Film and Television (Audio)

Moderator Matt Ryan spoke with Maria Schrader about her film "I’m Your Man," which she directed and co-wrote and is now Germany’s submission for the international film category for the 2022 Academy Awards. The film focuses on Alma, a researcher who is chosen to test a humanoid robot named Tom, who is programmed to be the perfect partner for her. Schrader discussed the exciting and challenging aspe...

Destin Daniel Cretton, director and co-writer of Marvel’s Shang-Chi, answered questions about the film from moderator Matt Ryan. Cretton discussed a wide range of topics, including the casting of legendary actors Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh, as well as the intense physical training and emotionally complex performances required of cast members Simu Liu and Meng’er Zhang. He also talked about some...

A panel consisting of UCSB faculty Lisa Parks, Jean Beaman, and France Winddance Twine discusses the sociological impacts of Netflix’s Lupin. Beaman and Twine dive into the show’s political relevance, handling of representation, and nuanced portrayal of Paris, all of which work to make the show such an effective critique of state power. Each guest brings their own unique background and specializat...

Moderator Patrice Petro speaks with Scott Frank about the influence of German series Babylon Berlin on his own series, The Queen’s Gambit. Scott discusses multiple aspects of Babylon Berlin, including the score, location, plot structure, and production choices, which contributed to his appreciation of German history and television as well as influenced his own choices when making The Queen’s Gambi...

Filmmaker and author Cheryl Foggo joins moderator Stephanie Batiste for a virtual discussion of Foggo’s new documentary, John Ware Reclaimed. The film follows Foggo’s quest to recover the story of John Ware, a Black cowboy and rancher who settled in Alberta, Canada prior to the turn of the twentieth century. In conversation with Batiste, Foggo addresses how Ware’s story illuminates histories of Bl...

Writer/director Sourav Sarangi discusses his 2012 documentary, Char...The No Man's Island, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of working in the India/Bangladesh borderlands. Joined by moderator Bhaskar Sarkar, Sarangi recounts his inspiration for making the film, the struggles he faced during production, and the importance of telling this unique story of life on the border. Char...The No...

Moderator Diane Fujino joins activist and documentary subject Mike Africa Jr. for a discussion of Tommy Oliver’s new documentary, 40 Years A Prisoner. A riveting chronicle of the controversial 1978 Philadelphia police raid on the radical back-to-nature group MOVE, 40 Years a Prisoner follows Africa Jr.’s decades-long fight to free his parents from prison in the aftermath. Together, Fujino and Afri...

Actor, director, producer, and comedy icon Henry Winkler joins moderator Matt Ryan for a discussion of his work on the hit HBO comedy, Barry. Barry stars Bill Hader as a depressed, low-rent hitman from the Midwest who reluctantly travels to Los Angeles to execute a hit on an aspiring actor. In conversation with Ryan, Winkler provides an in-depth look at his character Gene Cousineau, while also rec...

Writer/director Catherine Hardwicke discusses her directorial debut film, Thirteen, a realistic drama of an innocent teenage girl thrown into a curious world of rebellion, sex, and drugs. In conversation with moderator Matt Ryan, Hardwicke discusses the process of working with co-writer Nikki Reed to capture the reality of Reed’s own teen years, and to transform them in turn into this harrowing ye...

Hester Blum, David Clark, and Korenna Estes discuss the film Frozen Obsession, which follows the 18-day, 2,000-mile Northwest Passage Project expedition through the stunningly beautiful and extreme Canadian Arctic, aboard the Swedish research icebreaker Oden. In conversation with Ian Kellett, Blum, Clark, and Estes discuss the process of making the documentary and the lessons they learned as a par...

In conversation with moderator Sara Pankenier Weld, filmmaker Holly Morris discusses her 2015 documentary, The Babushkas of Chernobyl. The film offers an intimate look at the remarkable women who continue to live, fish, and forage in the shadow of the ruined Chernobyl nuclear power plant, having refused to leave their homes following the 1986 explosion at reactor 4. Morris details the triumphs and...

Colin Gunckel and Mirasol Enríquez discuss the impact and importance of the 1983 epic film El Norte, directed by Gregory Nava. In conversation with moderator Ross Melnick, Gunckel and Enríquez reflect on the production and reception of the film in the context of Chicanx filmmaking in the 80s. El Norte tells the story of a Guatemalan brother and sister who flee persecution and journey north along t...

