Filmwax Radio

In the first of two segments, [3 mins. 56 secs.] filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe stops by to discuss his feature documentary which is entirely devoted to 3 minutes of a famous horror film. Psycho’s shower scene is, without any doubt, a touchstone moment in modern film. And in Phillippe’s film 78/52, he —along with a number of talking heads including Guillermo del Toro, Elijah Wood, Eli Roth, Peter Bogdanovich, Bret Easton Ellis, Jamie Lee Curtis, and others— dissect the scene with love and affection. The title refers to the 78 cuts and 58 set-ups that Alfred Hitchcock employed to create the scene. The film opens in NYC at the IFC Center on Friday the 13th (of October), as well as other select theaters across the country and on digital platforms.

[30 mins. 45 secs.] Then I welcome back distributor, filmmaker and industry pioneer, Jeff Lipsky back for his second visit to the podcast. He was last on Episode 303. Jeff has just announced the launch of a new company, Glass Half Full Media, a distribution consulting firm. Additionally, Lipsky is putting the final touches on his latest directorial effort, The Last, due out in 2018. The film is the 7th feature film he has directed.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

Another episode of the podcast dedicated the New York Film Festival 55th edition. First up, a conversation with the found of the PBS series, American Masters, Susan Lacy. Lacy has since gone off on her own to direct and produce independent documentaries. Her latest, Spielberg, is an intimate portrait of the filmmaker Steven Spielberg which premiered and screened at the New York Film Festival. Tonight, Saturday, October 7th, the film premieres on HBO at 8PM. Through exclusive interviews with actors, family, and the filmmaker himself, this unprecedented documentary pulls back the curtain on the remarkable career of Steven Spielberg. Joining Susan is producer Jessica Levin.

Nouvelle Vogue icon Agnès Varda has a conversation with her latest filmmaking collaborator, photographer/muralist JR, about their work Face Places which just had a couple of screenings at the New York Film Festival and which is currently having a theatrical run at the Quad Cinema & Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York City. In this intimate conversation for the podcast, the two discuss their journey through rural France and the unlikely bond that formed between the two of them.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

[4 mins. 10 secs.] Filmwax Radio is happy to welcome back the Artistic Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival, David Nugent. The festival going into its 25th year will run from October 5th — 9th. More interviews and coverage is upcoming in the next few episodes of the podcast. Tickets are available for various screenings and talks taking place in East Hampton, Southampton & Sag Harbor, Long Island.

Up next, [18 mins. 50 secs.] filmmaker Mike Day with The Islands & the Whales, a documentary feature set in the North Atlantic Faroe Islands where man’s relationship with the natural world is pushed to the limits. The film opens at the IFC Center on Friday, October 6th for a week-long theatrical run followed by a nationwide broadcast on POV & streaming as of Monday, October 9, 2017. Check your local listings.

Lastly, [42 mins. 50 secs.] actor turned filmmaker Peter Vack in his directorial debut with his SxSW hit comedy, Assholes. Adah (Peter’s real life sister Betsy Brown) and Aaron (filmmaker Jack Dunphy) are recovering addicts who are struggling to stay sober. After meeting in their psychoanalyst’s waiting room, they fall in love, relapse on poppers, and become the biggest assholes in New York City. The film, distributed by our friends at Factory 25, will open theatrically in NYC at the Cinema Village on Friday, October 6th and then goes on cable and streaming platforms on October 24th.

This episode is dedicated to the memory and music of Tom Petty. May he rest in peace.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

Filmwax Radio NYFF55 Edition! Director of the New York Film Festival, Kent Jones, is back on the podcast for his 3rd visit (for more Kent Jones wax see Episodes 240 & 324). Kent talks about this year’s festival but also about his work as a filmmaker including a new  movie, his first narrative, due out soon. Additionally, we talk about his years growing up in the Berkshires, Robert Mitchum, Woody Allen, Scorsese, and so much more.

The Festival runs from September 28th through October 15th with scads of new features and short films from around the globe, restored films, a Robert Mitchum retrospective, experimental work, filmmaker talks, and more. Visit fillinc.org/nyff for tickets and further details.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

First up [6 mins. 30 secs.] on Episode 430, real estate developer turned film distributor & exhibitor, Charles Cohen discusses his career and various projects for which he either serves as producer or distributor. In addition to the work he does with Cohen Media Group, we also discuss the new Quad Cinema and what is coming in the pipeline.

After that [28 mins. 48 secs.] filmmaker Lana Wilson (After Tiller) returns for her third visit to the podcast. After collaborating on her last feature, Wilson goes it alone with her new documentary, The Departure. The film, which had its festival premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, follows the story of Nemoto, a former punk-turned-Buddhist-priest in Japan, who has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live. But this work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between his patients and himself. The film will have a theatrical engagement at the Metrograph in NYC beginning on Friday, October 13th, and then an engagement at the Laemmle Monica in L.A. before going wide.

