Ep. 283: Beatrice Loayza and Adam Nayman Do Their Bests (2024 Edition)

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Tis season of making lists and checking them twice, and this December, I was pleased to welcome back Beatrice Loayza (of The New York Times and other publications) and Adam Nayman (of The Ringer and elsewhere) to the podcast. Loayza and Nayman share a few outstanding films that stuck with them from 2024, plus an assortment of other high points from their lists, ranging from debut features to crowning works by auteurs in their prime. I won’t spoil their choices here, so have a listen and find out.

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Ep. 282: Thomas Beard of Light Industry on The Old Dark House, Japanese Paper Films, Community Action Center, and More

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I am a longtime admirer of Light Industry, home to wonderful screenings with original programming, and in my humble opinion a true New York institution. Shortly after Halloween, I was delighted to chat with programmer Thomas Beard, who together with Ed Halter developed and oversees Light Industry. The conversation begins with the James Whale classic The Old Dark House, and then moves through a discussion of film curation, Beard’s development as a programmer dating back to Cinematexas, the history of Light Industry, recent screenings there such as the Japanese Paper Films program, and the vital role of preservation, programming, and exhibition in keeping films alive (or bringing them back from the dead).

See what’s showing next at Light Industry at lightindustry.org

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Ep. 281: Errol Morris on Separated, his new documentary about the Trump immigration policy of separating children from families

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Separated, the latest documentary from the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris, is about the people and bureaucracy behind the border immigration policy enforced by the first Trump administration: namely, to separate children from their families at the border as a deterrent. In this new interview, Morris spoke with me about the moral implications of such a policy; about the dangerous moment in American history now, about his own personal history; about his use of dramatization; and about key figures who opposed the policy (Jonathan White, in the Office of Refugee Resettlement) and enforced it (Scott Lloyd, director of the ORS, and Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of Homeland Security, both political appointees).

Separated airs on December 7 on MSNBC, and is also screening in select theaters nationwide. It is based on the book Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, by NBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, who also appears in the film.

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Ep. 280: IDFA 2024 with Abby Sun on A Want in Her, An American Pastoral, 1957 Transcripts, TWST

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For my next dispatch from the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2024, I sat down with Abby Sun, editor-in-chief of Documentary Magazine, who has also programmed extensively. Amid the hustle and bustle at IDFA we discussed A Want in Her (directed by Myrid Carten), An American Pastoral (Auberi Edler), The 1957 Transcripts (Ayelet Heller), and TWST (Andrei Ujica). An American Pastoral won an IDFA Award for Best Directing - International Competition.

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Ep. 279: IDFA 2024 with Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia, feat. The Guest, Higher Than Acidic Clouds, A Frown Gone Mad, Chronicles of the Absurd

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This year at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, where I have seen so much outstanding work, I was fortunate to sit down with its artistic director, Orwa Nyrabia. The 2024 IDFA edition is the seventh edition under his leadership, and at the end of his term next summer he will be stepping down, so I asked about some of this year’s programming and he shared some valedictory thoughts. Films discussed (based upon what I had seen at this point, earlier in the festival) included: The Guest (Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz), Higher Than Acidic Clouds (Ali Asgari), A Frown Gone Mad (Omar Mismar), Chronicles of the Absurd (Miguel Coyula, featuring Lynn Cruz), and The Propagandist (Luuk Bouwman).

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Ep. 278: Sean Baker on Anora and its influences, and his recent viewing

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. We’re back with an extra-special episode that’s chock full of pure movie love! Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora starring Mikey Madison keeps winning over audiences as it’s expanded to theaters across the country, with its New York story of a stripper (Madison) and her star-crossed relationship with a billionaire’s son (Mark Eydelshteyn). Baker is a voracious cinephile, so I jumped at the chance to sit down with him on The Last Thing I Saw and talk about the movie influences on Anora – plus some choice making-of details – and also what he’s been watching. His movie-watching range was an absolute delight to hear about, and I won’t spoil it here – so have a listen and enjoy!

Anora won the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes film festival, where it premiered. Baker's other films include The Florida Project, Tangerine, Starlet, Prince of Broadway, Red Rocket, and another New York-set movie, Take Out.

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Ep. 277: Shonni Enelow on Acting: We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Mid-to-Late Rohmer, The Beast

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I’m happy to welcome back scholar Shonni Enelow for another thoughtful chat about acting and performance, and how they reflect or respond to changing times. Enelow, a professor at Fordham University who just published a new book on Joanna Hogg, writes an acting column at Reverse Shot. We talk about realism in 21st-century acting and direct address through her first column’s subject, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, as well as I Saw the TV Glow, both directed by Jane Schoenbrun. Then we discuss the distinctive performances and styles of self-presentation in Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast and two mid-to-late films of Eric Rohmer.

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Ep. 276: Mark Asch on Blitz, Hellraiser, Saturday Night, Northern Lights, plus Compensation

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 62nd New York Film Festival wound down, I nabbed critic Mark Asch after the press screening of Blitz for a little chat. We shared some initial impressions of Steve McQueen’s Blitz, the festival’s closing night film, and then went through a few notable selections from the Revivals section: Hellraiser (Clive Barker), Northern Lights (John Hanson, Rob Nilsson), Compensation (Zeinabu irene Davis). In the dramatic conclusion, Mark demands that we speak of Saturday Night (Jason Reitman).

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Ep. 275: Rumours Directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson Talk About Movies

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week sees the release of Rumours, the new movie from Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson. It's about a remote gathering of world leaders (played by Cate Blanchett and Roy Dupuis among others) who face a looming crisis and encounter a giant brain in a forest -- for starters. During the New York Film Festival, I jumped at the chance to chat with the filmmakers about movies. The conversation had two parts: movies related to Rumours in some way, and then (taps sign) the last things each filmmaker had seen, whether in a cinema or at home. Their wide-ranging answers were an absolute delight, which I won’t spoil here!

Rumours opens on October 18, including screenings at IFC Center moderated by executive producer Ari Aster and Owen Kline. Through Oct. 17, IFC Center is also showing a Guy Maddin retrospective including Careful, Brand Upon the Brain!, Tales from the Gimli Hospital, My Winnipeg, The Forbidden Room, and more.

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Ep. 274: Alissa Wilkinson on NYFF: Suburban Fury, My Undesirable Friends, Wang Bing, 7 Walks with Mark Brown, Nickel Boys Redux

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. In the concluding week of the 62nd New York Film Festival, I sat down with Alissa Wilkinson of The New York Times to hear her thoughts on a few titles. Two were world premieres: Suburban Fury (directed by Robinson Devor) and My Undesirable Friends: Part 1—Last Air in Moscow (Julia Loktev). The other titles include Wang Bing’s Youth Trilogy (Spring, Hard Times, and Homecoming), 7 Walks with Mark Brown (Vincent Barré, Pierre Creton), and Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross).

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