KUCI: Film School

Herb Alpert is... / Film School radio interview with Director John Scheinfeld

With his trumpet he turned the Tijuana Brass into gold, earning 15 gold and 14 platinum records; He has won nine Grammys Awards between 1966 and 2014, and received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2012. Herb co-founded the indie label, A & M Records with his business partner, Jerry Moss, which recorded artists as varied as Carole King, Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendes, and The Police. A&M would go on to become one of the most successful independent labels in history. He has shown his striking work as an abstract painter and sculptor, worldwide. And through the Herb Alpert Foundation, he has given significant philanthropic support of educational programs in the arts nationwide, from the Harlem School of the Arts and Los Angeles City College to CalArts and UCLA. John Scheinfeld’s documentary Herb Alpert is... profiles the artist, now 85, mostly from the perspective of colleagues like Questlove, Paul Williams, Sting, and Bill Moyers. In their words, the shy, unassuming trumpeter is a musical, artistic and philanthropic heavyweight. Director John Scheinfeld stops by to talk about many facets of Alpert’s personal and public life that make him the compelling and warm-hearted person he is.
For news, screenings and updates go to: herbalpertis.com
For more on the work and latest news go to: herbalpert.com

Once Upon a River / Film School Radio interview with Director Haroula Rose

Based on the best-selling novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell, ONCE UPON A RIVER is the story of Native American teenager Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna) in 1970s rural Michigan who after enduring a series of traumas and tragedies, sets out on an odyssey on the Stark River in search of her estranged mother. On the water, Margo encounters friends, foes, wonders, and dangers; navigating life on her own, she comes to understand her potential, all while healing the wounds of her past. ONCE UPON A RIVER features newcomer Kenadi DelaCerna, John Ashton (Midnight Run, Gone Baby Gone), Tatanka Means (The Son, Saints & Strangers, Tiger Eyes), Ajuawak Kapashesit (Caleb, Outlander), Sam Straley (Hala,.Chicago P.D.), Coburn Goss (Man of Steel, What Women Want), Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood, Justified, Hatfields & McCoys), Kenn E. Head (ER, Chicago Fire). Director Haroula Rose joins us for a conversation on her collaboration with author Bonnie Jo Campbell, bringing her background in music into the filmmaking world and bringing the role of Margo to life through the stellar performance of newcomer Kenadi DelaCerna.
For news, screenings and updates go to:ouarfilm.com

Dick Johnson is Dead / Film School Radio interview with Director Kirsten Johnson

A lifetime of making documentaries has convinced award-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson of the power of the real. But now she’s ready to use every escapist movie-making trick in the book - staging inventive and fantastical ways for her 86-year-old psychiatrist father to die while hoping that cinema might help her bend time, laugh at pain and keep her father alive forever. The darkly funny and wildly imaginative DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD is a love letter from a daughter to a father, creatively blending fact and fiction to create a celebratory exploration of how movies give us the tools to grapple with life’s profundity. DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD was filmed, produced and directed by Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson), produced by Katy Chevigny and Marilyn Ness, co-produced by Maureen A. Ryan and executive produced by Megan Ellison. Director Kirsten Johnson joins us for conversation on her approach to working along side her dad, making the personal universal and how sharing her own acquired wisdom has impacted her life.
For news, screenings and updates go to: dickjohnsonisdead.com
Watch it: netflix.com/Dick Johnson is Dead

Chasing the Present / Film School Radio interview with film Subject James Sebastiano

