KUCI: Film School

Ballast / Lance Hammer Interview

Let the Right One In / Tomas Alfredson Interview

Secrecy / Peter Galison and Robb Moss Interview

Momma’s Man / Azazel Jacobs Interview

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story / Stephan Forbes

An interview with STEFAN FORBES writer and director of BOOGIE MAN: THE LEE ATWATER STORY - a gripping political thriller about Lee Atwater, a blues-playing rogue whose rambunctious rise from the South to Chairman of the GOP made him a political rock star. He mentored George W. Bush and Karl Rove while leading the Republican party to historic victories, helping make liberal a dirty word, and transforming the way America elects our Presidents. In eye-opening interviews with elite Republicans and friends of Atwater, Boogie Man sheds new light on his crucial role in America's shift to the right. To Democrats offended by the 1988 Willie Horton controversy, Atwater was a remorseless political assassin aptly dubbed by one Congresswoman "the most evil man in America." But he remains a hero to many Republicans for his irreverent sense of humor, his deep understanding of the American heartland, and his unapologetic vision of politics as war. This film builds to a moving portrait of a cynic's desperate deathbed search for meaning.

The Pool / Chris Smith Interview

Take Out / Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou Interview

Flow: For Love of Water / Irena Salina Interview

Bottle Shock / Randall Miller Interview

An interview with RANDALL MILLER the director of BOTTLE SHOCK - the story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as "Judgment of Paris". Shot on location in the Northern California wine country, Bottle Shock focuses on the contentious relationship between headstrong perfectionist Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), a former attorney, and his free-spirited son Bo (Chris Pine). For all their differences, the two share a dream of producing a great Chardonnay at the Chateau Montelena vineyard Jim founded in Calistoga in the early 1970s. Miller began his career at the American Film Institute with the short film Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. The film won numerous awards and began Miller's professional career as a director. Off the heat of the short, Randall directed numerous episodic series such as "thirtysomething," "Northern Exposure," "Popular" and "Jack & Jill." His feature career took off with the films Houseguest and The Sixth Man. Looking to get back to his roots in independent filmmaking, Miller and his wife, Jody Savin, set out to start anew. Ironically, their new start took them back to the short with which it all began. Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School is now realized as a full-length feature. The team subsequently completed another labor of love, Nobel Son (2007), starring Alan Rickman as a Nobel Prize winner you hate to love.

Fire Under the Snow / Makoto Sasa Interview

An interview with MAKOTO SASA, the producer and director of FIRE UNDER THE SNOW - a look at the life of Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, who spent 33 years in prison as his nation was seized by China. Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist monk since childhood, was arrested by the Chinese Communist Army in 1959. He was tortured, starved and sentenced to hard labor. He watched his nation and culture destroyed, his teachers, friends and family displaced, jailed or killed under Chinese occupation. Fire Under the Snow reaches back to Palden's birth in 1933 and follows him through the Orwellian nightmare that began with the Chinese invasion. The film investigates the basis of Palden's resilience. He claims that faith in Buddhism helped him survive the 33 years of his imprisonment. While imprisoned, the mere existence of the Dalai Lama was a beacon of hope to Palden and fellow prisoners-of-conscience. They dreamed of being released from their torment and delivered into his open arms. Today, the Dalai Lama and his supporters advance the idea of a "mutually beneficial" autonomy within China, an idea generated from Buddhist philosophy. Makoto Sasa has made several short documentaries, worked as assistant editor for the 35mm features Going Under (2004) starring Roger Rees, and LOVE (2005). Recently, she has been directing and editing several documentaries for SONY Japan's broadband streaming video website World Event Village.