KUCI: Film School

Tower / Film School interview with director Keith Maitland

50 years ago on August 1st, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas, Austin, Tower, and opened fire at 11:48am, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes. When the gunshots finally ceased, the toll included 16 dead, three dozen wounded, and a shaken nation left trying to understand. In Keith Maitland’s critically acclaimed documentary TOWER, the film’s subject, 18-year-old freshman, Claire Wilson was the first person shot from the Tower. Claire, who was eight months pregnant, was walking with her boyfriend Tom, who reached down to help her; he was struck down as well. For over an hour of the siege, Claire remained exposed to the shooter, conscious and steadily losing blood, while knowing that her boyfriend had been killed and that she lost her baby. TOWER combines archival footage with rotoscopic animation of the dramatic day, based entirely on first person testimonies from witnesses, heroes and survivors of America’s first documented mass school shooting, in a seamless and suspenseful retelling of the unfolding tragedy. The film highlights the fear, confusion, and visceral realities that changed the lives of those present, and the rest of us, forever - a day when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others. Director Keith Maitland joins us to talk about the mayhem and the courage that marked a day of infamy and prescience that echoes today.
For news and updates go to: towerdocumentary.com
Also check out facebook.com/TowerDocumentary

A Stray / Film School interview with director Musa Syeed

In Minneapolis’ large Somali refugee community, Adan (Barkhad Abdirahman) has nowhere to go. His mom kicked him out, and his friends are tired of his headstrong ways. As a last resort, he moves into the mosque, praying for a little help. Surprisingly, God seems to answer. Adan quickly lands a good job, devout friends, and a newfound faith. When Adan nearly hits a stray dog on the job, he’s forced to take it in for a night. But one of his new mosque friends considers the dog impure, and he throws Adan out. With Adan back on the streets, surrounded by his old crew, ex-girlfriends, prying FBI agents, and his estranged family, the dog may be his only friend asmusa-syeed-director-photo he tries to keep his faith and get through the night. Filmmaker Musa Syeed’s first narrative feature VALLEY OF SAINTS won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance and was a New York Times Critics Pick. The result of an immersive research process similar to A STRAY, the film was shot during a military curfew in Kashmir, employing a community of boat people as cast and crew. His previous documentaries, also produced with cinematographer Yoni Brook, include BRONX PRINCESS (Berlinale, POV) and A SON’S SACRIFICE (Tribeca Best Short Doc, Independent Lens). Director and writer Musa Syeed stops by for a conversation on the challenges and rewards of making an intimate and moving portrait of a stranger in a strange land.
For news and updates go to: musasyeed.com

Do Not Resist / Film School interview with Director Craig Atkinson

DO NOT RESIST is an urgent and powerful exploration of the rapid militarization of our police force in the United States. The Tribeca Film Festival BEST DOCUMENTARY WINNER puts viewers in the center of the action – Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown; to the all too familiar sight of law enforcement in full riot gear and armored tanks driving through peaceful protests; to a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team; to a front row seat inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of “righteous violence”; to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments – before exploring where technology could lead the field next. DO NOT RESIST offers an unflinching look at the current state of law enforcement in America and a glimpse into the future. Director Craig Atkinson joins us to talk about a documentary film that is literally ripped from today’s headlines painting a startling picture of the direction our local law enforcement are headed.
For news and updates go to:donotresistfilm.com
*WINNER* BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 2016 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Newtown / Film School interview with Director Kim A. Snyder

