July Talk needed in Toronto @Hot Docs 2023

The Toronto music scene is not the same and was already going down the tubes even before the pandemic. We were once a vibrant city when it came to music. Despite the cold weather in the winter season, many artists loved coming to Toronto to perform. The lack of venues to produce that proper sound to the audience has become difficult. The Horseshoe Tavern and Lee’s Palace may still be around. But those days that we were close to cities like Nashville and Austin are pretty much dead in the water. The condo development talk and the gentrification of Toronto residents to other parts of this continent became a trendy thing. Less people were going to shows.

When the pandemic hit, people could not gather at concerts, clubs and even bars. It forced bands like Toronto’s own July Talk to take a breather from their high-energy shows. But not even a pandemic can make this band led by Leah Fay and Peter Dreimanis stay down. The two conjured up the idea of having a concert at the Stardust Drive-In in Newmarket, Ontario in August 2020. When the word got out about the event, director Brittany Farhat was the chosen one to document this important event. This event will forever be important to the music industry, political realms and the social fabric.

Keeping the Music Alive

July Talk: Love Lives Here is a documentary that leads up to this groundbreaking event. It’s an intimate portrait of the band who had all this pent-up energy ready to be released to their fans. The film has never been seen before footage that catches the true character of this band in a time of crisis. Where many bands called it quits during the pandemic, July Talk rather took things to the next level. They became creative in organizing this event while keeping themselves and others safe from COVID-19.

July Talk: Love Listen Learn shows this band’s true love for music in a difficult time for the industry. FERNTV believes that we owe it to bands like July Talk for persevering through the pandemic in keeping the music industry alive. Especially in the present non-breeding ground of Toronto.

This film will show that music keeps people alive and well and there is no better medicine out there. It is an unknown fight that July Talk, director Brittany Farhat and the rest of the music industry are trying to beat. It’s a fight to prevent from being shut down. It’s as simple as that and we should never come close to that ever again.

Please click below for a FERNTV interview with director Brittany Farhat