KUCI: Film School

My Name is Pedro / Film School Radio interview with Director Lillian LaSalle

First-time director Lillian LaSalle's award-winning and timely documentary MY NAME IS PEDRO explores what public education meant to South Bronx Latino maverick educator, Pedro Santana, and what he, in turn, meant to public education. MY NAME IS PEDRO is a profound story of how one person actualizes learning and positive change in children, adults, environments and communities through an 'impact' ripple effect strategy that he has effortlessly perfected. MY NAME IS PEDRO is also an essential and timely reminder of the importance of great educators that exist within the infrastructure of our country's public education system. Infectious in his optimism, Santana becomes one of the most influential public-school teachers and then administrators in the New York public school system after turning his troubled Bronx middle school, MS 391, around. He is unapologetic in his commitment to create change for kids, no matter the odds. When a glowing front-page New York Times article catapults him into the spotlight, he is recruited and then accepts a promotion to use his famed 'out of the box' and transformative practices to save a corrupt and divided suburban school district. But the political challenges there may simply be too great, even for the infallible Santana. Director Lillian LaSalle joins us to talk about her beautifully rendered story of a man determined to guide and motivate young people to be better students and better people.
For news, screenings and updates go to: mynameispedro.com

One Hour Outcall / Film School Radio interview with Director T. Arthur Cottam and Writer - Lead Actor William Norrett

ONE HOUR OUTCALL is a sophisticated, sexy drama unraveling the complex relationship between a call girl and her client who meet every Thursday night. Esmeralda (Natalia Ochoa) is a college-aged, high-class escort, Greg (William Norrett ) a middle-aged, divorced introvert. Sexual tension and curiosity fill the air during their first rendezvous, each vying for the upper hand. As they continue their weekly explorations, however, they start to develop an intimacy that goes beyond the transactional and into the deeply personal. When his ulterior motive is revealed, their interludes force Greg to confront his relationship with Esmeralda, his family, and his own inner demons. And it forces Esmeralda to question whether or not she can truly leave her emotions at the door. ONE HOUR OUTCALL stars Natalia Ochoa (The Pastor, The Real Steal), William Norrett (Carbuncle, Elysian Gardens), Kristin Carey (Hall Pass, Criminal Minds), Shannon Leigh Godwin (Fake The Joy, Fantasy Fitness), Octavio Rodriguez (NCIS: New Orleans, Homeland”), and Will Holbrook (Ride Home, The Gunman). Director T. Arthur Cottam and Writer / Lead Actor William Norrett join us to talk about their character driven drama told in a series of flashbacks and real-time fragments that add up to a gripping story of power, control and hidden agendas.
For news, screenings and updates go to: onehouroutcall.com
Where to watch: onehouroutcall.com/where-to-watch

Starting at Zero (Reimagining Education in America) / Film School Radio interview with Director Will Kammerer

Starting at Zero (Reimagining Education in America) explores the power of investing in high-quality early childhood education so that all children and families have the opportunity to attain the American Dream. The film brings together the voices of policymakers, educators, academics, business leaders, pediatricians, parents, and children. Starting at Zero features five current and past governors who are champions of early childhood education: Governors Steve Bullock of Montana, Kay Ivey of Alabama, and Ralph Northam of Virginia, as well as former Governors Jim Hunt of North Carolina, and Phil Bryant of Mississippi. Starting at Zero examines the latest developmental brain science to demonstrate how essential the earliest years of learning are to maximize human potential. Key features of high-quality early childhood learning environments and experiences are outlined and then brought to life as the film delves into the evolution of Alabama’s #1 nationally ranked state Pre-K program. Director Willa Kammerer joins us to talk about the increasing awareness of early childhood education, why is it so critical to our nation's current and future success and the long-term societal benefits of a maximizing human potential
For neews, screenings and updates go to: startingatzerofilm.com

The Prison Within / Film School Radio interview with Director Katherin Hervey and Producer Erin Kenway