CHASING THE PRESENT is a timely documentary following one man’s world wide journey of self inquiry as he explores the root cause of his lifelong battle with mental health issues. A materially successful young man, James Sebastiano Jr., riddled with anxiety, embarks on a world-wide journey of self-inquiry. From the streets of NY, to the stillness of the Ganges, and deep into the jungles of Peru, he immerses himself in meditation, self-inquiry, and plant medicine to find the root cause of the problem and learn how to finally find freedom from his crippling anxiety.  Along the way, he finds answers to why a person who seemingly has it all can continue to suffer from debilitating panic attacks, recognizing the beauty and power that lies within each of us, if we are willing to go there. CHASING THE PRESENT features Featuring James Sebastiano Jr., Russell Brand, Alex Grey, Graham Hancock, Gary Weber, Rupert Spira, Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Matthew Watherston, Jose Sanchez, James Sebastiano Sr., Jordan Sebastiano, Zelda Hall, Josh Korda, Vijeth Kumar. CHASING THE PRESENT subject James Sebastiano joins us to talk about the physical, psychological and spiritual journey he and director Mark Waters shared over the three plus years that this passion project took them on and why their experiences and the lessons learned from people they met will resonate with all that choose to join them.
For news, screenings and updates go to: chasingthepresent.com

The Artist’s Wife / Film School Radio interview with Director Tom Dolby

Claire (Lena Olin) lives a quiet domestic life in the Hamptons as the wife of celebrated artist Richard Smythson (Bruce Dern). Once a promising painter herself, Claire now lives in the shadow of her husband’s illustrious career. While preparing work for his final show, Richard’s moods become increasingly erratic, and he is diagnosed with dementia. As his memory and behavior deteriorate, she shields his condition from the art community while trying to reconnect him with his estranged daughter and grandson from a previous marriage. Challenged by the loss of her world as she knew it, Claire must now decide whether to stand with Richard on the sidelines or step into the spotlight herself. Director Tom Dolby (Call Me My Your Name, Little Men, Regarding Susan Sontag, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood) stops by to talk about his compelling, clear-eyed look at a loving couple’s faltering attempts to find a way forward.
For news, screenings and updates go to: theartistswifefilm.com

Public Trust / Film School Radio interview with Director David Garrett Byars

One of the most important documentaries of the year, Public Trust is a film that needs to be seen by everyone who enjoys getting out in nature. Although many of us take the 640 million acres of America’s Public Lands for granted, these lands are endangered by powerful forces that are attempting the largest land grab in modern history. By focusing on the eminent destruction of the Boundary Waters Wilderness in Minnesota, the downsizing of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, and the wholesale appropriation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, director David Garrett Byars enlists a slew of journalists, land historians, tribal leaders, and government whistleblowers to present a highly persuasive argument that is impossible to ignore and vital to hear. Above all else, as executive producer Robert Redford tells us, “Public Trust is the story of citizens who are fighting back. It’s a much-needed wake-up call for all of us who want to preserve our unique and wild cultural heritage. Director David Garrett Byars joins us to talk about the on-going schemes by the most pernicious corporate interest to steal our heritage and how a growing group of dedicated and non-partisan people from around the country are thwarting them.
For news and updates go to: patagonia.com/films/public-trust
Our public lands are under threat. Join us in the fight to protect them. Text ‘DEFEND’ to 71333.
** Public Trust will premiere on Friday September 25 on YouTube Watch it for free for the next 30 days,

The Swerve / Film School Radio interview with Director Dean Kapsalis

In the gripping psychological thriller THE SWERVE focuses on the life on the edge. Holly seems to have it all: two kids, a nice house, a good job as a teacher, and a husband with his career on the way up. But there are troubling signs that all is not right in her world. The insomnia. The medication for the insomnia. The dreams from the medication for the insomnia. The arrival of her estranged sister and a mouse invading her home don’t help either. Add the weight of a dark secret, and her already delicate balance collapses, sending her spiraling out of control. THE SWERVE is anchored by an unforgettably riveting performance by Azura Skye as Holly. Skye masterfully crafts a portrait of a struggling mother on the edge. Writer/director Dean Kapsalis’s joins us to talk about his powerful heart-wrenching feature debut that explores a week in the life of a woman on the verge in this haunting meditation on mental illness.
For news, screenings and updates go to: epic-pictures.com/film/the-swerve
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Miracle in the Desert / Film School Radio interview with Director Greg Bassenian

