KUCI: Film School

The Unknown Country / Film School Radio interview with Director Morrisa Maltz

THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY opens with young woman reeling from a devastating loss and embarking down an unknown road of discovery and renewal. Tana (Lily Gladstone) is pulled back into the world by an unexpected invitation to her cousin’s wedding. She packs up her late grandmother’s Cadillac and hits the open road, driving from her home in Minnesota to South Dakota. After reconnecting with her Oglala Lakota family, Tana sets off to retrace a surreal journey that her grandmother took decades ago, searching for the spot captured in an old family photograph. As she travels, Tana finds connection in the stories of everyday people who’ve settled down far off the main roads including Isaac (Raymond Lee), who provides a pivotal clue to understanding the lost location that could cultivate closure. A personal reverie summoned from a beguiling mix of fact and fiction, THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY is an arresting debut feature from Morrisa Maltz. Director / Producer / Writer Morrisa Maltz (Ingrid, Odyssea) joins us for a conversation on the long journey she took figuratively and literally in the making of The Unknown Country, her evolving collaboration with lead actor Lily Gladstone and film producer and actor Lainey Bearkiller, editor Vanara Taing and cinematographer Andrew Hajek, the incorporation of storylines that occurred during the cross country shoot and what it has taught her about trusting her instincts as a filmmaker.
For more, go to: musicboxfilms.com/the-unknown-country

North Circular / Film School Radio interview with Director Luke McManus

Director Luke McManus’ rousing and sublime documentary NORTH CIRCULAR is a musical ode that travels the length of Dublin's North Circular Road, from the Phoenix Park to Dublin Port, exploring the history, music and streetscapes of a road that links some of the country's most beloved and infamous places. Told in black and white 4:3 Academy ratio, the film evokes many narratives from the history of the city and nation, from colonialism, to mental health, to the struggle for women’s liberation while also engaging with urgent issues of today, including the battle to save the legendary Cobblestone Pub, centre of Dublin’s recent folk revival, from destruction at the hands of cynical property developers. The film also includes musical performances from artists local to the North Circular, including John Francis Flynn, Séan Ó Túama, Eoghan O'Ceannabháin, Ian Lynch & Gemma Dunleavy. Director Luke McManus joins us for a conversation on the personal connection that he has to this historic roadway, how the road has played into the history of Dublin, highlighting the vital role that traditional Irish music has in the life of this community, and what makes the Cobblestone Pub the most essential venue on North Circular.
For more go to: northcircularfilm.com

After the Bite / Film School Radio interview with Director Ivy Meeropol

Director Ivy Meeropol’s expansive documentary, After the Bite focuses on the impact that a 2018 fatal shark attack on a boogie boarder has on the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts rocked visitors and residents in the idyllic summer community of Cape Cod, forcing them to respond to the encroachment of apex predators. With the numbers of sharks increasing every year, Ivy Meeropol’s expansive documentary AFTER THE BITE explores the repercussions for this beach community when rapid changes in the natural world begin to clash with a cherished way of life. Great white sharks have dominated headlines in recent years, as their deadly interactions with people have increased in the waters stretching from Maine to the Cape and Islands. Those charged with protecting the public have been forced to address the risk of serious injuries with stop-the-bleed kits mounted at public access beaches, warning billboards, the use of shark-tracking apps, spotter planes and new training programs and protocols for lifeguards. A portrait of an interconnected community of people and wildlife, AFTER THE BITE features a range of voices from different sides of these issues and considers the larger question of how far humans can push nature before it bites back. Director Ivy Meeropol (Bully. Coward. Victim. The Roy Cohn Story. Indian Point) joins us to talk about blending into the Cape Cod community of Wellfleet, enlisting the experts like Lisa Sette from the Center of Costal Studies; Dr. Greg Skomal and Meg Winton of the Atlantic White Shark Conservatory, to talk about the science and the lifeguards, conservationists, fishermen, journalists, paramedics, town residents, and activists to talk about the impact of the dramatic changes taking place since the tragic death of Arthur Medici.
For more go to: hbo.com/movies/after-the-bite
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Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd - Co-director Roddy Bogawa (Storm Thorerson)

HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD asks and answers many of the perplexing questions that swirled around the life and decline of Syd Barrett, founding member, initial songwriter and leader of the world famous rock group Pink Floyd. Was he a drug casualty of the sixties? Did he walk away from the pressures of the commercial music world? Did he suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness? Pink Floyd were caught in the epicenter of the 'underground' explosion of the 60s as the psychedelic house band of the UFO club in London, with Syd Barrett its enigmatic figurehead, inspiring such musicians as David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Though he named the group, wrote the first two hit songs and was the lead vocalist and guitarist, Barrett was pushed out of the band by its members who were convinced he was having an LSD induced psychotic breakdown. After leaving the group, Barrett struggled to record two solo records but eventually dropped out of the music industry completely, living as a recluse for thirty years - while Pink Floyd went on to worldwide fame as one of the biggest selling bands of all time. Ironically, much of Pink Floyd's most noted work (Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here) examined themes of genius and madness certainly mourning their long lost friend. HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD is at once a chronicle and a mosaic, an investigation of fame and its personal cost while also exploring the larger social context of the 60s, its hopes and failures, and a compelling story that involves us all in discovery and how one chooses a path in life, measured by the outside world or one's own inner voice. Co-director Roddy Bogawa (Storm Thorerson) joins us for a conversation on working with Thorerson, renown artist and long-time friend of David Gilmore, Nick Mason and Roger Waters, separating the truth from the mythology regarding Barrett and what made Barrett’s work with Pink Floyd and his own solo music so intriguing and influential for generations of musicians and artists.
For more go to: abramorama.com/film/have-you-got-it-yet-syd-barrett
There more here too: sydbarrettfilm.com

Umberto Eco: A Library of the World / Film School Radio interview with Director Davide Ferrario

Davide Ferrario’s UMBERTO ECO: A LIBRARY OF THE WORLD is a documentary immersion into all things Eco. His sublimely intimate film takes us on a tour of Umberto Eco’s private library, guided by the author himself. Combining new footage with material he shot with Eco in 2015 for a video installation for the Venice Biennale, Ferrario documents this incredible collection and the man who amassed it. From the precious section of the original seventeenth-century books to the shelves dedicated to the 'literary fools' who pay to be published, passing through the mystery about Shakespeare's identity, the film retraces and illustrates the main obsessions of Umberto Eco, which underlie all his literary production, fiction and otherwise. As Eco leads us among the more than 50,000 volumes and his family reflects on his legacy, we also gain insight into the library of the mind of this vastly prolific and original thinker. UMBERTO ECO: A LIBRARY OF THE WORLD director Davide Ferrario joins us for a lively conversation on how he approached his humble and warm-hearted subject, enlisting Umberto’s family, Renate, Stefano and Carlotta, into this joyful collaboration and how important he felt it was to make Umberto’s sonorous collection of literature the other “character” in this exhilarating ode to Umberto Eco.
For more go to cinemaguild.com/umbertoeco

Eat Your Catfish / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors Noah Amir Arjomand & Adam Isenberg (Senem Tüzen)

In this deeply personal documentary EAT YOUR CATFISH we meet the matriarch of the Arjomand family, Kathryn, now dependent on round-the-clock care, due to a harrowing diagnosis. She clings to a mordant wit while yearning to witness her daughter's wedding. Co-directors and producers Adam Isenberg, Senem Tüzen and Noah Amir Arjomand — who is Kathryn's son — deliver a brutally frank and darkly humorous portrait of a family teetering on the brink, grappling with the daily demands of disability and in-home caregiving. With her daughter Minou’s wedding day approaching, Kathryn is determined to live to see her child get married. Years with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease, have left Kathryn paralyzed and needing 24-hour care. She relies on an eye-tracking, speech-generating computer to impart her wishes, but it can be an uphill struggle to be ‘heard’. With her mind intact and having opted for mechanical breathing, she could live like this indefinitely. EAT YOUR CATFISH is draws on 930 hours of footage – all filmed without any crew present from a fixed camera and narrated by Kathryn. The result is a profoundly intimate, layered and wryly funny portrait of a family at its breaking point. Co-directors Noah Amir Arjomand & Adam Isenberg (Senem Tüzen) joins us to talk about the ways this film project came about, why they adopted the POV approach to telling the story and how seeing the world from the point-of-view Kathryn could positively impact other family’s dealing with a loved one in a comparable medical condition.
For more go to: eatyourcatfish.com
For more on the POV screening: pbs.org/pov/eatyourcatfish

Lakota Nation vs. United States / Film School radio interview with Co-directors Jesse Short Bull & Laura Tomaselli

