July Talk: Love Lives Here – Hot Docs 2023

April 27 to May 7, 2023

Film Info

FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Docs Hot Docs 2023

PROGRAMME
Canadian Spectrum Competition

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The indie rock band July Talk puts on a concert at a drive-in during the COVID-19 pandemic in July Talk: Love Lives Here. The band July Talk, led by Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, is forced to cancel their upcoming tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a contingency, the band plans to perform a series of shows at the Stardust Drive-In in East Gwillimbury, north of Toronto, where the performance on the stage in the centre would be simulcast on the drive-in’s three movie screens.

July Talk: Love Lives Here Synopsis

July Talk: Love Lives Here is a documentary directed by Brittany Farhat. It follows the indie rock band July Talk as they prepare to put on one of the only concerts during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film follows the band members as they prepare for their drive-in concerts in August 2020, with co-lead singer Peter Dreimanis also having to deal with a sudden diagnosis of diabetes. With their album “Pray for It,” created with the feeling of the world ending, performing a concert during the pandemic almost seem serendipitous.

My Thoughts on July Talk: Love Lives Here

Filmed in black and white, July Talk: Love Lives Here is partly a concert film depicting select performances from the drive-in shows while also providing a biography of July Talk as a band, including the fact how Peter Dreimanis used his day job as a music video producer for other bands to get July Talk’s earliest videos shot. Performing a concert in a drive-in during a pandemic was undoubtedly an ambitious undertaking, one of the key moments in the documentary being Leah Fay Goldstein putting on a mask and coming off stage to create the fans in their cars. While ultimately little more than a gussied-up performance film, July Talk: Love Lives Here documents one unique concert.

Trailer for July Talk: Love Lives Here – Hot Docs 2023