Ep. 287: Payal Kapadia on All We Imagine as Light

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light keeps gaining new admirers and garnering more honors (since winning the Grand Prix at Cannes last spring). I had a wonderful conversation with Kapadia about the myriad directorial decisions that went into creating her nuanced portrait of three women in Mumbai—two roommates, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha), who work at a hospital, and their older widowed friend, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), a cook who’s in danger of losing her home. She goes into detail on inspirations for the characters, the details of Mumbai she strove to capture, her choices about composition and color and sound, the influence of her mother on her work, and much, much more—including, of course, recent favorites from her moviegoing.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 286: Dave Kehr on To Save and Project 2025: 7th Heaven, A Circle in the Fire, Maria Candelaria, and more

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. To kick off the new year, I welcomed back Dave Kehr, curator in the department of film at the Museum of Modern Art, to talk about a perennial favorite starting now: To Save and Project, the festival of preservation and restoration, which received a Film Heritage award this year from the National Society of Film Critics as well as one from the New York Film Critics Circle. Kehr takes us on a tour of several titles in the 21st edition, including: 7th Heaven (directed by Frank Borzage), A Circle in the Fire (Victor Nunez), Maria Candelaria (Emilio Fernández), Rosaura at 10 O’Clock (Mario Soffici), Raskolnikow (Robert Wiene), Mia Luang (Vichit Kounavudhi), and Shoulder Arms, a Chaplin mid-length being seen in its proper full form for the first time in over a century.

To Save and Project runs through January 30 at the Museum of Modern Art.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 285: Amy Taubin 2024 Finale: Juror No. 2, Robert Frank, Nosferatu, The Clock, His 3 Daughters, Flow, Conclave

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest episode, I close out the year with the one and only Amy Taubin, as we catch up with a few movies we missed to talk about in 2024. The discussion includes Juror No. 2 (directed by Clint Eastwood), Nosferatu (Robert Eggers), His Three Daughters (Azazel Jacobs), Conclave (Edward Berger), and Flow (Gints Zilbalodis), plus two exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art: the Robert Frank exhibitions and Christian Marclay’s The Clock. Thanks for listening, and check back in the new year for more new episodes!

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 284: Tyler Taormina, director of Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, on Christmas Eve

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This year the stars aligned for a movie set on Christmas Eve and its director to hop on the ol’ podcast in time for Christmas Eve! Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point is making its way through cinemas, and it was a pleasure chatting with him about his recent viewing, which brought a number of terrific titles to my attention, along with a few thoughts on holiday-themed movies. Gorgeously shot and designed, with a wonderfully lived-in performances, Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point centers on an extended family gathering in a Long Island house on the holidays, as well as the particular rituals of teenagers getting together on their own.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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).

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:

rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass