On the podcast, Alex Heeney delves into Bretten Hannam’s At the Place of Ghosts and interviews them about it. Alex digs into how the film uses genre to tell a story about two people healing from trauma who can’t talk about it — and then talks to writer-director Hannam about crafting the film.
A podcast deep dive into Bretten Hannam’s At the Place of Ghosts followedby an interview with Hannam
How do you tell a story about two siblings processing a shared childhood trauma when they can’t talk about what happened?
In this episode of the podcast, Alex explores how At the Place of Ghosts uses horror elements to make trauma visible, to connect personal memory to larger histories, and to imagine healing through relationships with family, ancestors, and the land.
Alex and Bretten discuss Indigenous storytelling traditions, genre as a translation tool, visual language, sound design, and the challenges of creating a film where past, present, and future coexist.
Bretten Hannam is a Two-Spirit L’nu filmmaker living in Kespukwitk, Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia) where they were raised.
This podcast interview with Bretten Hannam about At the Place of Ghosts was arranged by San Francisco’s Frameline Film Festival, the oldest LGBTQ+ festival in North America, to support the film’s screening earlier this month. The film will be rolling out to more US festivals and US cinemas in the coming months. It is already available on VOD in Canada.
Curious about joining my next film program?
I only run a few programs each year, and they’re all limited enrollment.
To be the first to hear about the next one and get first dibs on a seat:
Podcast Credits
Alex Heeney edited, produced, and recorded the episode.
Follow Seventh Row on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter. Read our articles at seventh-row.com.
Follow Alex Heeney on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter.
An AI-generated transcript for the episode is available on Apple Podcasts.