“the most sacred place on earth,” the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Očéti Šakówiŋ since time immemorial-the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Yet with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1492, the sacred land has been the site of conflict between the people it has nurtured, and the settler state seeking to exploit and redefine it in its own image. Lakota Nation vs. United States is a searing testament to the strength of the Oyate nation and the people. It is also a visually stunning rejoinder to the distorted imagery of a people and culture long shaped by racist mainstream films, art, books and history taught to our children. In spite of the string of broken treaties or the action of war criminal General Custer at Little Big Horn or the slaughter of millions of buffalo or forced removal of native children into government run “boarding” schools the Oglala Tetonowan Oyate have survived. Lakota Nation vs. United States is a lyrical and provocative testament to a land and a people who have survived removal, exploitation and genocide--and whose best days are yet to come. Co-directors Jesse Short Bull (Istinma) and Laura Tomaselli (MLK/FBI) join us for a conversation on the powerful familial connection that Jesse has the battle of Little Big Horn, how and why the American government ignored or violated recognized treaties before the ink was dry, and how the political, economic and cultural violence against the Oyate remain firmly embedded in the policies of the state and federal government to this day.
For more go to: ifcfilms.com/lakota-nation-vs-the-united-states
And still more go to: lakotanationvsus.movie

Silent Sunday / Film School Radio interview with K.J. Relth-Miller, Interim Director of Film Programs – Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

In a nod to Turner Classic Movies (TCM)'s "Silent Sunday Nights," hosted by Academy Museum Director and President Jacqueline Stewart, the museum is launching a series of silent film screenings. Both TCM and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures are dedicated to showcasing the films of this important period in filmmaking history as part of our cultural heritage. Film historian David Pierce has concluded that only 26% of American silent features survive in complete form. Taking place on Sundays at 2 pm, and screening at the world renown David Geffen Theatre, Silent Sundays will showcase iconic movies from the silent era as well as forgotten gems and international classics. Each screening will also feature live musical accompaniment. The opening film on July 23 is Earth (Zemlya) by director Oleksandr Dovzhenko. It is the first screening of the Earth (Zemlya)  outside of Europe and accompanied by a live musical performance from Kyiv-based composer Luke Corradine. K.J. Relth-Miller, Interim Director of Film Programs at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures joins us for a conversation what went into selecting the first slate of silent film era classics, the thrill of watchinmg great films with live musical, and how many of the filmmakers from the silent era went on to become cinematic icons; Keaton, Chaplin, Hitchcock, Lang, Lubitsch, DeMille and Hawks.
For more go to: academymuseum.org/programs/silent-sundays

The Deepest Breath / Film School Radio interview with Director Laura McGann

Champion freediver Alessia Zecchini fell in love with the sport as a child growing up in Italy, astounding coaches with her raw talent and determination in pool swims and open water contests before she was even old enough to legally compete. Irish adventurer turned expert safety diver Stephen Keenan, meanwhile, was raised near the sea, but as a young man he set out on a quest to find himself, traveling across Africa before landing in Dahab, Egypt and establishing a dive school. Despite their very different paths, the two would meet at the pinnacle of the competitive freediving world, discovering a shared passion for pushing their limits and forming a powerful relationship that felt like fate. From director Laura McGann, this thrilling documentary takes a look inside one of the most dangerous sports in the world, using everything from raw underwater dive footage to childhood home movies to chronicle Zecchini and Keenan’s lives and careers. Director and writer Laura McGann (The 8th, Revolutions) stops by to talk about her exploration of the bond between Zecchini and Keenan that propels THE DEEPEST BREATH emotional journey into the stunning, silent depths of the ocean, a breathtaking place unseen by all but the fortunate few – where exhilarating accomplishments and the unavoidable risks that await them.
Watch at: netflix.com/The Deepest Breath

The League / Film School Radio interview with Director Sam Pollard

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI), and executive produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Oscar-winning SUMMER OF SOUL), Tariq Trotter (DESCENDANT), and produced by RadicalMedia , THE LEAGUE celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball's triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century. The story is told through previously unearthed archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with legendary players like Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil – whose early careers paved the way for the Jackie Robinson era – as well as celebrated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron who started out in the Negro Leagues. From entrepreneurial titans Cumberland Posey and Gus Greenlee, whose intense rivalry fueled the rise of two of the best baseball teams ever to play the game, to Effa Manley, the activist owner of the Newark Eagles and the only woman ever admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, THE LEAGUE explores Black baseball as an economic and social pillar of Black communities and a stage for some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, while also examining the unintended consequences of integration. Director Sam Pollard (Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, Citizen Ashe, Tiger) joins us for a conversation on the multi-layered history of the Black ballplayer’s quest for inclusion, compensation and respect. The story begins in 1890’s Jim Crow laws forcing out the few Black players already playing with white players in the nascent professional leagues and culminates with the signing of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers and soon after Larry Dolby to a contract with the American League’s Cleveland Indians.