03:24It is, again, we're talking about universal story.
03:26You have a couple that's expecting, talking about relationships, you're talking about
03:29trust in that, and then you're talking about bad relationships and domestic issues and
03:35things like that as well, right?
03:37Yeah.
03:38There's a lot going on with this one.
03:40It's premiering again at the Toronto Black Film Festival this week.
03:42To be able to do this, because I know you guys had a chance to put this at the TIFF
03:45Lightbox last year.
03:47You've had a chance to really share it with friends and family, to take it to the next
03:50level in this way.
03:51What has that been like for you?
03:53Special, man.
03:55I'm just so excited for Javon.
03:57Him and his team are some of the best people to work with.
04:05The moment that they get a little bit more bread, it's going to be a problem.
04:11I've seen the growth of it.
04:12You guys started doing short features together, short films in that way.
04:15And those projects, and now it's developed into this.
04:16So congratulations to both of you, you and your team as well.
04:19Dark Wolf Pictures is where you can go, darkwolfpictures.com.
04:23If you want to grab tickets for the screening, it's happening tomorrow at the Carlton Cinema.
04:26The film is called Welcome.
04:27I got a chance to watch it yesterday.
04:29It's a great film, man.
04:30On a cloudy afternoon, when I'm thinking it's going to snow in a little bit, it was one
04:34of those.
04:35I got into the vibe with it.
04:36So congrats again, guys.
04:38Thank you so much for stopping by and joining us.
04:39Thanks for having us.
04:40No problem, man.