UC Santa Barbara (Audio)

The Moon and Back marks the feature‑length directorial debut of UCSB Film & Media Studies alumnus Leah Bleich. The film follows high‑school senior Lydia Gilbert (Isabel May) as she grapples with her father’s death and mounting family challenges. When she discovers a space‑opera screenplay her dad left behind, Lydia assembles a low‑budget crew—armed only with a VHS camera—to bring his story to life. Shot in just nine days on a $50,000 budget through the Six Feet Apart Experiment, the project won “Best Women’s Film” at the 2022 San Diego International Film Festival and screened at numerous festivals. Bleich returns to UCSB for a conversation with moderator Ross Melnick, sharing insights into the making and inspiration behind her heartfelt coming‑of‑age drama. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40543]

In collaboration with the Transnational Italian Studies Program, the Carsey-Wolf Center presents a discussion examining the long history of Black African life in Italy with filmmakers Daphne Di Cinto and Medhin Paolos and UCSB moderator Stephanie Malia Hom. They discuss the short films Il Moro and Asmarina.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40541]

Screenwriter and playwright Phyllis Nagy joins moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 classic Strangers on a Train. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, the film follows tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger), who meets the charming but disturbed Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) during a chance encounter on a train. Bruno proposes they “swap” murders—he’ll kill Guy’s wife, and Guy will kill Bruno’s father—eliminating any obvious motive. When Bruno follows through, Guy finds himself caught in a dangerous game of blackmail and suspense. Known for its striking visual style and psychological complexity, Strangers on a Train is celebrated as one of Hitchcock’s most influential thrillers, offering a masterclass in tension and moral ambiguity. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40542]

Nicholas Baer, author of Historical Turns: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism, joins moderator and Carsey-Wolf Center Director Patrice Petro for a discussion of Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40537]

What’s next for the battle over abortion? In this lecture, Mary Ziegler argues that undoing Roe v. Wade was never the endpoint for the antiabortion movement. Since the 1960s, the goal has been to secure recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the 14th Amendment, making abortion unconstitutional. The battle for personhood also aims to overhaul the regulation of in vitro fertilization and contraception, change the meaning of equality under the law, and determine how courts decide which fundamental rights Americans enjoy. Mary Ziegler is one of the world’s leading historians of the U.S. abortion debate, and an expert on the law, history, and politics of reproduction, health care, and conservatism in the U.S. She is the author or editor of numerous articles and seven books on reproduction, autonomy, and the law. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 40704]

Thirty years after the film’s release, Fresh Kill has been remastered by the Fales Library & Special Collections of New York University. Fresh Kill director/producer Shu Lea Cheang traveled with filmmakers Jean-Paul Jones and Jazz Franklin on a nationwide roadtrip to screen the remastered 35mm print of the film at independent arthouse cinemas across the country, and to engage local communities on issues of environmental racism and activist resistance. Shu Lea Cheang joins moderator Jigna Desai from UCSB's Center for Feminist Futures to discuss the film. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40538]

Filmmaker Madhuja Mukherjee joins UCSB professor Bishnupriya Ghosh for a conversation about Deep6, a Bengali-language drama set in Kolkata during the politically charged year of 2011. The film follows Mitul, a solitary journalist navigating the end of West Bengal’s 34-year Communist rule while confronting personal loss and shifting identities. Starring Tillotama Shome, Deep6 blends realism with elements of magical realism, exploring memory, trauma, and transformation in a changing city. The film premiered at the 26th Busan International Film Festival and was featured at both the International Film Festival of Kerala and the Kolkata International Film Festival. Mukherjee, also a professor of Film Studies at Jadavpur University, brings deep insight into the film’s themes and structure. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40539]

Director Pamela Yates joins UCSB professor Giovanni Batz for a conversation about Borderland | The Line Within, a powerful documentary exploring the human cost of U.S. immigration policy. The film examines the “border industrial complex”—a vast system of surveillance, detention, and deportation—through the personal stories of immigrants resisting systemic injustice. Highlighting voices like Mayan activist Kaxh Mura’l and DACA recipient Gabriela Castañeda, Yates reveals how the border extends far beyond geography. This discussion sheds light on the role of storytelling in challenging structural violence and advocating for dignity, justice, and human rights. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40532]

Sound editor Javier Umpierrez joins moderator Greg Siegel (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of his work on director Apichatpong Weeresethakul’s film Memoria. They discuss how Umpierrez’s background in radio informed his work building the soundscape of the film. They also explore the challenges of designing and editing sound for films in which sound is an essential narrative component. Umpierrez further discusses his experience working with Apichatpong Weeresethakul. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40531]

Through a focus on Spanish-speaking Catholics, Amanda Baugh sheds light on environmental actors hiding in plain sight. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted across Los Angeles, Baugh, Professor and Associate Chair of Religious Studies and Director of the MA Program in Sustainability at California State University, Northridge, demonstrates that minority communities are not merely victims of environmental problems. Instead, many Spanish-speaking Catholics embrace what Baugh calls “la tierra environmentalism,” an embodied ethic of living lightly on the Earth that is rooted in a sense of love and respect for God, fellow humans, and the rest of God’s creation. A focus on la tierra environmentalism challenges scholars and activists to rethink who counts as environmental leaders and what counts as environmentalism. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40423]