In this episode, filmmaker Sophy Romvari talks about how she uses film to explore grief, the up and downsides of making a personal film, and the dangers of youth culture.

Guest Bio: Sophy Romvari (she/her) is a Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto, whose critically acclaimed short films premiered at festivals such as TIFF, True/False, Hot Docs, and Sheffield. Her short documentary Still Processing (2020) premiered at TIFF before touring festivals worldwide. Still Processing premiered online through MUBI and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Time Codes:

1:00 - Sophy's First Film Memories and How Sophy Became a Filmmaker

7:00 -  Exploring Film To Process Lived Experiences, How Style is Driven by Instincts and Limitations, and What It Means to Make Personal Films

13:23 - Inserting Performance in Documentary

17:00 - Sharing Haunting Experiences with Men, It's Unfortunate Timeliness and Not Viewing it as a Horror Film in Pumpkin Movie

28:50 - Centering Animals, Barbara Streisand, and Discovering Grief in Norman Norman

36:45 - Getting Into an Emotional State, Grasping Memory, The Family Traits Sophy Carries, and What is Considered to Be a Feature in Still Processing

47:50 - Seeking Desire and Connections, Interrogate Becca's Intentions with the movie, Sophy Entering the Story, and Deserving or Earning Companionship in It's What Each Person Needs

59:00 - Sophy's Recommendation: Allan King's A Married Couple

Show Notes:

Pumpkin Movie

Trailers for Norman Norman, Still Processing, and It's What Each Person Needs

Sophy's website

Film Comment's Best Shorts of 2022

Sophy's tweeting Still Processing is a feature

In this episode, artist-scholar Jessica Bardsley speaks with Edward Frumkin about fictionalizing her lived experiences, working with archival materials, incorporating borrowed sources into a new story, critiquing Hollywood, and the composition of the human brain and the earth.

Guest Bio: 

Jessica Bardsley (she/her) is an artist-scholar. Her interdisciplinary research takes an ecological approach to film and media within the global context of contemporary art. In addition to her work as a scholar, she is also an ecofeminist filmmaker. Her films have screened at top festivals like CPH:DOX, Visions du Réel, EMAF, Hot Docs, RIDM, True/False, and on the Criterion Channel. She is the recipient of various awards, including a Princess Grace Award, Grand Prize at 25FPS, the Eileen Maitland Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Best Short Film at Punto de Vista, and numerous Film Study Center fellowships. Her research and writing have been supported by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies.

Time Codes:

1:05 - Jessica's Path to Working in Video

3:55 - Balancing Written Scholarship with Creative Works and Making Autofiction Stories

13:00 - Stealing and Following Impulses in The Blazing World

29:50 - Exploring the Ecology of the Earth and Attachment in The Making and the Unmaking of the Earth

38:45 - Rewriting Endings and Searching for Solace in Goodbye Thelma 

50:00 - Dissecting the Power of Sleep towards the Human Mind in Life Without Dreams

1:06:00 - Jessica's Recommendations: The Hunger by Tony Scott, Daughters of Darkness by Harry Kumel, and The Hole by Tsai Ming-liang

Show Notes:

Life Without Dreams Trailer

Excerpts of The Blazing World, The Making and Unmaking of the Earth, and Goodbye Thelma

In this episode, filmmaker Lydia Cornett speaks with Edward about rhythmic choreography in her work, ethnographical and observational approaches to filmmaking, and making films without a specific agenda.

Guest Bio:

Lydia Cornett is a filmmaker based between Columbus, Ohio and Brooklyn, NY. As a former musician turned filmmaker, she makes work that unites the restraint of observational storytelling with the physicality and connective qualities she associates with music-making. Her work has screened at BAMCinemaFest, Sheffield DocFest, AFI Docs, AspenShortsFest, Hamptons International Film Festival, and DOC NYC, where she received a Special Jury Mention for her film Yves & Variation. She was awarded fellowships to the Jacob Burns Film Center’s Creative Culture program and the UnionDocs’ Collaborative Studio, and she has received support from the Tribeca Film Institute, IF/Then Shorts, the Princess Grace Foundation, and the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre. Her work has been distributed and featured by The New Yorker, PBS (POV and Reel South) Nowness, and Vimeo Staff Picks.

