KUCI: Film School

Two Gods / Film School Radio interview with Director Zeshawn Ali

Zeshawn Ali’s enthralling feature documentary debut, Two Gods follows Hanif, a Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer in Newark, New Jersey, as he takes two young men under his wing to teach them how to live better lives. He mentors two kids— Furquan, a confident 12- year-old who comes from a rough home and Naz, a 17-year -old who has been fighting through his own struggles as a young black man growing up in Newark. Hardship comes when Furquan's home life becomes more turbulent and Naz gets caught up in a serious arrest. Hanif fears he has failed as a mentor and begins to fall into a downward spiral. During each of their darkest moments, they take what they’ve learned from their pasts and from each other to pull through. And through faith, brotherhood and redemption they find their purpose. Director Zeshawn Ali joins us for a conversation on meeting subject Hanif, his exploration of this sacred Islamic body washing tradition and how his own family’s recent losses impacted the film’s storytelling trajectory.
For news, updates and screenings go to: twogodsfilm.com

Drunk Bus / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors John Carlucci & Brandon LaGanke

DRUNK BUS follows Michael (Charlie Tahan), a recent graduate, whose post college plan was derailed when his girlfriend leaves him for a job in New York City. Stuck in Ohio without a new plan of his own, Michael finds himself caught in the endless loop of driving the "drunk bus," the debaucherous late-night campus shuttle that ferries drunk college students from parties to the dorms and back, waiting for his ex, Amy, to come back to him. When the bus service hires a security guard to watch over the night shift, Michael comes face to tattooed face with Pineapple (Pineapple Tangaroa), a larger-than-life Samoan American who challenges him with a kick in the ass to break from the loop and start living or risk driving in circles forever. Co-directors John Carlucci & Brandon LaGanke stop by for a spirited conversation on growing up in Ohio, John Hughes, the true life inspiration for Drunk Bus, meeting Pineapple Tangoroa and their love of filmmaking.
For news, screenings and updates go to drunkbusmovie.com
Watch at: drunkbusmovie.com/watch

Hamtramck U.S.A. / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors Justin Feltman and Razi Jafri

Hamtramck, Michigan is a city built by immigrants. The city thrived thanks to Polish Catholic immigrants drawn to the industrial boom of America. In the late 1990's, Bangladeshi and Yemeni Muslim immigrants revitalized this post-industrial city. This multi-ethnic city prides itself on its mantra "The World in 2 Square Miles," boasts about the over 30 languages spoken in the schools and the diversity that comes with it. However, when it comes to the city's politics, the city quickly splits into factions, pitting communities against each other. From these tensions, candidates emerge, hoping to be the voice for their community in City Hall. Karen Majewski, Hamtramck’s first female mayor in the city’s 100 year lineage of Polish mayors, is seeking her fourth term as mayor. She promises to run until she "sees someone capable" of running the city. Through the election cycle, candidate's face challenges and opportunities within each community, including their own. Through the exploration of the city's rich history and this heated election, Hamtramck, USA wrestles with identity politics, power dynamics, and the immigrant experience in America. Co-directors Justin Feltman and Razi Jafri join us for a conversation on the changing political, racial and cultural landscape of America and why we should not be afraid of America’s future, but embrace it.
For news and updates go to: hamtramckdocumentary.com

Unmarked / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors Chris Haley and Brad Bennett

Much of America’s rich history is being lost to time but the latest documentary from co-directors Chris Haley and Brad Bennett, UNMARKED shines a light on one of our darkest chapters. Throughout the South, vast numbers of African-American gravesites and burial grounds for enslaved persons have been lost or are disappearing through neglect and nature reclaiming the solemn tombstones and markers. In Virginia alone, stories of thousands at rest could vanish from history altogether if these locations are not restored. Recently, there has been a rise in the restoration and preservation of these forgotten sites by those who have a personal connection with the deceased or an appreciation of their historical significance. But there is much work to be done in order to preserve this part of America’s history. UNMARKED not only explores these untold stories of the past but also the efforts underway to preserve them. Co-Directors and co-producers Chris Haley and Brad Bennett stop by to talk about the sordid and blatantly racist practice of neglecting the bodies of slaves and non-slave African-American men and women, as well as the growing number of people who are working to find and protect cemeteries around the country.
For news and updates go to: unmarkedfilm.com
Watch: vimeo.com/ondemand/unmarked

Dream Horse / Film School Radio interview with Director Euros Lyn

The DREAM HORSE tells the inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender, Jan Vokes (Academy Award® nominee Toni Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream Alliance in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group's investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the Welsh Grand National showing the heart of a true champion. Director Euros Lyn joins us for a conversation on the attraction that horses and horse racing’s has for filmmakers and film lovers, the superb cast of outstanding performances led by Toni Collette and Damian Lewis and the importance of establishing an upbeat and winning vibes that imbues every frame of DREAM HORSE.
For news and updates go to: bleeckerstreetmedia.com/dream-horse
Dream Horse opens in theaters on May 21

KNOTS: A Forced marriage Story / Film School Radio interview with Director Kate Brewer

