KUCI: Film School

The Anthropologist / Film School interview with Co-director Jeremy Newberger (Seth Kramer and Daniel Miller)

The Anthropologist tells the story of Katie Yegorov-Crate, a thirteen-year-old girl from Fairfax, Virginia. She is carted around the globe by her mother, noted environmental anthropologist Susie Crate. Susie studies the effects of climate change on centuries-old indigenous communities. Famed anthropologist Margaret Mead also analyzed how communities confront change, but that which results from war and modernity. Mead’s daughter Mary Catherine Bateson, now 76 and a cultural anthropologist in her own right, provides extraordinary insight into what Susie and Katie discover. Filmed over the course of five years, The Anthropologist is a meditation on change, both individual and societal. Susie and Katie work with people in Siberia, the South Pacific, the Andes, and the nearby Chesapeake Bay, who struggle to reconfigure how and where they live. In Siberia, where Susie met Katie’s father while doing research, Katie’s relatives can no longer farm on land they’ve occupied for generations. Katie’s roots are also threatened by the inhospitable soil. Uniquely revealed from their daughters’ perspectives, Mead and Crate demonstrate a fascination with how societies are forced to negotiate the disruption of their traditional ways of life, whether through encounters with the outside world or the unprecedented change wrought by melting permafrost, receding glaciers and rising tides. Co-director Jeremy Newberger stops by to talk about the rapid climate changes occurring around the world and the increasing human cost.
For news and updates go to: ironboundfilms.com/the anthropologist
facebook.com/TheAnthropologistDocumentary/
THE ANTHROPOLOGIST will have a one-week engagement beginning November 18 at Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90021, 310-478-3836. Go to: laemmle.com/films/41178

National Bird / Film School interview with Director Sonia Kennebeck

National Bird is an investigative political documentary that explores the complex issue of drone warfare from a human perspective. National Bird follows the dramatic journey of three whistleblowers who are determined to break the silence around one of the most controversial current affairs issues of our time: the secret U.S. drone war. At the center of the film are three U.S. military veterans. Plagued by guilt over participating in the killing of faceless people in foreign countries, they decide to speak out publicly, despite the possible consequences. Their stories take dramatic turns, leading one of the protagonists to Afghanistan where she learns about a horrendous incident. But her journey also gives hope for peace and redemption. National Bird gives rare insight into the U.S. drone program through the eyes of veterans and survivors, connecting their stories as never seen before in a documentary. Like previous advancements in military technology, combat drones have transformed warfare, outpacing the ability of legal and moral frameworks to adapt and address these developments. Director / producer and journalist Sonia Kennebeck joins us for a conversation on the immediate consequences, long term ramifications and potential for abuse of a technology that has not received an appropriate level of public discourse.
For news and updates go to: nationalbirdfilm.com

Peter and the Farm - Film School interview with Director Tony Stone

In Tony Stone’s latest film, Peter and the Farm, Peter Dunning is the proud proprietor of Mile Hill Farm, which sits on 187 acres in Vermont. The land's 38 harvests have seen the arrivals and departures of three wives and four children, leaving Peter with only animals and memories. The arrival of a film crew causes him to confront his history and his legacy, passing along hard-won agricultural wisdom even as he doubts the meaning of the work he is fated to perform until death. Haunted by alcoholism and regret, Peter veers between elation and despair, often suggesting to the filmmakers his own suicide as a narrative device. He is a tragedian on a stage it has taken him most of his life to build, and which now threatens to collapse from under him. Peter and The Farm sifts through the potential energy of a human life, that which is used and that which is squandered. Imbued with an aching tenderness, Tony Stone’s Peter and The Farm is both a mosaic of its singular subject’s transitory memories and reflections—however funny, tragic, or angry they may be. Director Tony Stone (Severed Ways, Out of Our Minds) joins us to talk about his beautiful, haunting and heartbreaking, film.
For news and updates go to: magpictures.com/peterandthefarm
Watch on demand magpictures.com/peterandthefarm/watch-at-home

Dog Eat Dog / Film School inteview with Director Paul Schrader

Starring Nicolas Cage and Willian DaFoe, Dog Eat Dog is the story of when three desperate ex cons are offered a job by a Mexican mob boss, they know they should refuse, but the payoff's too rich to turn down. It's enough to buy their way out of the Life and start over. All they have to do is kidnap the kid of a colleague who's ripping the mob boss off. But the abduction goes awry when the kidnappers are forced to kill an unexpected intruder who turns out to be the child's father -- the very man the mob boss intended to extort. Now unwelcome in the underworld and on the run for murder, the ex cons find themselves as the most wanted fugitives in the City of Angels. And each vows that none of them will ever go back to prison. No matter what the cost. Director, screenwriter Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Cat People, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Auto Focus, Light Sleeper) joins us totally about his latest film as well as his remarkable career in filmmaking.
For news and updates go to: facebook.com/dogeatdogfilm

The Love Witch / Film School interview with Anna Biller

Elaine, a beautiful young witch, is determined to find a man to love her. In her gothic Victorian apartment she makes spells and potions, and then picks up men and seduces them. However, her spells work too well, leaving her with a string of hapless victims. When she finally meets the man of her dreams, her desperation to be loved will drive her to the brink of insanity and murder. With a visual style that pays tribute to Technicolor thrillers of the ‘60s, THE LOVE WITCH explores female fantasy and the repercussions of pathological narcissism. Director, writer, producer, editor,, production and sound designer Anna Biller’s 35mm cult feature VIVA and her 16mm art-film shorts have screened at major film festivals and art spaces around the world, and her work has been discussed in academic cinema journals. She is known for her use of classic and outdated film genres to talk about female roles within culture, coding feminist ideas within cinematic aesthetics and visual pleasure. She joins us to talk about her latest film THE LOVE WITCH, and discuss why she made it using only traditional film processes and her interest in emulating the look and feel of classic cinema.
For news and updates go to: thelovewitch.oscilloscope.net
Director Anna Biller Productions

