KUCI: Film School

A Revolution on Canvas / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors Sara Nodjoumi & Till Schauder

In this hybrid political thriller and verité portrait documentary, A REVOLUTION ON CANVAS, Sara Nodjoumi, working with co-director and husband, Till Schauder, makes her directorial debut with this personal film, diving into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of more than 100 "treasonous" paintings by her father, seminal Iranian modern artist Nickzad Nodjoumi. The film follows Sara Nodjoumi as she traces a timeline of events, discovering her father's ongoing activism, his complicated relationship with her mother, artist Nahid Hagigat, and how the implications of his incendiary art impacted the trajectory of their family's future together. In 1980, Nickzad Nodjoumi (more commonly known as Nicky Nodjoumi) fled Iran in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. With his life in danger due to the controversial nature of his paintings on show at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, he joined his wife, Nahid, and daughter, Sara, in New York City, restlessly living in exile and continuing to paint. 40 years later, Sara begins an investigation to track down and reclaim her father's lost artwork from Tehran. As the investigation deepens, she unearths the emotionally charged story of her family mirrored in the political and cultural upheavals of her parents' homeland. Having participated in the pro-democracy movement to oust the Shah of Iran in the 1970s, Nicky's hope for a new Iran crumbled with the ascendance of an authoritarian regime. His provocative paintings, now depicting the new Islamic power brokers, were quickly seized, and rumored to be destroyed by radical Islamists or stowed away in the basement of the museum. As new protests ignite the streets of Iran in 2022, Sara and Nicky contact former workers at the museum determined to find someone on the ground in Tehran who can help locate the paintings but are stymied in their efforts until a contact in Tehran unexpectedly gains access to the museum's unseen basement and archival collection. Co-producers and co-directors Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder join us for a conversation on Sara's deeply personal inquiry into her family and the central events of her parents' life, paying tribute to their art while unveiling the complexity and longing that comes with living in exile from one's ancestral home.
For more go to: hbo.com/movies/a-revolution-on-canvas

Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels / Film School Radio interview with Director Mila Turajlić

Filmmaker Mila Turajlić was born in Belgrade, and grew up singing patriotic songs extolling Yugoslav leader Josep Broz Tito. The images that populated her "Yugoslavia of the mind" came largely from government newsreels--and the most iconic of those were shot by Stevan Labudović. In NON-ALIGNED: SCENES FROM THE LABUDOVIĆ REELS, Turajlić delves into Labudović's work documenting the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement, a largely Yugoslav-led bloc including many decolonizing nations that stood apart from both East and West during the Cold War. What begins as an exploration of newsreel footage of the 1961 Non-Aligned summit in Belgrade becomes a love letter to a vanished country and its hopes for the future, a history of the early days of the Non-Aligned Movement, and a document of the affinity between two filmmakers--Turajlić, in her forties, and Labudović, nearing 90. NON-ALIGNED: SCENES FROM THE LABUDOVIĆ REELS is an illuminating look back at the politically charged era of Cold War allegiance when leaders from the second and third world sought to forge an independent path not beholden to world’s “super powers”.
For more go to: icarusfilms.com/if-nonal

Breaking the News / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston and Chelsea Hernandez

BREAKING THE NEWS follows the launch of The 19th*, a news startup that seeks to change the white, male-dominated news industry, asking who’s been omitted from mainstream coverage and how to include them. As Donald Trump was getting sworn in as President and the Women’s March set an angry, outspoken tone for the country’s discourse, journalist Emily Ramshaw  decided to meet the moment by launching The 19th. Named after the Nineteenth Amendment, The 19th became the first nonprofit, nonpartisan news agency in the United States. Its mission is to focus on the impact of national politics and policy on women. However, by the time Emily and co-founder Amanda Zamora had secured funding and officially launched The 19th’s news site, the pandemic hit — and the very fabric of society went into a tailspin. BREAKING THE NEWS immerses its audience in the lives and steadfast pursuits of the members of The 19th — women and LGBTQ+ journalists — as they struggle to launch the agency and work to gain traction for their newsroom amidst shuttered news outlets and an upended America. With spirited storytelling, the directorial trio of Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, and Chelsea Hernandez provide an inquisitive and dynamic view into the inner workings of this news agency as its journalists disrupt entrenched biases, push for accountability and in the process captured the honest discussions at The 19th* around race and gender equity, revealing that change doesn’t come easy, and showcases how they confront these challenges both as a workplace and in their journalism.
For more go to: 19thnews.org/breaking-the-news-documentary-pbs
Or: breakingthenewsfilm.com
Or: 19thnews.org