Director Sanjay Rawal and editor Alexander Meillier discuss their new documentary Gather, which explores the growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, all while battling the trauma of centuries colonial genocide. In conversation with Greg Johnson, Rawal and Meillier discuss the process of making the film, address...

Trent Atkinson and Brandon Stansell discuss their new film Three Chords and a Lie, which explores the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in country music. In a conversation with Tyler Morgenstern, Stansell and Atkinson discuss the process of making the documentary and the challenges it presented, as well as larger issues of representation and diversity in the country music industry. Three Chords and a L...

A Normal Girl director Aubree Bernier-Clarke, activist/producer Pidgeon Pagonis, and Ponyboi director River Gallo discuss their experiences creating these innovative portraits of contemporary intersex life. In conversation with moderator Xiuhe Zhang, Bernier-Clarke, Pagonis, and Gallo address the challenges that intersex media makers, performers, and writers face in telling their stories, but also...

In this roundtable discussion, professors Stephen Groening, Maggie Hennefeld, Brian Jacobson, and Jocelyn Szcepaniak-Gillece reflect on how pandemics past shed new light on how the current COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the world of cinema. Moderated by Patrice Petro, this conversation addresses questions of risk and exposure in the media industries, the movie theater’s role as public space, and h...

Screenwriter and actress Guinevere Turner discusses her experience working on the groundbreaking 1994 film, Go Fish. In a conversation with Assatu Wisseh, Turner recounts how she and director Rose Troche developed their unique story of romance and friendship in a lesbian community in Chicago. A low-budget, independent romantic comedy, Go Fish tells a girl-meets-girl love story that subverts the co...

Gabriel Meléndez discusses Herbert J. Biberman’s 1954 film Salt of the Earth, a classic of Chicanx and feminist cinemas. With Stephen Borunda, Meléndez discusses the film’s historical context and the political controversies surrounding its production and release. Salt of the Earth offers a neorealist retelling of a fifteen-month-long strike against the Empire Zinc mining company, initiated in 1951...

Actress and filmmaker Marielle Heller discusses adapting Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel, The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures, into a screenplay. With UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan, Heller addresses the challenges of constructing a realistic and honest coming-of-age narrative, told from the perspective of a teenage girl in 1970s San Francisco. The Diary of a Te...

Charles Randolph discusses adapting the complex story of The Big Short into an Academy Award-winning screenplay. In conversation with UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan, Randolph recounts how he went about constructing a narrative is highly experimental but nonetheless cohesive and compelling. Recounting the events that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis, The Big Short conveys the complex...

Moderator Emily Zinn sits down with director/executive producer Brad Silberling for a conversation about Netflix’s new holiday rom-com series, Dash & Lily. Their discussion explores how music, books, and location shooting come together to tell this heartwarming love story. Brad Silbering gives the audience an inside look into the production process and the joy of capturing Christmas in New York be...

In conversation with Jeremy Moore, Professors Myles McNutt and Laurie Ouellette discuss the complicated politics and cultural legacy of the path-breaking CBS reality show, Survivor. Together, McNutt, Ouellette, and Moore explore questions of genre, power, race, and the changing nature of labor and finance in the media industries. Touching as well on issues of fandom and celebrity, this discussion...

Moderator Miguel Penabella joins writer/director/actor/producer/editor of Lingua Franca (2019), Isabel Sandoval, for a conversation focusing on the film’s social and cultural resonances. With patience and nuance, the film addresses questions of immigration and migrant justice, labor, family, and the diverse experiences of trans women of color. Penabella and Sandoval discuss the evolution of the fi...

Writer, producer, and director Anna Biller talks about feminism, witches, and creating movies for female viewing pleasure in this Q&A for her 2016 horror film The Love Witch. Biller’s dedication to exploring feminist themes throughout her work lent itself to an insightful discussion the female gaze. Alongside moderator Rachael Ball, Biller invites us to explore the various feminist themes in The L...

Moderator Patrice Petro joins series co-creator Scott Frank in a discussion of Netflix’s series The Queen’s Gambit. Their discussion explores the drama of chess, the process of adapting a complex novel to the screen, and the role of the child prodigy. Frank discusses working with world renowned chess masters in the development of fictional games, and issues involved in production, casting and desi...