Greg Bassenian (“CSI: Miami”) eye-opening award-winning documentary Miracle in the Desert: The Rise and Fall of the Salton Sea, which lays bare the startling environmental disaster that is the Salton Sea in California’s coveted Coachella valley. Charting the Salton Sea’s creation in 1905 to the current devastating environmental crisis that it faces today, this harrowing journey takes the viewer into the toxic dust. As the largest lake in California begins to dry, millions of lives are in danger as clouds of toxic dust threaten the health of millions of Californians. Following in the footsteps of Al Gore’s eye opening An Inconvenient Truth, Bassenian’s new documentary carefully plots the course of economic growth that sprouted a shimmering desert riviera laden with costly construction challenges developing into the perfect storm – creating an unstable ecosystem that now lays to waste the health of the Coachella Valley’s community as both local and federal governments look to pass the cost of fixing things onto someone other than themselves. Director Greg Bassenian joins us to talk about this accidental body of water’s orgin-story, it’s moment of fleeting fame and the dire consequences for all of Southern California if measures are not taken to rescue The Salton Sea from total collapse.
facebook.com/miracleinthedesert

We Are Many / Film School Radio interview with Director Amir Amirani

WE ARE MANY focuses on February 15th, 2003, when up to 30 million people, many of whom had never demonstrated before in their lives, came out in nearly 800 cities around the world to protest against the impending Iraq War. The New York Times called this movement the “Second Superpower”. How did this day come about? Who organized it? And was it, as many people claimed, a total failure? This fearless, thought-provoking documentary is the remarkable inside story behind the first ever global demonstration and its surprising and unreported legacy. WE ARE MANY features testimony from a unique cast of direct participants, including organizers, activists, high-profile figures, and of course the public, filmed in seven countries – Italy, Spain, Egypt, Sweden, Australia, UK, and the USA. Extraordinary testimony from activists in Egypt reveals how, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, the global anti-war protests inspired those in Tahrir Square to go on to engage in the massive democratic movement that ultimately led to the Arab Spring. In the UK, the government was defeated over the proposed invasion of Syria, a historic event that might not have transpired without the legacy of those demonstrations a decade ago. The star-studded list of contributors includes Danny Glover, actor Mark Rylance, film director Ken Loach, Prof. Noam Chomsky, musicians Brian Eno and Damon Albarn, writer and Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic (author of ‘Born on the 4th of July’), Rev. Jesse Jackson, Richard Branson, and Colin Powell’s former Chief of Staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, amongst others. WE ARE MANY is a bold documentary by Amir Amirani charts the birth and growth of the new people power movement, now sweeping the world, taking us up to the Arab Spring and Syria, a little over 10 years after that historic day.
For news, screenings and updates go to: wearemany.com

All in: The Fight for Democracy / FFilm School Radio interview with Co-directors Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes

ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY is a riveting examination of voter suppression in the United States of America. The film weaves rich archival storytelling with the personal experiences of experts, activists, and would-be voters deprived of their rights. Current activism as well as historical insight expose what corrupted our democracy from the moment it was founded. Every time we the people take a step toward a more just and equal nation — granting rights to the disenfranchised, from women’s suffrage to desegregation — new forces and obstacles emerge that require us to fight for the right to vote once again. Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and the first female African-American major-party gubernatorial nominee, offers an insider’s look at the patchwork of laws and barriers designed to hinder voting. Many U.S citizens remain unaware of this dangerous threat to their basic right to wield their power and raise their voices at the polls.ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY explores fundamental questions: Who gets to participate in our democracy, and who is pushed aside? How can we all fight back? Voting is the cog that makes the machinery of democracy work — and if the machinery breaks for some, it will eventually break for all. Co-directors Liz Garbus (Nothing Left Unsaid, I’lll Be Gone in the Dark, Lost Girls) and Lisa Cortes (The Apollo, The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion, The Woodsman) join us to talk about how incredibly important voting rights are in determining the outcome of our elections and out quickly they can be taken away.
ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY will open in select theaters on September 9th and will be available on Amazon Prime Video on September 18th.