Katherine Hervey’s emotionally charged new documentary THE PRISON WITHIN exposes the devastating impact untreated trauma has on individuals and communities through the powerful stories of survivors of violent crimes and prisoners incarcerated for murder in San Quentin prison. The prisoners and survivors come together and participate in the Victim Offender Education Group (VOEG)—an innovative restorative justice program enabling prisoners to discover how the trauma they’ve experienced contributed to their criminality and to understand the impact their crimes have on their victims. Together, the prisoners and survivors confront and expose the pain, shame, and rage caused by the extreme trauma they’ve experienced throughout their lives. THE PRISON WITHIN goes beyond why and how the system is inadequate, deftly exposing the torment experienced by people on both sides of prison walls. Through personal stories illustrative of the systemic injustices that perpetuate cycles of violence and trauma, this film lays a path to heal and reconcile our notions of justice. The Prison Within is narrated by Hill Harper (The Good Doctor, Homeland, CSI:NY, Covert Affairs) and author of Letters to an Incarcerated Brother, which speaks to the current mass incarceration crisis. Director Katherin Hervey, a former Los Angeles Public Defender and volunteer prison college instructor, and Producer Erin Kenway, is the first filmmaker to gain access to chronicle these intimate and revealing sessions inside San Quentin Prison.
For news, screenings and updates go to: theprisonwithin.org

The Mole Agent / Film School Radio interview with Director Maite Alberdi

In Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent Sergio is a Chilean spy. Sort of. At least, Sergio is offered the role of one after a casting session organized by Detective Romulo, a private investigator who needs a credible mole to infiltrate a retirement home. Romulo’s client, the concerned daughter of a resident, suspects her mother is being abused and hires him to find out what is really happening. However, Sergio is 83, not 007, and not an easy trainee when it comes to technology and spying techniques. But he is a keen student, looking for ways to distract himself after recently losing his wife. What could be a better distraction than some undercover spy action? While gathering intelligence, Sergio grows close to several residents and realizes that the menacing truth beneath the surface is not what anyone had suspected. Director Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent is a stylish combination of an observational documentary and a spy movie, with sleek camerawork and wonderfully watchable characters. It’s a unique meditation on compassion and loneliness that will infiltrate your heart and never let go.
For news and updates go to: cinereach.org/films/the-mole-agent

Buoyancy / Film School Radio interview with Director Rodd Rathjen

BUOYANCY is the story of a Cambodian teenager sold into forced labor on a Thai fishing boat is a passionate testimony against social injustice and a moving coming-of-age tale about a boy whose humanity is put to the test. Spirited 14-year-old Chakra works the rice fields with his family. He yearns for independence and seeks out a local broker who can get him paid work in a Thai factory. Without telling his family, Chakra travels to Bangkok to make his fortune. But when he gets there, he and his new friend Kea realize the broker has lied to them. Along with other Cambodians and Burmese, they are sold to a fishing captain as slaves. Chakra and Kea are trapped at sea, trawling fish 22 hours a day, surviving on just a handful of cold rice a day. The captain quickly weeds out those weakened by the conditions or trying to escape, and throws them overboard. The trawler sells its catch and restocks its supplies without going to land, making escape impossible. Chakra looks to Rom Ran to understand what it will take to be free. With hope and humanity dwindling, Chakra decides to take matters into his own hands. Director Rodd Rathjen joins us to talk about shooting at sea, with a cast composed of mostly non-English speaking actor, making his first feature film.
For news, screenings and updates go to: kinolorber.com/film/buoyancy

The Social Dilemma / Film School radio interview with Director Jeff Orlowski

Set in the dark underbelly of Silicon Valley, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA fuses investigative documentary with enlightening narrative drama—think An Inconvenient Truth meets The Matrix. Expert testimony from tech whistle-blowers exposes our disturbing predicament: the services Big Tech provides—search engines, networks, instant information, et cetera—are merely the candy that lures us to bite. Once we’re hooked and coming back for more, the real commodity they sell is their prowess to influence and manipulate us. Technology wizards have masterminded a new form of capitalism, and humanity is now the raw resource feeding the machine. THE SOCIAL DILEMMA focuses on the powerful, hidden artificial intelligence tasked with hijacking our attention is tearing apart social norms, jeopardizing truth and democracy, and putting civilization on a programmed path toward self-destruction. Award-winning filmmaker and environmentalist Jeff Orlowski (Chasing Ice, 2012; Chasing Coral, 2017) disrupts the disrupters by uncorking the invisible story purring from that mobile phone hidden in your pocket. Cunningly entertaining, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA sounds the alarm on surveillance capitalism in hopes of preserving the very fabric of our society before it’s too late. Director Jeff Orlowski joins us to talk about his incredibly relevant and important film.
For news, screenings and updates go to: thesocialdilemma.com
THE SOCIAL DILEMMA is screening on Netflix beginning September 9th.