There are no easy answers in NEWTOWN - no words of compassion or reassurance that can bring back the 20 children and six educators who lost their lives during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Instead, Director Kim Snyder gives us exclusive access into the lives and homes of those who lost loved ones, and others in the community who have been indelibly changed by the events. Each person, be it a parent, school nurse, or state police officer, tries in their own way to make sense of their loss, as well as confront our nation's inability to quell gun violence in even the most peaceful of communities. NEWTOWN bears witness to their profound grief and allows it to reverberate within our collective conscience - exploring what happens to a community after it becomes the epicenter of a national discussion, and what is still left to cope with after the cameras leave. Filmed over the course of nearly three years, the film uses unique access and never-before heard testimonies to tell a story of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history. The film premiered at Sundance this year, before playing at SXSW, BAMcinemaFest and - the week of the Orlando shootings last month - at the White House. Director Kim A. Snyder stops by to talk about her touching, haunting and hopeful film.
For news and updates go to: newtownfilm.com

Among the Believers / Film School interview with co-directors Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi

Charismatic cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi, an ISIS supporter and Taliban ally, is waging jihad against the Pakistani state. His dream is to impose a strict version of Shariah law throughout the country, as a model for the world. A flashpoint in Aziz's holy war took place in 2007, when the government leveled his flagship mosque to the ground, killing his mother, brother, only son and 150 students. With unprecedented access, Among the Believers follows Aziz on his very personal quest to create an Islamic utopia, during the bloodiest period in Pakistan's modern history. The film also follows the lives of two teenage students who have attended madrassahs (Islamic seminaries) run by Aziz's Red Mosque network. Throughout the film, their paths diverge: Talha, 12, detaches from his moderate Muslim family and decides to become a jihadi preacher. Zarina, also 12, escapes her madrassah and joins a regular school. Over the next few years, Zarina's education is threatened by frequent Taliban attacks on schools like her own. Intimate and shocking, Among the Believers offers rare insights into the ideological battles shaping Pakistan and the Muslim world. The co-directors of Among the Believers, Hemal Trivedi (Producer) and Mohammed Ali Naqvi join us for a conversation on their beautifully balanced film.
For news and updates go to: amongthebelieversfilm.com

Kate Plays Christine / Film School inteview with Director Robert Greene

What does it mean to tell somebody else's story? In this ingenious blend of documentary and psychological thriller, Robert Greene (ACTRESS) follows Kate Lyn Sheil (House of Cards, LISTEN UP PHILIP) through her creative process as she prepares for her next, tragic role: Christine Chubbuck, the Florida newscaster who committed suicide live on-air in 1974. As Kate investigates (and ultimately becomes obsessed with) Chubbuck's story, she discovers that little is actually known about the real woman (despite the urban myth that her story was the inspiration for the classic Hollywood film NETWORK). Through their collaboration, Robert, Kate and cinematographer Sean Price Williams (HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT) raise questions surrounding the sometimes unstable boundaries between performance, the authentic self and the storytelling impulse. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE is as much about unraveling a mystery as it is a document of the creative process. Director Robert Greene joins us for a conversation on blurring the line between documentaries and narrative films, just what did he learn about Christine Chubbuck’s life and how has making KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE changed his approach to storytelling.
For news and updates go to: kateplayschristine.com
Also check out Kate Plays Christin edistributor grasshopperfilm.com

Danny Says / Film School interview with Brendan Toller

DANNY SAYS is a documentary on the life and times of Danny Fields. Since 1966, Danny Fields has played a pivotal role in music and “culture” of the late 20th century: working for the Doors, Lou Reed, Nico, Judy Collins and managing groundbreaking artists like the Stooges, the MC5 and the Ramones. DANNY SAYS follows Fields from Harvard Law dropout, to the Warhol Silver Factory, to Director of Publicity at Elektra Records, to “punk pioneer” and beyond. Danny’s taste and opinion, once deemed defiant and radical, has turned out to have been prescient. DANNY SAYS is a story of marginal turning mainstream, avant-garde turning prophetic, as Fields looks to the next generation. DANNY SAYS is lead by Fields voice and is largely crafted from over 250 hours of present-day interviews and items from Danny Fields’ immense archive (thousands of photographs, audio cassettes, ephemera). Director Brendan Toller joins us for a conversation on the wild, hedonistic, boundary pushing times when Danny Fields was the first and last word on music that changed American culture.
For news and updates go to: magpictures.com/dannysays
Also... dannysaysfilm.com

