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NANNY — Nikyatu Jusu and Anna Diop Interview

December 30, 2022 By Leave a Comment

NANNY —  Nikyatu Jusu and Anna Diop Interview

Click here to listen to the interview. Led by a stunning performance by Anna Diop in the title role of Aisha, an undocumented immigrant working to bring her young son over from Senegal, NANNY is a powerful yet subtle film that uses horror as a way of addressing so much more, in this case, the… Read More »

Tagged With: accent, angry black woman syndrome, injustice, magic, mythology, Nietzsche, patriarchy, racism, rage, reclaiming power, Sartre, Sundance

ASCENSION — Jessica Kingdon, Nathan Truesdell, and Kira Simon-Kennedy Interiew

May 3, 2022 By Leave a Comment

ASCENSION — Jessica Kingdon, Nathan Truesdell, and Kira Simon-Kennedy Interiew

When I spoke with Jessica Kingdon, Nathan Truesdell, and Kira Simon-Kennedy on November 5, 2021, their documentary, ASCENSION, was several months away from being nominated for an Oscar™. It’s a richly deserved honor. Filmed in over 50 locations, they have crafted an engrossing and lyrical snapshot of modern China’s contrasts and contradictions as it moves… Read More »

Tagged With: China, consumerism, economic classes, editing, factory, fixer, jet lag, materialism, Rejection, Sundance, tourist economy, translation, Tribeca, vitamins

OH LUCY! — Atsuko Hirayanagi Interview

March 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment

OH LUCY! — Atsuko Hirayanagi Interview

Click here to listen to the interview. OH LUCY!, a serious comedy about love, identity, and escaping a rut, started as a short film that garnered a great deal of acclaim on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.  Filmmaker Atsuko Hirayanagi parlayed that, and the endless lucky breaks it generated, into a feature-length film that continues… Read More »

Tagged With: Atsuko Hirayanagi, California, cultural identity., culture, English lessons, Japan, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, language, office lady, Shinobu Terajima, Sundance

LA LA LAND — Damien Chazelle & Justin Hurwitz Interview

December 15, 2016 By Leave a Comment

LA LA LAND — Damien Chazelle & Justin Hurwitz Interview

I had the distinction of being the first interview for writer/director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz on LA LA LAND press tour. Not just in San Francisco, but nationally. It was, I joked, a heavy responsibility. It was not the only first for them that day, as noted later in the conversation. The pair… Read More »

Tagged With: choreography, collaboration, Fred Berger, J.K. Simmons, Justin Horowitz, lyrics, MGM musicals, musicals, Sundance, THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT, UMBRELLAS OF CHEROURG, WHIPLASH

David Cross Takes the HITS

February 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment

David Cross Takes the HITS

David Cross was off coffee because of a stomach ailment when I talked to him on February 5, 2015 just before his film, HITS, kicked of SFIndieFest. Opting for tea, and overcoming his distaste for the bergamot in his Earl Gray, he was a lively conversationalist as we discussed his maiden effort writing and directing a feature film.… Read More »

Tagged With: bergamot, BitTorrent, cinema, cryogenically frozen, David Cross, debut film, director, distribution, Earl Gray tea, fame, fame whores, film, interview, Matt Walsh, media, movie, politics, Portlandia, protest, satire, screenwriter, Sundance, Sundance London, tea

Jennifer Lawrence & Debra Granik Conquer WINTER’S BONE

September 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Jennifer Lawrence & Debra Granik Conquer WINTER’S BONE

Jennifer Lawrence gives an assured and raw performance as Ree Dolly, a girl taking on her rural Ozark community in director and co-writer Debra Granik’s WINTER’S BONE. It’s an impressive follow-up to her award-winning turn in Oscar Arriaga’s BURNING PLAIN. When I spoke with the actor and her director on April 30th, 2010, it was inevitable… Read More »

Tagged With: accents, Daniel Woodrell, Deborah Granik, director, drama, evisceration, Jennifer Lawrence, Ozarks, Ree Dolly, Sundance, Winter's Bone, writer

Michod, David — ANIMAL KINGDOM

September 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Michod, David — ANIMAL KINGDOM

Writer/director David Michod edited “Inside Film” magazine and made short films in preparation for his feature film debut, ANIMAL KINGDOM. The short films wowed Sundance a few years back, and this year, so did ANIMAL KINGDOM, a gritty film about a family of criminals in Melbourne, Australia, and the estranged, traumatized grandson and nephew, J,… Read More »

Tagged With: alpha males, Ben Mendelsohn, crime family, David Michod, dysfunctional familiy. Australian cinema, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver, James Frecheville, Joel Edgerton, justice system, Melbourne, Sundance

Alex Mar and the AMERICAN MYSTIC

October 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Alex Mar and the AMERICAN MYSTIC

As we head into the holiday season, Halloween just passed, and the quasi-religious rituals surrounding our national holidays of Thanksgiving and the orgy of spending that has become Christmas on the horizon, KMR takes a look back to a conversation with Alex Mar for her 2010 documentary AMERICAN MYSTIC. Mar’s film looks at the draw… Read More »

Tagged With: Alex Mar, ceremony, Halloween, Lakota Sioux, Native-American, pagan, ritual, spirituality, Sundance, witchcraft

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