Michael Rossato-Bennett

[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.

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[8 mins. 15 secs.] Jessie Auritt calls in to the show to discuss her new documentary, Supergirl, about a 9-year old Orthodox Jewish powerlifter, which is having two screenings at Slamdance, one on Saturday, January 21st, 10:30 AM & a second on Tuesday, January 24th, 9:30 pm. Check the Slamdance website for tickets and more details.

Just after that [20 mins. 15 secs.] Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (The Past, A Separation) stops by to discuss his latest film called The Salesman. The film, which is being distributed by Amazon Studios & the Cohen Media Group, and will have its theatrical engagement in New York City and Los Angeles beginning Friday, January 27th, then will roll out to more cities in the coming weeks. The film is about an Iranian couple who must contend with a violent disruption in their lives. The film is also Iran’s official Oscar entry in the foreign language category.

Last up, [46 mins. 20 secs.] Michael Rossato-Bennett (Alive Inside) returns to the podcast with a plea for help with his Kickstarter campaign. Michael’s new project is called Brian’s Songs and is about his best friend who secretly wrote 300 songs just before being struck by ALS. Since Brian’s physical self is fading, his best friends have come to together to make an album of his hidden songs and document the process.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Zipcar.com. Earn $25 of free driving credit at joinzipcar.com/filmwaxradio.

Filmwax Radio is part of the ShowBriz Studios podcast network and presented by Rooftop Films. Like us on Facebook.

Another episode focusing on new documentaries with the filmmakers who made The Dog, Web Junkie, and Alive Inside.