Required Watching

 Kevin Hart made a show about Kevin Hart wanting to be an action star — except he already is one. Die Hart is fun, disposable, and accidentally fascinating. This episode is a short rant that becomes a bigger question: what happens when enormous talent picks small bets?

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

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A film from the London Film Festival about a disabled couple who want to get married — and can't, because the UK benefits system punishes them for it. Patrice: The Movie is playful, warm, and devastating. And it exposes a privilege most of us have never thought to question.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

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What happens when a film about conversion therapy is so aggressively colour-coded that the production design becomes the argument? In this episode, we break down But I’m a Cheerleader — Jamie Babbitt’s 1999 queer camp classic that weaponises pink, pastel, and Natasha Lyonne against the logic of forced identity correction.

We talk about camp as a protest language (not just an aesthetic), why Megan’s arc is actually about permission rather than discovery, what RuPaul’s casting choice tells you about the film’s entire argument, and why in 2025 this isn’t a time capsule — it’s a warning dressed in sequins.

In This Episode

• Camp as political language: what it actually means when a film weaponises its own artificiality
• Production design as critique: how the colour-coded sets work harder than any line of dialogue
• Megan’s real arc: not discovery, but permission — and why that distinction matters
• RuPaul as reformed straight coach: drag logic deployed in its most hostile possible context
• Why 1999’s radical lesbian love story with no tragedy lands differently in 2025

Film Mentioned

• But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) — dir. Jamie Babbitt
• Letterboxd page: @requiredwatching

Subscribe & Connect

• YouTube: youtube.com/@RequiredWatching
• Instagram: @requiredwatching
• Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/requiredwatching
• requiredwatching.com

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

▶️ Instagram

▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special capstone episode, we reflect on our month-long journey through the world of Black cinema. This isn't just a recap; it's a personal synthesis of the most powerful and enduring lessons these films have taught me about the art of storytelling.

From the pioneers of the 1920s to the worldbuilders of today, this is what Black cinema taught me about what it means to be a filmmaker.

THE FOUR LESSONS:

Introduction: The End of a Journey

Lesson 1: Necessity is a Language, Not a Limitation.

Lesson 2: Restraint is a Weapon.

Lesson 3: The World is What You Make It.

Lesson 4: Your Audience is an Act of Faith.

A Mission Statement for the Future.

ASKED & ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE:

What can filmmakers learn from Black cinema history?

What is the importance of Oscar Micheaux?

How does Black British cinema use restraint?

What is the future of Black genre filmmaking?

What makes a powerful story?

This episode is the capstone to our entire Black Origins series.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

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 In this critical companion to our "Reprogrammers" video, we ask a tough question: If these films were so brilliant, why did it take so long for the industry to recognize them?

This is a deep dive into the systems of power, taste, and commerce that shape film history, and a celebration of the masterpieces that were decades ahead of their time.

DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

The First Draft of History is Always Wrong

Case Study: The Snubbing of Do the Right Thing

The Gatekeepers: Who Gets to Fail?

Aging Forward: How a Film's Legacy is Built

What "Canonization" Really Means

ASKED & ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE:

Why was Do the Right Thing controversial in 1989?

Why did Daughters of the Dust not get wide distribution?

How do films become classics over time?

What is the role of the Criterion Collection in film preservation?

How does box office failure affect a director's career?

To see our formal analysis of these masterpieces, watch "The Black Films That Reprogrammed Cinema"

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

▶️ Instagram

▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

▶️ Instagram

▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this personal episode of the Required Watching podcast, I'm exploring what happens when Black cinema crosses borders. As a Black American living in the UK, I didn't grow up with these stories. I came to them later, and that distance changed how I heard them.

This isn't about explaining Black Britain. It's about the profound shift that happens when you stop expecting art to sound like home.

CHAPTERS (The Four Acts):

Act I: Arrival

Act II: Contrast, Not Comparison

Act III: What Shifted in Me

Act IV: Why This Matters for Filmmakers

ASKED & ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE:

What is it like watching Black British film as a Black American?

Analysis of Steve McQueen's Small Axe.

What are the differences between UK and US Black cinema?

How does national identity shape filmmaking?

What can filmmakers learn from different cultural styles?

To see the formal analysis that inspired this reflection, watch our video "The Grammar of Black British Cinema"

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

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▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a deep dive into the mechanics of how history is written, how "canons" are formed, and what we lose when we erase the origin stories of pioneering artists.

DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

- The Question: Why Don't We Learn This in School?

- What is "The Canon" and Who Decides?

- The Four Filters: Archives, Academia, Criticism, and Commerce

- The Cost of Erasure: What We Lose

- What Early Black Cinema Teaches Us Today

ASKED & ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE:

Why isn't early Black film history taught in film schools?

How does a film become a classic?

What is the film canon and who creates it?

Why are so many early Black films lost?

What can modern filmmakers learn from Oscar Micheaux?

To understand the history we're discussing, watch our video on the pioneers of Black cinema

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

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▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Required Watching, Tray Epps explores the theme of emotional fluency through cooking in cinema. He discusses three films—'Eat Drink Man Woman', 'Pieces of April', and 'The Farewell'—highlighting how food serves as a medium for expressing complex emotions and familial connections. The conversation delves into how these films illustrate the power of meals in conveying love, grief, and intimacy without the need for words, emphasizing the significance of rituals and the kitchen as a stage for emotional expression.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

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▶️ Letterboxd

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In this episode of Required Watching, host Tray Epps delves into the emotional depths of family dramas through the lens of three films: 'Kapoor and Sons', 'Painted Skin', and 'The Jacksons'. He discusses how personal stories can resonate universally by focusing on specific emotions and experiences. Epps emphasizes the importance of authenticity in storytelling, the power of silence, and the legacy of trauma that shapes family dynamics. The conversation highlights that the core of compelling narratives lies in the emotional truths they convey, regardless of cultural context.

Required Watching is your curriculum for cinematic literacy. We deconstruct the art and craft of filmmaking to help you become a sharper storyteller.

▶️ Subscribe for new video essays every week: 

▶️ Website

▶️ Twitter/X

▶️ Instagram

▶️ Letterboxd

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.