God Save Texas: The Price of Oil / Film School Radio interview with Director Alex Stapleton

In GOD SAVE TEXAS: THE PRICE OF OIL, Houston born and raised filmmaker Alex Stapleton turns her lens on her hometown to chronicle the impact of the Texas oil industry on Houston residents, specifically Black and disenfranchised communities, including the lives of her own family, who arrived in Texas in the 1830s as slaves and have stayed in the state for nearly 200 years. Tracing her personal story as a descendant of slave owners, Stapleton widens her focus to show how Black history is vital to the Texas oil boom, yet has largely been left out of the history books. Despite representing 13% of the U.S. population, Black and brown people only make up 6% of the oil and gas workforce, with few in leadership positions, and historically, their neighborhoods are more likely to suffer the encroachment of refineries and chemical plants. Residents of Pleasantville, a Houston housing community developed in 1948 for Black veterans and their families, and similar “fenceline” communities risk exposure to elevated levels of toxicity and pollution. Illustrating that environmental racism is a civil rights issue, and by giving voice to the very people who face the human cost of Texas’ biggest money-maker, GOD SAVE TEXAS: THE PRICE OF OIL is a call for a long overdue reckoning. Director Alex Stapleton joins us to talk about her family’s multi-generational relationship with Texas and in the process makes it crystal clear the degree to which the spectre of slavery, living legacy of “sundowner” towns, economic deprivation and environmental racism continue to be a part of the lived experience for people of color in the Lone Star state.
For more go to: hbo.com/god-save-texas

Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó -/ Film School radio interview with Director Sean Wang & Producer Sam Davis

2024 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short “Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó” is a personal love letter from first generation Taiwanese-American director Sean Wang, to his grandmothers. Sean turns a camera on his grandmas (“Nǎi Nai” and “Wài Pó”), who are inseparable best friends and roommates in their 80s and 90s. The film captures their daily lives in hilarious and unexpected ways as they dance, stretch, and fart their sorrows away—eventually giving way to a poignant meditation on lives marked by both joy and pain. Together, grandmas and grandson remind us that getting older doesn’t have to mean fading away. After making its world premiere at SXSW — taking home the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award — the film went on to make the IDA shortlist and win Grand Jury Awards at AFI Fest and SIFF 2023, along with the Audience Award at The Wrap 2023 Shortlist Film Festival and Special Jury Recognition at LAAPFF 2023. Other selections include Rooftop Films Summer Series, Palm Springs ShortsFest, CAAM Fest 2023 and Aesthetica Film Festival 2023. Director / Producer / Editor Sean Wang and Producer / Cinematographer Sam Davis (Academy Award®-winning documentary short Period. End of Sentence) join us to talk about Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó’s participation, the film’s breakthrough at SXSW and what Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó will be wearing on the Red Carpet.
For more go to: seanwangfilm.com/nainai-waipo

Kiss The Future / Film School Radio interview with Director Nenad Cicin-Sain

An exploration of the perils of nationalism and art’s role as a weapon of resistance and activism, KISS THE FUTURE, follows an underground community that continued to work, create and live throughout the 1990s Siege of Sarajevo. Amid the breakup of Yugoslavia, the citizens of Sarajevo wake to find the city under siege and Bosnia at war. In a far-fetched scheme inspired by local resistance, an American aid worker living in Sarajevo reached out to the world’s biggest band, U2, to see if they could help raise global awareness of the devastating conflict. The band pledges to perform in the city once the conflict was over. KISS THE FUTURE follows the story of that promise, with a post-war concert that saw U2 play to over 45,000 local fans in a liberated city, a show that lives on as a joyous collective memory for the people of Sarajevo – proof that they did not just survive the blockade, but thrived in spite of it; that amid the horrors of the darkest human impulses, music and art can be acts of rebellion. Director and co-writer Nenad Cicin-Sain (The Time Being) joins us to talk about his own connection to Yugoslavia, meeting Bill Carter, the power of music, working with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the project and connecting with the people who survived the darkest days and now stand as an example of hope and a better way forward.
For more go to: fifthseason.com/kiss-the-future