Space Dogs / Film School Radio interview with Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter

In their mesmerizing new film, SPACE DOG, Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter chronicle the legacy of Laika, a stray dog picked up by the Soviet space program on the streets of Moscow, the first living being to orbit the earth when she was launched into space on Sputnik 2. Kremser and Peter trace the persistence of her memory and legacy into the present day. As the capsule containing the lifeless body of Laika re-entered Earth’s orbit and began to burn up, the narrator announces “What had been a Moscow street dog had become a ghost.”The ghost Laika lives on in the present-day strays of SPACE DOGS. Photographed at ground level with wandering, hypnotic camera movements, the strays are seen navigating the urban environs of modern Moscow. In hewing closely to the dog’s point of view, the city is rendered as a strange, alien environment. Pulsating music from buildings and unidentified passerby take on an unfamiliar quality as the dogs explore this strange new world. Archival footage of the Soviet space program is interwoven throughout the film, reveling in the bizarre tests and procedures the canines were subjected to in preparation for space travel. Co-directors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter join us for a conversation on their fascinating project that features stunning cinematography and meditative pacing that recalls the work of Andrei Tarkovsky, and how SPACE DOGS de-centers humans in order to uncover a forgotten history.
For news, screenings and updates go to: icarusfilms.com/if-spaced
For more about the filmmakers go to: raumzeitfilm.com

Feels Good Man / Film School Radio interview with Director Arthur Jones and Producer Giorgio Angelini

In November 2016, a nasty election cycle had exposed a seismic cultural rift, and the country suddenly felt like a much different place. For underground cartoonist Matt Furie, that sensation was even more surreal. Furie’s comic creation Pepe the Frog, conceived more than a decade earlier as a laid-back humanoid amphibian, had unwittingly become a grotesque political pawn. FEELS GOOD MAN is a Frankenstein-meets-Alice in Wonderland journey of an artist battling to regain control of his creation, while confronting a disturbing cast of characters who have their own peculiar attachments to Pepe. Now, as Pepe continues to morph around the world – FEELS GOOD MAN offers a vivid, moving portrait of one man, one frog, and the very strange reality we’ve all found ourselves living in. Director Arthur Jones and Producer Giorgio Angelini stop by to talk about their mind-blowing journey into an internet / social media / 4Chan rabbit hole where a hippy-dippy cartoon character becomes an avatar and unfathomable messenger of hatred and bigoted propaganda.
For news, updates and screenings go to: feelsgoodmanfilm.com
To watch Feels Good Man go to: feelsgoodman.watch
For more on Pepe the Frog creator mattfurie.com

Andorra Hustle / Film School Radio interview with Director Eric Merola

Andorra, a tiny, independent country situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains with a total population of 80,000 people found itself at the center of one of the most convoluted and outrageous bank robberies in modern history: on March 10, 2015, Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA), a private bank in Andorra, was shut down by Spanish, American, and Andorran governments in Spain’s efforts to destroy the Catalonian Independence Movement thus leaving dozens of innocent civilians facing prison for money laundering crimes that never existed, and scores of innocent families have had their entire life savings stolen from them. The incentive for the Spanish government to destroy BPA was part of Spain's ongoing "Operation Catalonia"—a covert state-sponsored war-like operation meant to undermine the progress of Catalonia’s efforts to separate from Spain due to generations of humanitarian and economic repression Madrid has inflicted upon Catalonia. America's incentive was to protect Spain's interests, as they are an ally of the United States. Andorra's incentive appears to be purely economical on behalf of its leadership. Director Eric Merola, (Burzynski, Second Opinion: Laetrile at Sloan-Kettering, Burzynski: The Cancer Cure Cover-Up, and The God Cells) joins us to talk about this shocking, but true story of an international banking system, and a regulatory oversight regime that is only incidentally concerned with banking integrity or financial criminality.
For news and updates go to: andorrahustle.com
Merola Productions is proud to present the VOD release of THE ANDORRA HUSTLE, a documentary film written and directed by the award-winning filmmaker Eric Merola. The film will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime on September 4, 2020. To Watch Andorra Hustle go to: amazon.com/Andorra Hustle