Rainbow Valley on Kermode & Mayo

I am an unrepentant fan of the BBC’s Kermode & Mayo Film Review program. I have been listening to the weekly Friday podcast for as long as there have been podcasts.

During COVID times, with the film tap slowed to a dribble, the show conjured up various ways of discussing films without many new films to discuss; one such diversion was to solicit recommendations from the listenership for films best representing the states and provinces of the US and Canada.

Each week a new region was solicited for, and this week it was the 902’s chance to shine, with an invitation for films from Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

There was clearly no way I wasn’t going to send something in. My initial inclination was Rebecca Miller’s The Ballad of Jack and Rose. While the film was indeed made here, in Rock Barra, and employed many Islanders, it isn’t really a film about PEI.

A film that is about PEI, perhaps more so than any film ever made, however, is Alexis Bulman and Patrick Callbeck’s Rainbow Valley. So that was my nominee.

Listening to the episode tonight, there it was, read out across the sea!

As we were also invited to provide a culinary taste of our province, I took the opportunity to avoid the stereotypical and instead mentioned our excellent Lebanese food, which rarely gets the attention it deserves.

I’m hopeful that at least a few new people find their way to Patrick and Alexis’ film: it really is a gem.