Time Codes:

1:00 - Lydia's First Film Memory and Filmmaking Path

8:45 - Presenting Yves's multifaceted life and Collaborating With Yves in Yves & Variation

18:25 - Exploring Tenderness and Care in Bug Farm

28:15 - The Pleasures of Waiting, Humanizing Voting, and Witnessing the Absurdity in Party Line

41:30 - Tackling Labor, Rhythmic Choreography, and Connecting Meat Processing to Human Bodies in Fleshwork

51:55 - Lydia's Recommendation: Bombay Beach by Alma Har'el

Show Notes:

Bug Farm and Yves & Variation

Party Line and Fleshwork Information

In this episode, filmmaker and dancer Sarah Friedland shares how dance choreography correlates with film directing, the status of people’s ideologies through body gesture and movement, and working with professional and non-professional performers. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward talks about lines.

Guest Bio:

Sarah Friedland (she/her) is a filmmaker and choreographer working at the intersection of moving images and moving bodies. Through hybrid, narrative, and experimental filmmaking, multi-channel video installation, and site-specific live dance performance, she stages and scripts bodies and cameras in concert with one another to elucidate and distill the undetected, embodied patterns of social life and the body politic. Facilitating a research process integrating found movements, gestures, and postures from cinema and archival footage, embodied memories, and contemporary dance languages, she choreographs through practices of interviewing, pre- and re-enactment, adaptation, and improvisational play, shaping dances with diverse communities of performers and movers—from professional dancers to cohorts of seniors and teenagers.

Her work has screened and been presented in numerous festivals and film spaces including New York Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, Ann Arbor Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, BAMcinématek, Mubi, and Anthology Film Archives, in art spaces such as Performa19 Biennial, La MaMa Galleria, MoMA, Sharjah Art Foundation, MAM Rio, Nasher Museum, Wassaic Project, and Manifattura delle Arti (Bologna), and in dance spaces including the American Dance Festival and Dixon Place, among others. Her work has been supported by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Film at Lincoln Center, Dance Films Association, Art Factory International, NYSCA/Wave Farm, Rhode Island State Council of the Arts/NEA, Berlinale Talents, where she was one of 10 selected screenwriter/directors for the 2017 Script Station/Project Lab, and most recently by the Bronx Museum, where she was an AIM Emerging Artist Fellow in 2020.

Time Codes:

1:10 - Sarah's Film and Dance Upbringings

14:00 - Political Discourse and Imagery of Groups in Crowds

31:40 - Experimenting the Home Workout Video and Embodied Interviews in Home Exercises

46:18 - Choreography as an Intervention, Tackling School Shootings and Youth Futures in Drills

55:10 - Critiques on Institutional Form and Corporate Management in Trust Exercises

1:06:20 - Concluding Thought: Lines

Show Notes:

Crowds Excerpt and Trailer, Home Exercises Excerpt, Drills Trailer, and Trust Exercises Excerpt

In this episode, filmmaker and DJ Alex Ramirez-Mallis discusses the differences between making films and music, the theme of seeking liberty, and how to make filmmaking sustainable with Meerkat Media Collective. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward shares some 

Guest Bio:

Alex Ramirez-Mallis (he/him) is a Cuban-American, Jewish filmmaker raised in New Hampshire now living in Brooklyn, NY. His films have been selected for multiple festivals internationally. His work has been distributed by PBS, Criterion, Roku, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Pitchfork, The Huffington Post, and Vimeo Staff Picks. His short documentary SHUT UP AND PAINT (2022) was awarded Grand Jury Prize at IFF Boston and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and was broadcast nationally on POV. Alex received an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College (CUNY) and is an active member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and the Meerkat Media Collective.

Time Codes: 

1:03 - Alex's path to being a DJ and filmmaker

4:30 - Alex's dissecting the differences between making music and differences

9:30 - Exposing the politics of food waste in Spoils: Extraordinary Harvest

20:00 - Working in Cuba and exploring family heritage in La Noche Buena

33:14 - Following Brockhampton and showing their camaraderie in American Boyband

42:56 - Unveiling NYC's criminalization of dollar van drivers and the drivers' significance to the people in Flatbush! Flatbush!

55:30 - Making filmmaking sustainable with Meerkat Media Collective

1:03:02 - Alex's recommendation: The Territory

1:03:07 - Concluding Thought: reel print updates

Show Notes:

Alex's Website

Featured Works Available: American Boyband Series, La Noche Buena, and Spoils: Extraordinary Harvest

Flatbush! Flatbush! project page 

Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and Meerkat Media Collective group pages

In this episode, filmmaker Reid Davenport talks with Edward Frumkin (he/him) about his love of baseball, how his interest in filmmaking isn't necessarily related to telling stories, and how the personal is political. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward talks about Q&As.

