First Time Go

I am so pleased to be joined by groundbreaking filmmaker Mira Shaib, director of Arzé , a brilliant first feature comedy-drama about the relationship of a family in Lebanon. (In North America, it should be released early next year.) Mira Shaib is an alumnus of prestigious film development labs and residencies, including Robert Bosch Stiftung, where she attended the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg,...

This is a re-release of my discussion with Ross McDonnell. His film, SWIFT JUSTICE , is up for a News & Doc Emmy in Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary . The awards will be revealed live on September 26, 2024 . Ross died on November 5, 2023. His co-director, Victor Blue, writes movingly about his work . Later on this year, I'll post an episode remembering Ross and the legacy of indepen...

You can see the artistic talent of Christian Kamaal in the vivid way he describes his life -- he borrowed a camera from his father, who used it to film funerals for his community ("unfortunately, in the city I come from, a lot of funerals"); his power of observation earned him a spot at USC's film school; and he utilized his power of observation, of visual artistry, to make BLACKIFIER,...

Filmmaker Hyejin "Grace" Park has such incredible range as an indie filmmaker: she's directed everything from sci-fi to gangster films and made them her own in a way that's utterly enchanting and unique. Her Vimeo page is a testament to her range as a filmmaker. In this episode, we discuss how she got started in filmmaking; her goal of making sure minority filmmakers feel seen; how...

After listening to all five finalists of the Bloomberg Green Docs, be honest -- there's no way you can tell who won. They are all that good. In part 1 , I talked to the judges and today, you'll hear from the five finalists. LIFE WITH BATS by  David Luff CLIMATE DIARIES: HEATHER'S STORY by  Berit Anderson  and  Ali Scattergood FINDING HOME by  Maria Stanisheva GROVE OF GIANTS by  Bree S...

This week is all about the Bloomberg Green Docs festival, held in Seattle on July 12, 2024. Thanks to Bloomberg Climate, especially Emily Anton and Courtney J. Boland, I interviewed most of the judges and all of the five finalists. Taken altogether, they paint a picture of where the industry is going in regards to climate documentaries; how nonprofits are changing views through both narrative and...

Translating life to art and art to life is the subject of my discussion with Venezuelan director, screenwriter, film producer, and Golden Lion recipient Lorenzo Vigas. There's just something about Lorenzo's deeply moving films -- he refers to his three feature films as a trilogy about fathers and sons -- that makes a viewer think more deeply about...well, more deeply about everything. And...

To kick off season two, I speak with Zarrar Kahn, the writer and director of the new film, IN FLAMES. I'll repeat this a couple times in the episode but IN FLAMES is a masterpiece. The shooting, the direction, the storytelling. I had to watch a couple of times to pick up on the nuances of the shots and the direction.  We talk about when it will screen: it's showing at the Palms Springs Int...

Did you know burial and cremation are both bad for the environment? That bartending may be the best training for documentary filmmaking? What about death haikus? I talk to Wendy Corn about her new film, Exit Strategy: From Scared to Sacred, which recently raised over $34,000 as part of a successful crowdfunding campaign on Seed & Spark. Wendy is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose fil...