INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE with Greg Laemmle & Raphael Sbarge

For our 100th episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, we return to the belief that started it all: movies matter most when they are shared.

Over the course of 100 episodes, this show has become a gathering place for filmmakers, actors, programmers, distributors, theater owners, advocates, and film lovers who believe in the power of cinema on the big screen, in community, and in the places where stories still feel alive.

In this special milestone episode, we look back at conversations with Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated artists whose work reminds us what independent and international cinema can still do: challenge us, move us, connect us, and stay with us long after the lights come up.

Featuring conversations with Walter Salles, director of the Oscar-winning I’M STILL HERE; Mstyslav Chernov, Oscar-winning filmmaker and director of 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA; Kaouther Ben Hania, Oscar-nominated director of THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB; the filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning documentary MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN; and Atom Egoyan, Oscar-nominated director of THE SWEET HEREAFTER.

Across these films and conversations, we encounter stories of memory, war, resistance, grief, family, history, and survival — from Brazil and Ukraine to Palestine, Russia, Canada, and beyond.

At the center of it all is the arthouse itself: the theater as a gathering place, the screen as a doorway, and cinema as one of the last great communal arts.

Thank you for being part of the first 100 episodes of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE. Here’s to the films, filmmakers, theaters, and audiences keeping cinema alive.

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In Time and Water, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sara Dosa turns Iceland’s disappearing glaciers, a family’s archive, and one man’s fading memory into a cinematic letter to the future.

Dosa, the director of Fire of Love, joins Inside the Arthouse to discuss her new documentary from National Geographic Documentary Films. The film follows Icelandic writer and poet Andri Snær Magnason as he gathers photographs, home movies, folk songs, and the melting ice of his homeland into a time capsule for what may soon be lost.

In this conversation, Dosa reflects on grief as a cinematic form, shooting on 16mm in a digital age, the ethics of filming dementia without reducing a human life to metaphor, and why Time and Water does not land on simple hope or despair — but on uncertainty, and the responsibility that comes with it.

Time and Water premiered at Sundance 2026 and is presented by National Geographic Documentary Films and Sandbox Films.

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CAN ARTISTS AFFORD SILENCE? — BERNSTEIN'S WALL With Director Douglas Tirola

In this episode of Inside the Arthouse, we explore Bernstein's Wall with director Douglas Tirola, the powerful documentary examining the life, legacy, and contradictions of Leonard Bernstein. Going beyond Bernstein's extraordinary musical career, the film reveals the personal and political tensions that shaped one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century — in his own words.

Together we discuss what artists owe the public in times of upheaval, whether art can actually change the world, and why Bernstein's questions feel more urgent than ever.

More than a music documentary, Bernstein's Wall is a provocation: what happens when artists refuse to stay silent?

Inside the Arthouse is an insider's conversation with the filmmakers behind arthouse cinema across the US. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge. Also available on YouTube.

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What does it take to build power—and the people who wield it?

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, Carlos) joins hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss his latest film, The Wizard of the Kremlin — starring Paul Dano and Jude Law as Vladimir Putin.

We explore:

For cinephiles and filmmakers, this is a deep dive into how cinema reflects — and shapes — the world around us.

Featuring: Olivier Assayas, Director

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is a digital series and podcast featuring in-depth conversations with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres, the series explores film distribution, the creative process, and the evolving landscape of cinema.

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What does it take to build power—and the people who wield it?

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, Carlos) joins hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss his latest film, The Wizard of the Kremlin — starring Paul Dano and Jude Law as Vladimir Putin.

We explore:

For cinephiles and filmmakers, this is a deep dive into how cinema reflects — and shapes — the world around us.

Featuring: Olivier Assayas, Director

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is a digital series and podcast featuring in-depth conversations with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres, the series explores film distribution, the creative process, and the evolving landscape of cinema.

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What does it mean to remake a film no one can see?

The 1922 silent horror A Blind Bargain, starring Lon Chaney, is one of cinema’s great lost works—destroyed, surviving only in fragments and memory. And yet, over a century later, director Paul Bunnell set out to bring it back.

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, Bunnell discusses the strange challenge of rebuilding a film from absence—reimagining its story in the 1970s, and confronting themes of obsession, sacrifice, and transformation.