Guest Bio:

Reid Davenport (he/him) makes documentaries about disability from an overtly political perspective. His first feature film, I Didn't See You There, will be aired on PBS's POV on January 16, 2023, is nominated for Best Documentary at the Gotham Awards and won several awards at festivals such as Sundance, Full Frame, and SFFILM. Life After, produced by Multitude Films, will be released in early 2024. In 2020, Davenport was named to DOC NYC’s “40 Filmmakers Under 40.” His short film A Cerebral Game won the Artistic Vision Award at the 2016 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. It is distributed by New Day Films, along with his short documentaries Wheelchair Diaries and Ramped Up. Davenport’s work has been supported by Field of Vision, Catapult Film Fund, Ford Foundation, Sundance Institute, XTR, ITVS, NBCUniversal, CNN, and Points North Institute, among others.

Davenport was a 2017 TED fellow and his work has been featured by outlets like NPR, PBS, The Washington Post, MSNBC, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He holds an MFA in Documentary Film & Video from Stanford University and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from The George Washington University. Currently, Reid is a visiting professor in the film department at Pratt Institute and a member of Documentary Filmmakers with Disabilities (FWD-DOC).

Time Codes:

0:45 - Reid's path to being a filmmaker

5:50 - Demystifying Independence and first-time filmmaking experience in Wheelchair Diaries

16:30 - Sharing his love of baseball in A Cerebral Game

25:00 - Presenting Unconventionality and Congruent Aesthtics in I Didn't See You There

42:25 - Exploring Autonomy and Medically-Assisted Suicide in Life After

49:20 - Reid's recommendation: Koyaanisqatsi

50:05 - Concluding Thought: Q&As

Show Notes:

Trailers for Wheelchair Diaries, A Cerebral Game, I Didn't See You There (IDSYT) without Audio Description and IDSYT with Audio Description

IDSYT Press Kit

In this episode, filmmaker Rajee Samarasinghe talks about how he shares his memories on screen, playing with audience expectations in his work, and finding purpose in using footage he shot years ago. Finally, in today's concluding thought, Edwards talks about social anxiety.

Guest Bio:

Rajee Samarasinghe {he/him) was born and raised amidst the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka. He later left for the United States where he is now based. He received his BFA from the University of California San Diego and his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Much of his work examines sociopolitical conditions in Sri Lanka through the scope of deconstructing ethnographic practices and the colonial gaze in contemporary media. His practice was born out of a desire to understand the circumstances around his childhood and often navigates the terrain of memory, migration, and impermanence.

Samarasinghe is currently working on his debut feature film, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible, which explores post-civil war Sri Lanka—the project has received support from the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program, Berlinale Talents' Doc Station, Field of Vision, and True/False Film Festival’s PRISM program. Samarasinghe was also named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2020. He had solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, the San Diego Underground Film Festival in 2021, and the Los Angeles Filmforum in 2022. His works have been exhibited at many festivals and venues such as the Tiger Short Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films presented by Film Society of Lincoln Center & MoMA, MoMA’s Doc Fortnight, BFI London Film Festival, Slamdance, SFFILM Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, and BlackStar Film Festival, among others. He’s received the Tíos Award for Best International Film at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Film House Award for Visionary Filmmaking at the Athens International Film + Video Festival, and an Honorable Mention Award at the Thomas Edison Film Festival among others. He is also a member of Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc).

Time Codes:

1:05 - Rajee's film upbringings

8:05 - Discussing the overall aesthetics and themes in Rajee's shorts

18:15 - Presenting Family Portraits in If I Were Any Further Away I'd Be Closer to Home

26:20 - Working with sound, color, and memories in The Exile

33:28 - Discovering spirits and spectral ethnography in The Eyes of Summer

46:23 - Making art ambiguous, working with audience's expectations, how festivals play his films, and how all of his films are one film

54:30 - Exploring the many dimensions of the moving image and his positionally in Show Me Other Places 

1:02:33 - Rajee's updates and working with dialogue in his debut feature Your Touch Makes Others Invisible

1:10:45 - Rajee's recommendations: In a Year with 13 Moons and Siddheshwari

1:12:16 - Concluding Thought: Edward dealing with his social anxiety

Show Notes:

Rajee's 25 New Face Profile

Your Touch Makes Others Invisible project page

Trailers for The Exile, The Eyes of Summer, and Show Me Other Places

In this episode, filmmaker Travis Wood talks to Edward Frumkin (he/him) about his DIY approach to independent filmmaking, telling stories based on personal events, and how the program Indeed's Rising Voices help his short Black Santa. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward shares his experience volunteering at Gotham Week 2022.

