The host of an exceptional podcast, Criterion Now, Aaron West is the first guest. I was recently on an episode of Aaron’s podcast and then he returned the favor. The podcast is a great one-stop spot for all your Criterion news, with great conversations by some of the geekiest cinephiles around today.
Matt Ogens (“Confessions of a Superhero”) is the next guest. Matt has a new documentary feature called “Home + Away” which is about to have its world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Many of the students who attend Bowie High School in El Paso, Texas, have an unusual commute to school: over the bridge and across the border that separates their school from their homes in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. For many of these students, sports represent one possible route to a better life: Erik, a soccer player, dreams of playing professionally; Shyanne, one of the school’s best wrestlers, sees the Army as a way to get to college but begins to rethink her course in the current political climate; and Francisco, a hard throwing pitcher and third baseman whose father isn’t allowed into the United States, plays each game with that absence in the back of his mind.