With Crispin Glover stepping into one of Chaney’s roles, the film becomes something more than a remake—it’s an act of interpretation, speculation, and cinematic resurrection.

How do you honor something that’s gone? And how far can you push it into something new?

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A haunting Māori Gothic ghost story — director Taratoa Stappard breaks down Mārama and the history, identity, and trauma behind the film.

What is Mārama—and why does it feel unlike anything else in cinema right now?

In this episode of Inside the Arthouse, hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge sit down with New Zealand filmmaker Taratoa Stappard to explore his haunting new film — a self-described “Māori Gothic ghost story” that blends psychological horror with a powerful historical reckoning.

Set in 1859, Mārama follows a young Māori woman who travels to England in search of her past, only to uncover a devastating truth shaped by colonial violence, cultural erasure, and a legacy that refuses to stay buried.

At the center is a fearless breakout performance by Ariāna Osborne, grounding a film that builds toward something both unsettling and deeply cathartic.

Drawing from his own Māori and English heritage — and a lifetime of living between two worlds — Stappard crafts a story where history isn’t distant. It’s alive, unresolved, and deeply personal.

In this conversation, we explore the origins of Mārama, the risks of blending genre with cultural trauma, and what it means to tell stories that challenge both audiences and the industry.

In this episode:

Official Selections: TIFF 2025, AFI Fest, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Sitges & more
Distributed by: Watermelon Pictures & Dark Sky Films

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Legendary journalist Amy Goodman joins us to discuss media consolidation, independent journalism, and the new documentary Steal This Story, Please!

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, we’re joined by Goodman alongside Oscar-nominated filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal to explore the making of Steal This Story, Please! and the rise of Democracy Now!

For over three decades, Goodman has challenged power, elevated underreported stories, and redefined what independent media can be. This conversation looks at the film, the evolving media landscape, and the urgent question: who controls the narrative?

A timely discussion about truth, power, and the future of the free press.

Keywords: Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, media consolidation, independent journalism, documentary film, Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is a filmed podcast featuring in-depth filmmaker interviews focused on independent film, arthouse cinema, documentary filmmaking, and the film industry.

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François Ozon on Adapting Camus' The Stranger | Inside the Arthouse

What does it mean to feel nothing — and why does that still resonate decades after Albert Camus first put it on the page?

In this episode of Inside the Arthouse, we sit down with acclaimed French filmmaker François Ozon to discuss his bold new adaptation of Camus' The Stranger (L'Étranger) — one of the most widely read and persistently provocative novels of the 20th century.

Translated into more than 75 languages and continuously in print since 1942, The Stranger has long been considered unadaptable. Ozon proves otherwise. Shot in evocative black and white, his film stays faithful to the novel's signature emotional detachment while expanding its lens on the colonial Algeria Camus largely left unexamined — bringing themes of racial injustice and moral ambiguity into sharp, contemporary focus.

We talk with Ozon about what drew him to the material, the challenges of translating Meursault's inner silence to the screen, and what this story still has to say to audiences today.

Featuring a precise, deeply controlled performance by Benjamin Voisin as Meursault, and Rebecca Marder bringing warmth and humanity as Marie.

Nearly 30 years after his debut feature See the Sea screened in U.S. arthouses, Ozon remains one of international cinema's most versatile and essential voices. The Stranger is among his finest work.

François Ozon. Albert Camus. A literary classic, reimagined.

Inside the Arthouse — new episodes every week.

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Matthew Shear — writer, director, and star of Fantasy Life — joins us to talk about the deeply personal story behind his debut feature.

In this conversation, Shear reflects on how his own experiences with anxiety and depression shaped the film, and why he wanted to portray mental health in a way that feels lived-in rather than sensationalized. Instead of leaning into extremes, Fantasy Life finds something more honest — where these struggles are simply part of everyday life.

We also talk about the challenge of directing himself in the lead role, working alongside a remarkable cast including Amanda Peet and Alessandro Nivola, and what it meant to bring such a personal story to the screen for the first time.

Fantasy Life premiered at SXSW, where it won the Audience Award, and has quickly become one of the most talked-about indie films of the year.

This is a conversation about vulnerability, craft, and the courage it takes to tell a story that close to home.

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