KUCI: Film School

The Art of the Steal / Don Argot Interview

An interview with DON ARGOTT the director of THE ART OF THE STEAL, a documentary that chronicles the long and dramatic struggle for control of the Barnes Foundation, a private collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art valued at more than $25 billion. In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes formed a remarkable educational institution around his priceless collection of art, located just five miles outside of Philadelphia. Now, more than 50 years after Barnes' death, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court for control of the art, and intend to bring it to a new museum in Philadelphia. Standing in their way is a group of Barnes' former students and his will, which contains strict instructions stating the Foundation should always be an educational institution, and that the paintings may never be removed.

Terribly Happy / Henrik Ruben Genz Interview

An interview with HENRIK RUBEN GENZ director of TERRIBLY HAPPY, a narrative that focuses on Robert, a Copenhagen police officer who, following a nervous breakdown, is transferred to a small provincial town to take on the mysteriously vacated Marshall position and is subsequently entangled with a married femme fatale. Robert's big city temperament makes it impossible for him to fit in, or understand the uncivilized, bizarre behavior displayed by the townspeople. Quickly spiraling downward into an intense fable reminiscent of the Coen Brothers' BLOOD SIMPLE and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, TERRIBLY HAPPY displays a unique, often macabre vision of the darkest depths to which people will go to achieve a sense of security and belonging. Genz's short fiction film TEIS & NICO (1998), was a festival hit worldwide and received the Crystal Bear in Berlin and an Academy Award nomination. His feature film debut, SOMEONE LIKE HODDER (2003) received awards in Buenos Aires, Chicago, London, and Zlin, among others.

North Face / Philipp Stolzl Interview

An interview with PHILIPP STOLZL the director of NORTH FACE. Based on a true story, North Face is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation's Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif - the Eiger - two reluctant German climbers begin their daring ascent. With NORTH FACE, director and scriptwriter Philipp Stolzl - a multi-talented and sought after opera, music video, commercial and feature-film director - has succeeded in redefining pre-WW II German Berg (mountain) Film and transposing it to the 21st century.

Film Preservation and Restoration / Denis Doros and Ross Lipman Interview

An interview with DENNIS DOROS of MILESTONE FILMS and ROSS LIPMAN film preservationist at the UCLA FILM AND TELEVISION ARCHIVE. Milestone Films is an independent company, founded in 1990 in the United States by Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, dedicated to researching and distributing quality cinematographic material from around the world, including silent movies, films of the postwar foreign film renaissance, to contemporary American independent features, documentaries and foreign films. Some of the films that Milestone has distributed are by Alfred Hitchcock, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, F.W. Murnau, Orson Welles, Mikhail Kalatozov and Luis Bunuel. Among the modern day films are works by Takeshi Kitano, Jane Campion, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Alan Berliner and Philip Haas. Lipman has restored and preserved some landmark works of independent cinema including The Times of Harvey Milk, some of Kenneth Anger's most prominent titles, and Milestone's Killer of Sheep and The Exiles. He is the winner of the National Society of Film Critics Special Film Heritage Award.

The Exiles / Eric Daarstad Interview

An interview with cinematographer ERIC DAARSTAD of THE EXILES - the groundbreaking film made between 1958 - 1961 that chronicles one night in the lives of young Native American men and women living in the Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles. Based entirely on interviews with the participants and their friends, the film follows a group of exiles - transplants from Southwest reservations - as they flirt, drink, party, fight, and dance. Filmmaker Kent Mackenzie first conceived of The Exiles during the making of his short film Bunker Hill - 1956 while a student at the University of Southern California. The Exiles was photographed by Daarstad and a group of young filmmakers - Mackenzie's college mates, fellow employees, and friends holding down a variety of day-to-day jobs in the motion picture industry. Much of the picture was shot on "short ends," the leftovers of 1,000 - foot rolls (varying from 100 to 300 feet of stock) discarded by major film producers. Milestone, in cooperation with USC's film archivist Valarie Schwan, brought the film to preservationist Ross Lipman and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo / Jessica Oreck Interview

