Ben got a chance to interview director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke for his film A Useful Ghost (2025) that played at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival, where it also won the Special Mention Prize for the Asian Feature Film Competition. 

Learn about Boonbunchachoke’s creative process, how he developed the story, and his approach to filmmaking as a whole that tends towards artificiality, deadpan humour and an engagement with history.

Special thanks to the SGIFF team for helping us with securing an interview time/location, and to Momo Film Co, the film’s Singapore co-production team for helping to coordinate the interview. 

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:47 Reception

04:00 Queer readings

07:39 Developing story and themes

12:02 Political / historical references

13:24 History, memory, surveillance

18:19 Artificiality, worldbuilding, craft

25:36 Spoilers: Frame story

27:25 Spoilers: Ending

31:43 Other appliance candidates

33:42 Upcoming work

34:35 Outro

Another festival coverage episode? We’re back to back with Asian film festivals and Ben returns to Singapore to cover the hottest films from the festival circuit and the region for the 36th Singapore International Film Festival. Our film coverage spans the most hotly contested tickets (Silent Friend, Girl, Resurrection, Sentimental Value), cinema classics (Matador, Water, Bye Bye Love), and promising first features from the region (Amoeba, A Useful Ghost, Old Man and His Car)

This is a spicy and fun episode where Ben reflects honestly about his festival experience and Singapore’s cinema culture, as well as sharing his optimism with the concurrent ground-up efforts (The Daily, FFIGS) reinvigorating that culture. On top of all that, we also find the time to do a very special celebration in the middle of the episode.

Links:

Correspondence / The Daily

⁠Ben’s piece on the Cinephile Pass

FFIGS

Deepa Mehta Write-up

Luca Guadagnino video on costumes 

Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers at MoMA

Madame Morible Wicked Witch meme

Interview with Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (forthcoming!)

Correspond with us at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:15 Festival as a whole 

00:08:45 Netflix acquisition of WB

00:11:51 Festival operations

00:20:33 Festival passes

00:24:15 Banned films

00:27:48 SGIFilmFeud

00:28:25 Correspondence / The Daily

00:30:56 FFIGS

00:34:40 Optimism

00:38:14 The films / Bye Bye Love (1974) dir. Fujisawa Isao

00:43:10 How Dare You? (2025) dir. Mipo O

00:46:14 Two Seasons, Two Strangers (2025) dir. Sho Miyake

00:48:29 Audience behaviour

00:51:25 Girl (2025) dir. Shu Qi

00:56:20 Resurrection (2025) dir. Bi Gan

01:02:25 Water (2005) dir. Deepa Mehta

01:07:02 A Celebration

01:09:00 Sentimental Value (2025) dir. Joachim Trier

01:11:25 Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloe Zhao

01:14:25 Late Fame (2025) dir. Kent Jones

01:18:07 Matador (1986) dir. Pedro Almodovar

01:21:20 Silent Friend (2025) dir. Ildikó Enyedi 

01:27:00 SEA Shorts Programme

01:31:36 The Old Man and His Car (2025) dir. Michael Kam

01:36:50 Amoeba (2025) dir. Tan Siyou

01:43:10 A Useful Ghost (2025) dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

01:51:16 Wrapup

01:57:30 Bonus

While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and lead actress Bella Boonsang for their film Morte Cucina.

Morte Cucina follows Sao as she takes an unconventional path toward revenge against a man who has wronged her.

Listen in to hear about Ratanaruang’s candid thoughts on his approach to filmmaking, Boonsang’s initial trepidation and determination to tackling this tricky role, and Ratanaruang’s evolving working relationship with the film’s DP, Christopher Doyle (their third feature film collaboration!).

Special thanks to the TIFF team for arranging the interview!

Get revenge at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:22 Inspiration for the film

04:30 Bella’s reaction to the script

06:23 Casting Bella Boonsang

09:45 Cinematography with Chris Doyle

13:15 The movie is made on set

17:30 What is love?

22:17 Outro

Armed with a press pass and the Japanese language level of a 3 year old, Ben took to the cinemas of Tokyo during the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival. Ben’s coverage spans a varied 17 films over 10 days of the festival: buzzy and fresh Japanese films (Bring Him Down to a Portable Size; The Last Blossom; All Greens…) international film festival darlings (Lost Land; Palestine 36…), and a handful of exciting restorations (Demon Pond, Love Massacre…). 

And if you haven’t listened to Ben’s interviews from during the festival, what are you waiting for?