Guest Bio:

Travis Wood (he/him) is a director from Minneapolis and is based in Brooklyn. His short films have been selected for multiple Vimeo Staff Picks, SXSW film festival, True/False, Tribeca, Sidewalk Film Festival, Rooftop films, an NY EMMY award, and featured on NoBudge, Booooooom and Directors Notes. He is a current member of the Meerkat Media Artist Collective and part of the commercial directing team at Farm League.

Time Codes:

1:14 - Travis's film upbringings

6:15 - Travis's endeavor in commercial filmmaking

11:24 - Putting personal experiences in the visual medium in One Peg Boss

16:30 - Recognizing economic divisions and animation in One Peg Boss

21:36 - Sharing real-life observations in Kayla in 1A

26:40 - Experimenting camera specifications and executing real stories in Kayla in 1A

32:50 - Calling out the absurdity and racism in Affurmative Action

38:00 - Breaking down the editing, score and representing an American reality in Affurmative Action

44:20 - Making a narrative script and experiences in Indeed's Rising Voices program in Black Santa

47:30 - Tackling people's aging and corporate claims to DEI in Black Santa

51:30 - Working on the cinematography and larger budget in Black Santa

55:30 - Exploring love and work in Black Santa, as well as screening his short with Nope

1:02:35 - Travis's recommendation: Under the Tree (2017)

1:03:30 - Concluding Thought: Edward's experience volunteering at Gotham Week 2022

Show Notes:

Travis's website

Travis's discussed films: Hello Nostrand, One Peg Boss, Kayla in 1A, Affurmative Action, and Black Santa

In this episode, filmmaker Robert Greene shares the limits of the auteur theory, performances in documentary and collaborating with participants and crew members. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward talks about being open.

Guest Bio:

Robert Greene (he/him)’s latest film PROCESSION premiered at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival, is distributed by Netflix, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary and shortlisted for an Academy Award. His previous film BISBEE ’17 (2018) premiered at Sundance, aired on PBS’s P.O.V. and was nominated for Best Documentary at the Gotham Awards. His films include the Sundance award winning KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE (2016) and the Gotham Awards nominated ACTRESS (2014). Robert was an inaugural Sundance Art of Nonfiction fellow in 2015 and served on the U.S. Documentary Jury for the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. He has edited many features, including HER SMELL (2018), GOLDEN EXITS (2017), QUEEN OF EARTH (2015) and LISTEN UP PHILIP (2014) by Alex Ross Perry. Robert has written for outlets such as Sight & Sound. He co-created the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri and serves as its Filmmaker-in-Chief.

Time Codes:

1:00 - Robert's Film Upbringings

7:50 - Robert's Film Beginnings

15:40 - Rebooting a Passion in Kati with an I

21:25 - How Owning the Weather Transformed Robert's 6 latter features

26:40 - Exploring Performance in Robert's Filmography

31:25 -  Constructing and Presenting Realities in Fake It So Real

37:27 - Discovering the Next Film in Actress

47:40 - Visual Looks Within Robert's Earlier and Recent Works

50:30 - The Limits of the Auteur Theory and Collaborating with Participants and Crew Members

56:15 - Regaining Intimacy in Procession and Conceptual Gymnastics 

1:01:30 - The Necessary Skepticism in Robert's Latter 3 Movies

1:04:45 - Robert's Family's Role in Robert's Work

1:11:03 - Robert's Recommendation: Edward Munch

1:12:29 - Concluding Thought: Being Open

Show Notes:

Trailers for Kati with an I, Fake It So Real, Actress, Kate Plays Christine, Bisbee '17, and Procession

In this episode, contributor Sean Naughton (he/him) and host Edward Frumkin (he/him) analyze the standing ovation headlines from Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, and the Hollywood Critics Association turmoil. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward talks about maintaining consistency.

Time Codes:

1:11 - Analyzing the Standing Ovation Reporting

6:15 - How Such Reporting Affects People Working in the Film World and Ties to Elitism

11:30 - How Festival Reviews Don't Reflect the Whole World

15:28 - Hollywood Critics Association Turmoil and Its History

21:23 - Voter Fraud Instances

26:00 - Recognizing Scott Menzel's Intentions

31:50 - Concluding Thought: Maintaining Consistency

Show Notes:

For the Love of God, Please Stop Timing Standing Ovations at Film Festivals by Chris Evangelista

HCA in Turmoil by Scott Feinberg

Stop Counting the Minutes of Film Festival Ovations by Eric Kohn