Looking to explore the behind-the-scenes world of movies?
Why not let a well-connected, in-the-know area resident be your guide?
Since launching during the latter half of COVID, Milton's Jawad Mir has taken an ever-growing base of followers on an immersive journey through the often untold stories of how many beloved films come to life – doing so via Kingdom of Dreams.
While not adverse to throwing actors into the mix, the Pakistan-born documentarian turned podcaster is more partial to showcasing lesser-known movies and/or off-camera players.
Whether it’s directing, producing, editing, writing, production design, visual effects, music composition or cinematography – if it’s part of the creative process, chances are that contribution has been represented on the podcast.
“Anything and everything behind the scenes. Whoever’s involved in making the film happen is what I’m interested in,” said Mir, who sat down for an interview after a whirlwind 19-film viewing stretch at TIFF. “I connect more in that realm.”
A venture decades in the making
While Kingdom of Dreams is still somewhat new in terms of years, in many ways it’s an extension of an original movie-loving project that began nearly three decades ago.
Enthralled with anything connected to Steven Spielberg, Mir began a fan page devoted to the famed director in 1997, during his first year of university. Ironically, it came around the same time he flunked a course on website design.
With his passion for Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and numerous other Spielberg classics far surpassing his poor class grade, the local film enthusiast launched into the Dreamworks-focused project and quickly built up a huge following.
This opened the doors to many interviews and film events. Sadly, things came to a somewhat forced conclusion with the studio’s demise.
But Mir always harboured a hope of revisiting the project.
So during Hollywood’s pandemic-induced shutdown, thoughts of a podcast took hold.
And since a successful debut with The Prince of Egypt creators Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner, Mir has done about 190 episodes – with many guests making return appearances.
Wells – a renowned animator who, among other projects, worked with Robert Zemeckis on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – has had half a dozen conversations on Kingdom of Dreams.
Podcast 'just a conversation'
Conversation being the operative word.
“Instead of saying in the subject line (for emails) interview request, I always like to say conversation podcast request. People are more comfortable with that.”
No doubt adding to that comfort level is the fact that Mir stays true to one simple rule. Don't pry into a guest's private life; let the conversation be about a specific project or the industry at large.
While diving into a myriad of topics during his 45 to 90-minute segments, Mir never heads into a chat with prepared questions. Watching the movie or TV series the morning before a ‘conversation’ is all the prep work needed.
“I think that (interviewing someone on the fly) would be challenging if I wasn’t in the industry. That knowledge kind of helps,” said the local podcast host, who counts Wells, production designer Sonja Klaus (Gladiator, X-Men First Class) and cinematographer Don Burgess (Forrest Gump) as his favourite guests to date. “I don’t want these pre-set questions in my head. I can only do it because I know what I’m talking about. It (the process) works… at least so far.”
Of course, no conversation with Mir would be complete without delving into his documentary work.
After years spent on commercials and corporate videos, he first tackled Only 78. The story follows an ultra-tiny Nova Scotian fishing village’s struggle and ultimate triumph to have an aging and decrepit seawall replaced, thus avoiding ruin and/or displacement.
Powerful storytelling
He followed that up with simultaneous projects Citizen of Moria and In Search of My Sister, even more powerful films that met with many nerve-wracking moments and plenty of controversy.
That was hardly surprising, given the subject matter.
Citizen of Moria tells of Afghan filmmaker Ahmad Ebrahimi, who fled from the Taliban – leaving his pregnant wife behind – and wound up in Europe’s worst detention centre.
Equally intense, In Search of My Sister explores activist Rushan Abbas, who fought to expose the plight of Uyghurs (Muslims) in China while seeking the truth of her sister’s disappearance.
Both projects involved secret filming, while Mir and his crew were once detained by Turkish police for several hours after shooting outside the Chinese consulate. Countless questions and anxious moments later, they were finally cleared to leave.
Mir and company were also followed by unknown persons at times, while – naturally – In Search of My Sister is banned in China.
“I was never worried about the backlash; people always have opinions. But was I afraid of what that may do in terms of life, and you know fear of life and being threatened? Sure,” he admitted.
Intent on continuing his heavy subject documentary theme – but now from a fictional lens – Mir is in the pre-production stage of Whispers in Time, which centres on two individuals amid the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kingdom of Dreams a passion project
As engrossing as these projects are, Mir seems to have ample time – or at least enthusiasm – to devote to Kingdom of Dreams, which he hopes offers film die-hards something a little different.
“It’s more about trying to tell behind-the-scenes stories of film that have shaped a lot of people. There are so many stories of each film from each perspective.
“Actors get all the limelight, but these people are the people who are making these films and series happen, and they need to be recognized, not just in terms of their behind-the-scenes stories but also who they are as human beings. They’re not celebrity gods, they’re just people like you and I.”