114. Sato and Sato (2025): Interview with Director Amano Chihiro

116. Morte Cucina (2025): Interview with Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Bella Boonsang

Other Links:

Chloe Zhao x Hirokazu Koreeda

ようこそto our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:04:23 TIFF38 Press Experience

00:08:55 Demon Pond (1979) dir. Masahiro Shinoda

00:14:28 Pale Flower (1964) dir. Masahiro Shinoda 

00:17:55 Floating Clouds (1955) dir. Mikio Naruse

00:23:32 Love Massacre (1981) dir. Patrick Tam

00:29:01 April Story (1998) dir. April Story

00:32:58 3.11 disaster sidebar

00:36:10 Blonde (2025) dir. Yûichirô Sakashita

00:39:35 Sato and Sato (2025) dir. Chihiro Amano

00:43:41 All Greens (2025) dir. Takashi Koyama

00:47:40 The Last Blossom (2025) dir. Baku Kinoshita

00:52:35 Lost Land (2025) dir. Akio Fujimoto

00:58:30 Echoes of the Orient (2025) dir. Yang Liping

01:00:55 Labyrinth (2025) dir. Shoji Kawamori

01:03:46 Bring Him Down to a Portable Size (2025) dir. Ryota Nakano

01:07:18 Morte Cucina (2025) dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

01:12:45 Palestine 36 (2025) dir. Annemarie Jacir

01:20:16 The Mastermind (2025) dir. Kelly Reichardt

01:24:23 Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloé Zhao

01:32:55 Wrap-up

While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Chihiro Amano for her film Sato and Sato.

Sato and Sato covers the 15 year span of a relationship as it slowly unravels, covering marriage, parenting, and the ways relationships morph over time. In our short interview, we talk about changing gender dynamics as depicted in Amano’s film, how she worked with her cast to create the characters and relationship, and find a little resonance with other Deep Cut director Chantal Akerman. 

Special thanks to the festival team for arranging the interview and guiding me around the festival, and to the provided interpreter, Ninomiya Yukako.

Get hitched at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:44 Interview: Same last names

03:50 Working with the cast

07:47 Women’s empowerment

09:49 Spoiler

10:40 Male insecurity

12:44 What is love?

13:56 Outro

We have a very special guest this week: Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, Twisters) brings one of his favorite movies of all time, Steven Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence, to the podcast as his Deep Cut Pick! Isaac chats about his awe and love for the film, what he’s learnt as a filmmaker from working with Spielberg on Twisters, and his own transition into blockbuster filmmaking. 

We also discuss Hayley Joel Osment’s all-timer of a child performance, the film’s divisive ending, Spielberg’s masterful blocking, and the film’s worldbuilding and depictions of the future. 

Find the blue fairy at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introducing Lee Isaac Chung

00:01:50 Introduction to Steven Spielberg and our connection with his work

00:09:02 Why Isaac chose AI as his Deep Cut

00:13:46 First reactions to AI

00:18:04 Plot summary and production context

00:20:19 Kubrick

00:24:48 Minor Barry Lyndon spoiler

00:26:24 Spoiler ends

00:28:12 Love/hate and Spielberg’s touch

00:35:38 Hayley Joel Osment’s performance 

00:41:53 Strategies for directing children

00:46:29 Act 2: Jude Law and Flesh Fair

00:52:03 Worldbuilding and depiction of AI

00:55:46 Ending

01:01:13 Spielberg’s blocking

01:09:24 Isaac’s experience moving into blockbuster filmmaking

01:13:46 Outro

“Kurosawa, you dog.” – Eli.’

“It’s like edging, in cinema.” – Wilson

“What is this, looney tunes?” – Ben

Kurosawa can only make the kind of movie that leaves us both perplexed, impressed and dropping memorable reactions. Listen on as we unpack the film’s critique of the next generation of hustlers and entrepreneurs, figure out what it’s trying to say through its allegory, and finally answer if anything can beat a jet2 holiday.

Links:

The Kinetoscope: Cinemagoing in Japan

Buy our stuff at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:36 Ben and Wilson's general reactions

12:14 Eli's experience watching at  Lincoln

16:31 Cloud plot summary

20:34 Compared to other Kurosawa films

25:00 Sano and the younger generation

32:41 Nihilism and cynicism

36:42 Locations and spaces

40:50 What is this movie trying to say

42:37 Takimoto

46:31 Akiko

49:04 Dorsality

51:49 Sound

52:56 Productively frustrating critique of late-stage Capitalism

56:22 Kurosawa's reversals

58:26 Odds and ends and questions

Eli joins the other boys hot off of his Lincoln Center press screenings to tell us the must-watches and the maybe-skip-overs of this year’s New York Film Festival. But before that, Wilson and Ben briefly get their words in for the latest Paul Thomas Anderson joint, One Battle After Another. Catch Eli talk about other NYFF titles like Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, Olivier Laxe’s Sirāt, and possible film of the year: Bi Gan’s Resurrection. 