Behind Bayonets and Barbed Wire / Film School interview with Director Richard L. Anderson

From Oscar and Emmy winning Sound Designer Richard L. Anderson (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, Amazing Stories) and Shen Haofang comes the documentary BEHIND BAYONETS AND BARBED WIRE, Anderson’s directorial debut on the story of American POWs in World War II, who were surrendered after their heroic and hard fought defense of the Philippines. They were sent to the city of Mukden (today called Shenyang) in Chinese Manchuria by the Japanese Army, where they were condemned to spend the rest of their lives working as slave laborers in factories to produce war materials for their enemy. This is the story of these men’s fight to survive the brutal winters, disease, and even more brutal guards, while secretly resisting in any way possible. As General Jonathan Wainwright put it, they were “men locked away behind the bayonets and barbed wire of cruel jailers.” Co-director Richard L. Anderson joins us to talk about the bravery and ingenuity of American soldiers under the most dire circumstances.
http://www.behind-bayonets-and-barbed-wire.com/

All Governments Lie / Film School interview Director Fred Peabody

ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone is a timely documentary for audiences who are increasingly seeking alternatives to news media owned by large corporations. News events and journalistic trailblazers stretching over many decades are linked together to tell this important story. This film will resonate with audiences in the US and worldwide, as news media ownership increasingly falls into the hands of a few giant corporations. During this year’s election coverage, US viewers continue to get daily doses of the ever increasing corporate owned journalism passing as “breaking news.” ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE explores the legacy of I.F. Stone, widely held as the conscience of investigative journalism, whose groundbreaking reporting filled his tiny 4-page newsletter, I.F. Stone’s Weekly, from 1953 to 1971. Stone inspired many of our current reporters who are changing the face of journalism today. These brilliant journalists are featured in the film, including groundbreaking producer, host and author Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!), Glenn Greenwald (The Intercept), Jeremy Scahill (Dirty Wars/The Intercept), Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone), David Corn (Mother Jones), filmmaker Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11), The Young Turks founder and host Cenk Uygur, along with notable opinion leaders Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Chris Hedges, and Carl Bernstein. Director Fred Peabody joins us for a lively conversation on the state of today’s journalism, both the good and the vapid.
https://www.allgovernmentslie.com/film

By Sidney Lumet / Film School interview with director and producer Nancy Buirski

Film legend Sidney Lumet tells his own story in a never-before-seen interview shot in 2008. With candor, humor and grace, Lumet reveals what matters to him as an artist and as a human being. The documentary features clips from Lumet’s films – 44 films made in 50 years – including Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men, Network and Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nancy Buirski (Afternoon of a Faun, The Loving Story) combines these elements to create a portrait of one of the most accomplished, influential and socially conscious directors in the history of cinema. By Sidney Lumet reveals the network-film-posterspiritual and ethical lessons at the core of his work. First and foremost a storyteller, Lumet’s strongly moral tales capture the dilemmas and concerns of a society struggling with essentials: how does one behave to others and to oneself? By Sidney Lumet director and producer Nancy Buirski joins us for a lively conversation on Lumet’s complex and fascinating life, the relentless honesty of his work and the horrifying incident that impacted his perception of our collective humanity.
For news and updates go to: facebook.com/BySidneyLumet
News and updates for Director Nancy Buirski go to: facebook.com/nancy.buirski

Fire at Sea / Film School interview with Director Gianfranco Rosi

Fire at Sea is the first documentary to ever win the top award at the Berlin International Film Festival. It is the story of a twelve year old boy, Samuele living on an island in the Mediterranean, far away from the mainland. Like all boys of his age, he does not always enjoy going to school. He would much rather climb the rocks by the shore, play with his slingshot or mooch around the port. But his home is not like other islands. For years, it has been the destination of men, women and children trying to make the crossing from Africa in boats that are far too small and decrepit. The island is Lampedusa, which has become ground zero for the flight of refugees to Europe and a symbol of the hope and fate of hundreds of thousands of emigrants fleeing dire living conditions. These people long for peace, freedom and happiness, and yet so often only their dead bodies are pulled out of the water. Thus, every day the inhabitants of Lampedusa are bearing witness to the greatest humanitarian tragedy of our times. With tenderness and a nocturnal grandeur, Director Gianfranco Rosi creates a remarkable narrative that jolts us into a new understanding of what is really happening in the Mediterranean today as well as bear witness to the resiliency at the core of our humanity.
For news and updates go to: kinolorber.com/Fire at Sea

The Uncondemned / Film School interview with co-director Michele Mitchell

Directors Michele Mitchell and Nick Louvel’s THE UNCONDEMNED is a riveting documentary about an underdog group of lawyers and activists who defied the odds to do what had never been done: prosecute rape as an international war crime. In 1997, the young men and women at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found themselves inexplicably in charge of the first case of genocide in history. Underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed, they faced incredible hurdles as they pursued their first case against a small town mayor. Crimes of war and against humanity had not been prosecuted since 1946, and surviving witnesses feared for their lives. And then, based on a last minute revelation, the prosecuting team amended the charge to include rape. Three heroic women would overcome their fears and shame to speak for all those who could not. Secret memos, witness assassinations, setbacks and barriers – THE UNCONDEMNED captures the untold, remarkable story that changed the course of international judicial history. Co-director and producer Michele Mitchell joins us for a conversation on the Rwandan genocide, an unprecedented prosecution, and remarkable courage by remarkable women.
For news and updates go to: theuncondemned.com
facebook.com/theuncondemned
theuncondemned.com/screenings