Ep 246: Ted Melfi

“St. Vincent” director Ted Melfi is up first; followed by documentary filmmaker Samir about his film “Iraqi Odyssey” which I caught at TIFF.

“St. Vincent” director Ted Melfi is up first; followed by documentary filmmaker Samir about his film “Iraqi Odyssey” which I caught at TIFF.

First time feature filmmaker, Ted Melfi is my first guest. Ted’s film, “St. Vincent“, about the unlikely friendship between a grumpy old codger (Bill Murray in top form) and young Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) who moves into the house next door. The movie’s all-star cast also includes Melissa McCarthy as Oliver’s recently single mother, Naomi Watts as Daka, the pregnant hooker with a heart of gold, Chris O’Dowd as Oliver’s Catholic School teacher, and Terrence Howard as the local baddie to whom Vincent owes a lot of money. “St. Vincent” is currently in theaters in NYC & LA, starts expanding on 10/17 and goes national 10/24.

The other guest is documentary filmmaker Sami, whom I interviewed at the Toronto International Film Festival with his film, “Iraqi Odyssey“. Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting 3D documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war, and foreign occupation.

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