I'm reunited with two documentary filmmakers today. I first interviewed director Laurie Townshend (A Mother Apart) along with her subject Staceyann Chin last year at Hot Docs. In this chat, the spotlight is on Laurie's journey as a filmmaker, the travels of her documentary, and the role of mothering.

A Mother Apart follows the journey of award-winning poet and performance artist Staceyann Chin as she looks for answers about her mother who abandoned her as a child. The film captures the healing power of radical motherhood, as we watch Staceyann confront the painful abandonment of her childhood while trying to mother differently, with her young and outspoken daughter, Zuri. Staceyann Chin dares to redefine motherhood for herself as her young daughter Zuri finds her own voice on a journey that takes them from Canada to Europe, to the US then Jamaica.

The film will stream on CBC Gem and the NFB's free app.

After six years, Megan Wennberg and I catch up about her latest documentary 'Dances with Cranes' for CBC's The Nature of Things. I last spoke with Megan in 2019 about her doc 'Drag Kids.'

Award-winning filmmaker Megan Wennberg (Unsyncable, 2023) captures the remarkable recovery of Whooping Cranes from the brink of extinction in Dances with Cranes. Joined by renowned conservation scientist and fellow Nova Scotian George Archibald, Wennberg follows this incredible story from the early days, when Archibald spent years ‘dancing’ with a female whooping crane named Tex, in hopes he could get her to reproduce. Dances with Cranes premieres on CBC’s The Nature of Things, Thursday, March 13 at 9 pm (9:30 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.