Lastly, [51 mins. 35 secs.] actor turned filmmaker John Carroll Lynch (American Horror Story, Fargo) discusses his directorial debut with the dramedy, Lucky. The film, which is being distributed by Magnolia Pictures, stars the recently deceased Harry Dean Stanton as 90 year old Lucky who has been a life long atheist but now finds himself on a spiritual journey which includes the quirky characters that inhabit his off the map desert town. It’s an appropriate and loving swan song for one of America’s great actors.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

[7 mins.] In the first segment of Episode 429, filmmaker Pete Nicks (The Waiting Room) finally appears on the podcast! Pete discusses his new documentary, The Force, which opens in theaters on Friday, September 22nd. The film, which won him Best Director, U.S. Documentary at Sundance this year is the 2nd in his Oakland Trilogy, goes deep inside the embattled Oakland Police Department as it struggles to confront federal demands for reform, the rise of Black Lives Matter and an explosive scandal.

[44 mins. 30 secs.] Up next, a roundtable conversation with two of my favorite documentary filmmakers returning to the show, Doug Block (51 Birch Street) and Michael Rossato-Bennett (Alive Inside). We discuss making personal documentaries and what it takes to launch a crowdsourced fundraising campaign. Beside making personal documentary films that end up on HBO, Block also founded the popular documentary filmmaker resource, The D-Word. And in addition to making films, Rossato-Bennett, has founded the Alive Inside Foundation whose mission it is to bring youth together with elders living at home with Alzheimer’s. Both men reside in Manhattan.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

In the first segment of this episode [4 mins. 15 secs.] filmmaker Marina Willer discusses her first documentary feature, Red Trees, where she traces the journey of her father’s family, survivors of the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War II. The film, which is being distribute by Cohen Media Group, opens on Friday, September 15th at the Quad Cinema & Lincoln Plaza Cinema in New York City.

Next up, [34 mins. 20 secs.] filmmaker Yance Ford with her devastating personal documentary, Strong Island. The film chronicles the arc of a family across history, geography and tragedy – from the racial segregation of the Jim Crow South to the promise of New York City; from the presumed safety of middle class suburbs, to the maelstrom of an unexpected, violent death. It is the story of the Ford family: Barbara Dunmore, William Ford and their three children and how their lives were shaped by the enduring shadow of race in America. Strong Island will have a theatrical run at the IFC Center and premiere on Netflix on Friday, September 15th.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

Filmwax Radio Episode 427 brings back two friends to the podcast. The first, Ramona Diaz (Imelda, Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey), is back with a new documentary about the world’s busiest maternity ward called Motherland. The film also takes us into one of the world’s poorest and most populous countries: the Philippines. The film’s viewer, like an unseen outsider dropped unobtrusively into the hospital’s stream of activity, passes through hallways, enters rooms and listens in on conversations. At first, the surrounding people are strangers. But as the film continues, it’s absorbingly intimate, rendering the women at the heart of the story increasingly familiar. Motherland, which premiered at Sundance, is currently screening at Cinema Village in New York City and opens at the Laemmle Monica Center on September 22nd before going wider. A POV broadcast is also scheduled for later this fall.

Up next, Frederick Wiseman (Titicut Follies, High School) returns to discuss his latest documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library. With this film, Wiseman turns his incisive vision behind the scenes of one of the world’s greatest institutions of learning, capturing the vast programmatic scope of NYC’s library system. The NYPL is blessed with uniformly passionate staff and deeply devoted, appreciative bibliophiles and beneficiaries across its 92 branches. The film opens at Film Forum in New York City, on Wednesday, September 13th, for a 2-week run before opening widely. Also, there’s a couple of days left of the second installment of a complete retrospective of Wiseman’s films at Film Forum. There will be a third installment some time in 2018.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by the Vermont College of Fine Arts film program. Visit vcfa.edu/film for further details.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

Bonus Episode with the one & only Crispin Hellion Glover! He’s in town later this month and making appearances at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn on September 19th & September 20th. Then at the NJ Horror Convention & Film Festival on September 23rd & 24th.

Depending on which event you attend he’ll be screening either “What is it?” & “It is fine. EVERYTHING IS FINE!” He’s directed both (and is currently working on a third). He’ll also perform one hour dramatic narrative readings of different profusely illustrated books projected behind him otherwise known as “Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show Parts 1 & 2” Then you’ll have lots of opportunities to engage with Cripisin because there’ll be an extended Q & A followed by a book signing.

You can also visit www.cripsinglover.com for more details, for tickets, and to sign up for his newsletter.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

Episode 425 celebrates two new documentaries hitting theaters in New York City on Friday, September 8th. [4 mins. 10 secs.] First up, the filmmaking couple Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau discuss their film Trophy, an in-depth look into the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation in the U.S. and Africa. The film aims to unravel the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities. The film is being distributed by The Orchard and financed in great part by Impact Partners.

[34 mins. 14 secs.] The other documentary is a gorgeous film out of Ireland called School Life (a.k.a. In Loco Parentis). Filmmaking couple Neasa Ní Chianáin & David Rane follow two inspiring teachers working at the only boarding school in Ireland for children ages 7 to 12 are followed for a year, as they begin to prepare for the end of their tenure. The film, which is being distributed by Magnolia Pictures and which also opens on Friday, September 8th, is true vérité at its finest.

Music on this episode of the podcast is by Steely Dan as a tribute to the recently deceased Walter Becker.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by the Vermont College of Fine Arts film program. Visit vcfa.edu/film for further details.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.