Links:

Secret Goldfish - Bi Gan short film

I’m walking here at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:46 One Battle After Another (2025, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

13:32 No Other Choice (2025, dir. Park Chan-wook)

16:58 Sirāt (2025, dir. Oliver Laxe)

20:18 Queen Kelly (1932, dir. Erich von Stroheim)

25:29 Angel’s Egg (1982, dir. Mamoru Oshii)

31:27 Japanese Film Festival (in Singapore)

34:34 The Arch (1968, dir. T’ang Shushuen)

35:09 The Mastermind (2025, dir. Kelly Reichardt)

38:03 Mare’s Nest (2025, dir. Ben Rivers)

41:13 Jay Kelly (2025, dir. Noah Baumbach)

42:22 Back Home (2025, dir. Tsai Ming-liang)

44:49 Ecce Mole (2025, dir. Heinz Emigholz)

48:15 Peter Hujar’s Day (2025, dir. Ira Sachs)

50:34 What Does That Nature Say To You? (2025, dir. Hong Sang-soo)

53:10 A House of Dynamite (2025, dir. Kathryn Bigelow)

57:40 Resurrection (2025, dir. Bi Gan)

We are very excited to welcome Prof. Lisa Dombrowski to our podcast! She is a Professor of Film Studies and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. She’s the author of the books: The Films of Samuel Fuller: If You Die, I’ll Kill You! (2008), the editor of Kazan Revisited (2011), and co-editor of ReFocus: The Later Works and Legacy of Robert Altman (2022). (Ben worked on that last one!) 

We took Lisa’s fantastic film classes and she’s a big reason this podcast exists, and why we talk about movies the way we do. (You can read more about the podcast’s origin story on Patreon!)

Together, we preview a newly restored film showing at the upcoming New York Film Festival and M+ Restored programmes, T’ang Shushuen’s The Arch, which Lisa teaches in her classes. Lisa shares with us the film’s unconventional transnational production context, and we have an in-depth discussion about the film’s groundbreaking use of film form to portray female subjectivity. Eli highlights the film’s use of deep staging, Wilson compares the film with Ann Hui’s A Simple Life (2011), and Ben explains what he means by an “oyako-don” pantheon.

Links:

Read more about and get tickets for the M+ Restored programme

Screening in NYC for NYFF at Film at Lincoln Center

Obey your ancestors at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:01:36 Introducing Prof. Lisa Dombrowski

00:06:48 M+ Restored

00:09:39 Context on director Tang Shu-shuen and The Arch

00:11:16 Lisa's relationship with The Arch

00:17:16 General reactions

00:23:30 Adaptation and subjectivity

00:26:06 Subtitles

00:28:06 Female gaze and melodramatic situation

00:30:28 The opening setup

00:33:28 Cinematography context

00:40:28 Love triangle and deep staging

00:43:34 Plum scene

00:52:37 Source material

00:55:28 Cultural context and societal norms

01:00:04 River scene and Mid-Autumn Festival

01:03:39 A Simple Life (2011) sidebar, subjective realism

01:07:25 Confucianism and social conditioning

01:10:29 Loom scene

01:13:04 Editing for meaning

01:16:32 The arch, the ending, the takeaway

01:24:57 Fractured images and liminal spaces

01:30:15 Lisa Lu and casting

01:31:32 The film's reception

01:33:56 Tang's approach

01:39:03 Cultural identity, transnational cinema, aesthetic expectations

01:43:32 Tang's career post The Arch

01:46:05 Outro

We are joined by special guest Alex Heeney, the founder and editor in chief of Seventh Row, to dive into Luca Guadagnino's 2017 coming-of-age masterpiece, Call Me By Your Name. They talk about their deep personal connections to the film, with Alex recounting her experience at the world premiere at Sundance and Wilson sharing his obsessive journey preparing for the New York Film Festival premiere of the film. Eli discusses the film's sensual direction, and Ben explains why he thinks this is Guadagnino’s most mature work. 

Links:

Find more of Alex on Seventh Row. They are hosting a summit celebrating queer and trans stories called Living Out Loud. Check it out here.

Mina Le: why does hollywood love an age gap romance?

Ben’s CMBYN meme video

Women around the fountain video

Call us by your name at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:14 Introducing Alex Heeney

00:04:00 Our histories with CMBYN

00:21:50 Masculinity and Romance

00:26:03 Narrative structure

00:32:05 Performances

00:37:39 Scenes and blocking

00:41:00 The statue scene

00:47:44 The parents

00:51:20 The peach scene

01:00:30 Age gap discourse

01:10:42 Homophobia and queerness

01:13:05 Cinematography and Marzia

01:31:00 Editing

01:35:36 The Sufjan element

01:39:15 Outro