Southwest of Salem / Film School interview with Director Deborah Esquenazi and film subject Anna Vasquez

The award winning acclaimed SOUTHWEST OF SALEM: THE STORY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOUR chronicles the nightmarish persecution of Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquez - four Latina lesbians wrongfully convicted of gang-raping two little girls in San Antonio, Texas over 20 years ago during the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s-1990s. Despite flawed medical evidence and convictions based solely on the testimony of two young children, the women always maintained their innocence—and have waged an ongoing fight for exoneration. Documentary filmmaker Deborah S. Esquenazi weaves together emotional interviews with the women (labeled the San Antonio Four) and their families with actual news footage and home videos, equally showcasing the injustice of the situation and the families that were torn apart as a result. Unique to the San Antonio Four case, none of the four women ever took a plea bargain or even considered it, despite serving their time in separate prisons. While the state offered deferred adjudication, requiring no time in prison but probation for ten years, the women turned down the offer, maintaining their innocence and faith in truth and justice. Esquenazi follows the work of attorneys from the Innocence Project of Texas, who played a pivotal role in securing an on-camera recantation by one of the victims, now 25 years old—and their ultimate release from prison in 2013. Director Deborah S. Esquenazi and film subject Anna Vasquez stop by to talk about the journey, heartbreak and triumph of a 22-year nightmare.
For news and updates go to: southwestofsalem.com

Command and Control / Film School interview with Director Robert Kenner

On the evening of September 18, 1980, Airmen David F. Powell and Jeffrey L. Plumb were performing routine maintenance at the Titan II silo in Damascus, Arkansas. At the age of 21, Powell was considered a highly experienced missile technician; Plumb, who had just turned 19, was still in training. As the two stood on a platform near the top of the Titan II, a socket fell from Powell’s wrench, plummeted 70 feet and, shockingly, punctured the missile. A stream of highly explosive rocket fuel began pouring into the silo of the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States. A chilling, Dr. Strangelovian nightmare plays out at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas in September, 1980. A deadly accident leads Air Force personnel, weapon designers, and first responders to work feverishly to prevent a catastrophic explosion. Directed by Robert Kenner (FOOD, INC.) and based on the critically-acclaimed book by Eric Schlosser (FAST FOOD NATION), COMMAND AND CONTROL is a minute-by-minute account of this long-hidden story – much of it based on recently declassified documents that expose other freak accidents and near-misses. How do you manage weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? COMMAND AND CONTROL chronicles nine hours of terror that prevented an explosion 600 times more powerful than Hiroshima. Director Robert Kenner joins us for a lively conversation on impact nuclear weapons have on our lives and the horrifying 36-year old apocalyptic tale that is just now being told.
For news and updates go to: commandandcontrolfilm.com

Landfill Harmonic Film School interview with co-directors Brad Allgood (Juliana Penaranda-Loftus)

LANDFILL HARMONIC chronicles the incredible journey of Paraguay's Recycled Orchestra of Cateura. Orchestra Founder Favio Chavez had hopes of sharing music with the children of Cateura, a poverty stricken slum next to the capital's largest landfill. Since expensive musical instruments were not within attainable for families in Cateura, Favio, along with carpenter and trash picker Nicolas "Cola" Gomez, began to craft instruments from materials found in the landfill to provide children with the opportunity to play. They journey exceeds all expectations as they find themselves playing for audiences around the world, even accompanying artists such as Stevie Wonder, Metallica and Megadeth. They've also played for Pope Francis, and recently performed at The United Nations in NYC. Winner of the Audience Award at the South By Southwest Film Festival, AFI DOCS Festival, Vancouver Film Festival; official selection at the Sheffield Film Festival and winner of the Documentary Award for The Humanitas Prize. Co-director Brad Allgood joins us for a conversation on this uplifting and captivating film.
For news and updates go to: landfillharmonicmovie.com/