Kino Lorber

The director of an exceptionally moving documentary called Minding the Gap, Bing Liu, is up first on Episode 501. The film is opening in NYC on Friday, August 17th at the Metrograph Theater. Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship. Minding The Gap was made in conjunction with Kartemquin Films. It is being distributed by Hulu and will have its TV broadcast premiere later this year on POV.

The filmmakers behind the seminal and groundbreaking 1982 documentary The Atomic Cafe —Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader & Pierce Rafferty— are in the second segment. The film is currently screening at Film Forum in a new 4k restored digital print. This darkly humorous documentary consists of archival footage about nuclear warfare. Drawing largely on government propaganda and training films for American soldiers, the movie, presented in collage form, features clips from early in the Cold War era that are filled with alarming misinformation. Some segments address the alleged safety of nuclear radiation, “duck and cover” drills and other related topics, including instructions for living in a fallout shelter. The film, which is currently being distributed by Kino Lorber, will be opening wide over the coming days. This segment will be included on the forthcoming DVD as bonus content.

Music on this episode is from upcoming Filmwax guest singer-songwriter Mike Viola from his recent album The American Egypt.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

[7 mins.] In the first segment of Episode 429, filmmaker Pete Nicks (The Waiting Room) finally appears on the podcast! Pete discusses his new documentary, The Force, which opens in theaters on Friday, September 22nd. The film, which won him Best Director, U.S. Documentary at Sundance this year is the 2nd in his Oakland Trilogy, goes deep inside the embattled Oakland Police Department as it struggles to confront federal demands for reform, the rise of Black Lives Matter and an explosive scandal.

[44 mins. 30 secs.] Up next, a roundtable conversation with two of my favorite documentary filmmakers returning to the show, Doug Block (51 Birch Street) and Michael Rossato-Bennett (Alive Inside). We discuss making personal documentaries and what it takes to launch a crowdsourced fundraising campaign. Beside making personal documentary films that end up on HBO, Block also founded the popular documentary filmmaker resource, The D-Word. And in addition to making films, Rossato-Bennett, has founded the Alive Inside Foundation whose mission it is to bring youth together with elders living at home with Alzheimer’s. Both men reside in Manhattan.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

Episode 414 includes [5 mins. 30 secs.] a conversation with the Brooklyn-Based filmmaker Kirsten Tan regarding her first feature film, Pop Aye (Kino Lorber), which opened at NYC’s Film Forum yesterday and will screen at least through next Tuesday, July 4th (unless the film has nearly as much success as Manifesto which just finished after a 5 week run at the theater). Instead of taking place in a car with Seth Rogan & Barbra Streisand, this road movie dramedy is about an aging architect and his elephant, Pop Aye, who go by foot in the Thai countryside.

Next up, [26 mins. 26 secs.] Sierra Pettengill returns to the podcast. She was last on Episode 174 with her then Town Hall co-director Jamila Wignot. This time she’s joined by her current co-director, Pacho Velez. Together they have made an exceptional archive documentary called The Reagan Show (Gravitas Ventures). The film opens tomorrow, Friday, June 30th at The Metrograph in downtown NYC and at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, CA.

Last up, [54 mins. 25 secs.] filmmaker Lara Stolman with her new documentary, Swim Team (Argot Pictures), which follows a group of autistic New Jersey teenagers who comprise a competitive swim team. The film will have theatrical run beginning July 7th at the IFC Center in NYC and at the Laemmle Monica in California beginning July 21st (as well as other select cities).

Music on this episode is provided by the musical artist Kirstin Diable off her new album, Create Your Own Mythology (Speakeasy Records).

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

In this episode I welcome filmmakers behind two new indie films: Linas Phillips’ Rainbow Time and Keith Maitland’s Tower. I also chat more about my recent visit to the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and my thoughts about Barry Jenkins’ new film, Moonlight. Writer/director/actor Linas Phillips (Manson Family Vacation) and actress Melanie Lynskey (HBO’s Togetherness). Todd (Timm Sharp) grew up under the strange shadow of his older, mentally-challenged brother, Shonzi (Phillips). As kids, Shonzi forced Todd to make action movies. As adults, Todd is pressured to share love life details, even showing Shonzi a sex tape he made with an old girlfriend to help him cope when family tragedy hits. When their dad suffers a heart attack, Shonzi, now 40, moves in with Todd and his new girlfriend (Lynskey). Shonzi wants desperately to be included in their relationship like old times. Rainbow Time opens today at the new Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and at the Arena Theater in Los Angeles.Then I welcome Tower (Kino Lorber) filmmaker Keith Maitland for the second segment. On August 1, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower and opened fire, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes. When the gunshots were finally silenced, the toll included 16 dead, three dozen wounded, and a shaken nation left trying to understand what had happened. Archival footage is combined with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way to illustrate the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors. Among the film’s re-enactors is Filmwax Radio friend Chris Doubek. The film opens in Chicago today at the Music Box, in San Francisco at the Alamo Drafthouse Mission among other cities, this after already enjoying a recent successful theatrical engagement at Film Forum in NYC. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Zipcar.com. Earn $25 of free driving credit at joinzipcar.com/filmwaxradio.Filmwax Radio is part of the ShowBriz Studios podcast network and presented by Rooftop Films. Like us on Facebook.

Guests on this episode include the documentary co-directors Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern who have a new film, In My Father’s House opening Friday 10/9, and Canadian experimental filmmaker Guy Maddin whose new film The Forbidden Room opens at Film Forum today.

Guests on this episode include Antarctic Edge:70° South director Dena Seidel; Lisa Durden of the National Black Programming Consortium & filmmaker Carol Bash with her film Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band; and Appropriate Behavior director Desiree Akhavan from London.

Guests on this episode include director Olivier Assayas with the new Clouds of Sils Maria; Kieran Turner discusses his new doc Jobriath, A.D.; and filmmaker Brane Bala & actor/musician Milan Mumin with their film Love Hunter.

The director of the new film 52 Tuesdays, Sophie Hyde of Australia, is the guest on this Fandor sponsored episode of the podcast. The film opens in select cities on Friday, March 27th and will also debut on Fandor.com.

Guests include the Zellner Brothers with their new Kumiko The Treasure Hunter; Nick Broomfield discusses his catalog on Fandor; and Eugène Green discusses his new film La Sapienza.

Guests include filmmakers Farihah Zaman & Jeff Reichert with their 2 films Remote Area Medical & This Time Next Year; Eric Steel & the 10th anniversary of The Bridge; and director of The Missing Girl, A.D. Calvo.