October Country / Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher

An interview with MICHAEL PALMIERI and DONAL MOSHER the directors of OCTOBER COUNTRY - a beautifully rendered portrait of an American family struggling for stability while haunted by the ghosts of war, teen pregnancy, foster care and child abuse. A collaboration between filmmaker Michael Palmieri and photographer and family member Donal Mosher, this vibrant and penetrating documentary examines the forces that unsettle the working poor and the violence that lurks beneath the surface of American life. Combining the access only available to a family member with an intimate visual style of a filmmaker encountering the family's dynamics for the first time, the film gives a deeply personal voice to the national issues of economic instability, domestic abuse, war trauma, and sexual molestation. As the Moshers do their best to confront their ghosts, we confront the broader issues that haunt us all in the continued struggle for the American Dream. October Country is the Winner of the Sterling Grand Jury Prize at 2009 SILVERDOCS, 2009 Starz/Denver Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary, an Independent Spirit Awards Nomination for Best Documentary and five Cinema Eye Honors nominations, including Best Documentary. Palmieri's previous work includes his music video collaborations with artists such as Beck, The Strokes, Belle and Sebastian and the New Pornographers.

Wonderful World / Josh Goldin Interview

An interview with JOSH GOLDIN the director of WONDERFUL WORLD - a bittersweet comedy about families, friends and a frivolous fight against corporate institutions. It stars Matthew Broderick, Michael Kenneth Williams, Sanaa Lathan, Jodelle Ferland, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ally Walker, and Philip Baker Hall and features original music, with a cameo performance, by acclaimed musician Dan Zanes, the noted father of the modern independent kids' music movement.Wonderful World is the story of Ben Singer, a failed children's folk singer, and an every-other-weekend dad to his young daughter (Jodelle Ferland) who is struggling with all aspects of his life. Ben's finds comforts in smoking marijuana alone and regular chess games with his smart and opinionated Senegalese roommate Ibou (Michael Kenneth Williams, "The Wire," THE ROAD). After Ibou is suddenly struck ill, Ben's life takes a turn with the arrival of Ibou's beautiful and sexy sister Khadi (Sanaa Lathan, The Family That Preys).

Facing Ali / Pete McCormack Interview

An interview with PETE McCORMACK the director of FACING ALI. Three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali defeated almost every top fighter of the golden age of boxing and symbolized the sport for generations of fans. Now, ten of his acclaimed rivals pay tribute to perhaps the world's most beloved and inspiring athlete in FACING ALI, a riveting documentary from director Pete McCormack (Uganda Rising) and producer Derik Murray (Legends of Hockey). From the moment he captured the gold at the 1960 Summer Olympics, the fighter who first came to prominence as Cassius Clay electrified the world and transformed the art of boxing. Articulate, handsome, charismatic and outspoken, he became an icon of the burgeoning civil rights movement and a hero to millions around the globe. A master showman and a brilliant strategist, Ali won as much by getting inside his opponents' heads as by his astounding physical talents. With exclusive interviews and vintage footage from the champ's unmatched career, FACING ALI recreates his most unforgettable rivalries, and recounts his triumphs, tragedies and unstoppable spirit.

Treeless Mountain / So Yong Kim Interview

An interview with SO YONG KIM the director of TREELESS MOUNTAIN. When their mother needs to leave in order to find their estranged father, seven-year-old Jin and her younger siste, Bin, are left to live with their Big Aunt for the summer. With only a small piggy bank and their mother's promise to return when it is full, the two young girls are forced to acclimate to changes in their family life. Counting the days, and the coins, the two bright-eyed young girls eagerly anticipate their mother's homecoming. But when the bank fills up, and with their mother still not back, Big Aunt decides that she can no longer tend to the children. Taken to live on their grandparent's farm, it is here that Jin comes to learn the importance of familybonds in this beautiful, meditative, and thought-provoking second feature from So Yong Kim, the acclaimed director of IN BETWEEN DAYS.