KNOTS : A FORCED MARRIAGE STORY explores forced and child marriages, which are occurring legally across the United States every day. Fraidy is an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish teen in Brooklyn when she's coerced into marrying an abusive man. In Michigan, young Christian Nina's father forces her to marry a man he chose. In California, Sara is fifteen when she's kidnapped by her father and forced to marry a 28-year-old man. Each of them face an unimaginable journey. Each must find the strength to survive, and thrive. Director Kate Brewer reveals the disturbing truth about this problem in modern America through the complicated experience of three forced marriage survivors. Nina, Sara, and Fraidy share intimate details of their personal journeys of surviving, escaping and ultimately becoming powerful voices in the historic fight to end the human rights abuse of forced marriage. Director Kate Brewer joins us to talk about modern day stories of forced marriage, violent physical and psychological abuse and the human trafficking of tens of thousands of young women throughout America and the three determined and courageous women who make up the backbone of this illuminating film.
KNOTS : A FORCED MARRIAGE STORY will be released via The Laemmle both theatrically and on their digital platform on May 7th followed by a wider digital release June 4th.
For news, screenings and updates go to: knotsthefilm.com
Get involved, go to: unchainedatlast.org
 
Laemmle Virtual/All Cities (including L.A, NYC)
Laemmle L.A Physical

The Last Days / Film School Interview with Director and Editor James Moll

1998’s Academy Award Best Feature Documentary, THE LAST DAYS, filmed in five countries, traces the compelling experiences of five Hungarian Holocaust survivors who fell victim to Hitler’s brutal war against the Jews during the final days of WWII. Including newly discovered historical footage and a rare interview with a former Nazi doctor at Auschwitz, the film tells the remarkable story of five people – now a grandmother, a teacher, a businessman, an artist, and a United States Congressman – as they return from the United States to their hometowns and to the ghettos and concentration camps in which they were imprisoned. Through the eyes of the survivors and other witnesses, THE LAST DAYS recounts one of the most brutal chapters of this dark period in human history, when families were taken from their homes, stripped of their dignity, deported to concentration camps and ultimately murdered. Above all, THE LAST DAYS, is a potent depiction of personal strength and courage. Director James Moll joins us to talk about the film’s recent remastering and upcoming re-release, the enduring power of the five survivor’s stories and why the THE LAST DAYS continues to cast a very long and cautionary shadow over contemporary history.
For news, screenings and updates go to: thelastdays.com

Spring Blossom - Film School Radio interview with Director & Writer Suzanne Lindon

Suzanne (Suzanne Lindon) is sixteen. She is bored with people her own age. From the outside, everything appears lovely in her charmed world, but the everyday monotony of school and her relationships with friends and family feels completely uninspired. Every day on her way to high school, she passes a theater. There, she meets a 35-year-old actor named Raphaël (Arnaud Valois, BPM (Beats Per Minute )). Despite their age difference they find in each other an answer to their ennui and develop a strong connection. Immersed in the world of grown-ups and adult choices, Suzanne begins questioning the pitfalls of blossoming too quickly and missing out on life – the life of a 16-year-old, which she had struggled so much to enjoy in the same way as her peers. SPRING BLOSSOM is a masterful and refreshing tale, filled with freewheeling musical numbers, of young teen’s sense of curiosity and wonderment at first-love. Director, writer and lead actor Suzanne Lindon joins us for a conversation on the personal story behind the story of SPRING BLOSSOM, the passion and confidence that propelled this project from diary to distribution and what was going through her mind on the first day the 19 year-old Suzanne step on to the set to direct her debut feature film.
For news, screenings and updates go to: kimstim.com/film/spring-blossom

Stealing Chaplin / Film School Radio interview with Director Paul Tanter

The latest caper / drama / comedy from director Paul Tanter STEALING CHAPLIN was inspired by a surreal plot that took place over 40 years ago. Two Las Vegas based con men decided to dig up and steal the corpse of the legendary silent-era comedian Charlie Chaplin in order to ransom it. The bizarre plot grabs the attention of the nation and sets in motion an escalating reward offer by the family. Before long every local lowlife, criminal and dirty cop is looking to cash in on the easy money. STEALING CHAPLIN is driven forward by a slew of quirky but captivating performances that includes the film’s co-writers Simon Phillips (Age of the Living Dead, No Easy Days), Doug Phillips (Not All Who Wander, Butchers) and producer Ken Bressers (The Nights Before Christmas, Not All Who Wander). The prolific British director Paul Tanter (The Nights Before Christmas, Dystopia, and Kill Ratio) joins us to talk about the inspiration for the film, finding the right tone for a multi-genre story and the lightning fast pace he and his crew worked at to make STEALING CHAPLIN.
Ahead of North American VOD/Digital Platform & DVD on May 4

The Killing of Two Lovers / Film School Radio interview with Director Robert Machoian

After a startling opening image of extreme tension, first-time solo director Robert Machoian’s stark, slow-burn drama never quite goes where you expect. An evocative and atmospheric transmission from wintry Utah, THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS is a compact, economical portrait of a husband and father trying to keep it together while seething with rage during a trial separation from his wife. An interior drama set mostly outside, on the vast, lonely street where David (a knockout Clayne Crawford) stays with his ailing father just a few doors up from his wife Niki (Sepideh Moafi) and their four kids, Machoian’s film compassionately depicts a family in crisis, while moving at the ominous pace of a thriller. A complex, brooding soundscape from Peter Albrechtsen that seems to emanate directly from the head of its disturbed protagonist, and a claustrophobic aspect ratio contribute to the powerful emotional register of this impressive new work of American independent cinema. Director and writer Robert Machoian joins us for a conversation on the layered storylines, pulling together a superb cast and the importance of calibrating the appropriate atmospherics, such as sound and cinematography, to create a compelling film that punches way above it’s weight class.
For news and screenings go to: neonrated.com/films/the-killing-of-two-lovers