Stopmotion / Film School Radio interview with Director Robert Morgan

Ella Blake is a stop-motion animator who is struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother. Suddenly alone in the world, she embarks upon the creation of a macabre new puppet film, which soon becomes the battleground for her sanity. As Ella’s mind starts to fracture, the characters in her animated film take on a terrifying life of their own, and the unleashed power of her imagination threatens to destroy her. Anchored by a standout performance featuring actress Aisling Franciosi, the film is about a young stop-motion animator who is driven to the edge of sanity by her own creations. STOPMOTION also features Morgan’s captivating yet frightening stop-motion animation, which heightens Aisling’s performance of a grieving daughter who must grapple with her own demons. Director Robert Morgan (The Vandal, To Dust) joins us to talk about his background as an artist, his love of stop motion filmmaking and horror, working with a superb cast that includes Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet and newcomer Caolinn Springall, and his collaboration with co-writer Robin King.
For more go to: ifcfilms.com/films/stopmotion

Io Capitano / Film School Radio interview with Director Matteo Garrone

Director Matteo Garrone made his name with the landmark Neapolitan crime film GOMORRAH, and has since demonstrated a penchant for gothic tales tinged with dark fantasy, including TALE OF TALES, DOGMAN and PINOCCHIO. With IO CAPITANO, Italy’s official selection for the Academy Award® Best International Film category, Garrone turns his attention back to real-life subject matter, where he finds a story of bravery and heroism in the face of harrowing danger that’s equal to any classical epic or enchanting fairy tale. Musician-turned-actor Seydou Sarr gives an impressive performance as Seydou, a Senegalese teenager who lives in an over-crowded house with his mother and younger sisters. Along with his cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall), Seydou has been working odd jobs and saving money, preparing for a move to Italy, with dreams of pursuing a music career. Along the way, they will contend with shakedowns from corrupt border guards, mistreatment from human traffickers, a dangerous and deadly crossing of the Sahara Desert, and imprisonment, abuse and modern-day slavery in Libya. Director and co-writer Matteo Garrone stops by to talk about his “reverse shot” of the immigration experience while unfurling an epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey from West Africa to Italy and his confidence in the two young, untested actors to embody the determination, courage, and character he needed to make this film such a resounding success.
For more go to: cohenmedia.net/io-capitano

Rojek / Film School Radio interview with Director Zayne Akyol

Director Zayne Akyol’s even handed and insightful documentary ROJEK places the viewer face-to-face with incarcerated members of the Islamic State from all over the world, as well as their wives detained in prison-camps, who all share a common dream: establishing a caliphate. Confronted with the fundamentalist beliefs of the jihadists, the ROJEK attempts to trace the beginning, the rise and fall of the Islamic State (ISIS) through their personal stories. These conversations are the threads along which the documentary evolves, as it is intertwined with various sequences depicting current, post-war Syrian Kurdistan. ROJEK offers an intimate gaze at an unknown reality, testifying of pivotal moments experienced by the actors of this conflict. Director Zayne Akyol yeoman’s work in ROJEK brings us into the center of a dangerous and vexing question facing much of the world right now… is the ideological warfare we have all witnessed in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, an historic anomaly or the beginning of a terrifying threat to our collective security?
For more go to: icarusfilms.com/if-rojek

Shari & Lamb Chop / Film School Radio interview with Director Lisa D’Apolito

Director Lisa D’Apolita takes us back to a time before there was Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street, to the world of Shari Lewis and her lovable cast of puppets, including Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and the most beloved puppet of all time, Lamb Chop. In 1960, while still in her early 20s, NBC gave Shari her first national network show, The Shari Lewis Show, replacing The Howdy Doody Show. Lewis quickly became a pioneer in television and changed the face of children’s entertainment.  She created a playful, non-judgmental world for children and adults alike, inviting us not just to 'be ourselves,' but to be the best version of ourselves we can be. She used her puppets as her voice – to say the things that women couldn’t say in mid-century America and to take control over her personal story. Over five decades, she was able to straddle two very different worlds as a performer, conquering both children’s and more mature entertainment; from her Saturday morning program to her late-night talk show performances and Las Vegas club act. Lewis also won dozens of awards – including 13 Emmys and a Peabody – published 60 children’s books, and finally found a way to achieve her dreams as a performer and managed to stay relevant with her age defuing comeback in her 60’s, endearing her to a new generation with Lamb Chop’s Play-A-Long. Shari used her renewed popularity to reinforce her commitment to children’s education. Director Lisa D’Apolito stops to talk about why she believes that Shari Lewis remains so under appreciated, delves into the unique psychology that exists between performer and puppet, and the peculiar world of ventriloquism and magic and how Shari and Lamb Chop became one of the most unique and enduring “comedy teams” in American culture.
For more go to: shariandlambchopdoc.com