The filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (“Why We Fight”, “The Trials of Henry Kissinger”) returns to the podcast with his latest, perhaps most controversial film. Too much of a hot button to get distribution? We’ll have to wait and see. Julian Assange. WikiLeaks. Truth on trial… Eugene Jarecki’s groundbreaking Cannes film “The Six Billion Dollar Man” confronts the...
The filmmaker Amos Poe was a guest on the podcast on two memorable occasions. The first time we sat was in a podcast studio in the East Village; Episode 385 in the Fall of 2016. For Amos’ second appearance, we sat in the downstairs lobby of the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca outside the screening room; that was Episode 520 in the Fall of 2018. Poe was a major influence in the underground filmmaking...
A conversation with the Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti (“Ajami”). Copti’s new film “Happy Holidays” is currently having theatrical engagements in the U.S. including at Film Forum in NYC. From the Film Movement website: While celebrating Purim at her university in Jerusalem, Fifi, a young Palestinian woman is hospitalized following a car accident. Though her...
The Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game”, “Interview with The Vampire”) is also an author of several novels. Jordan has recently released an autobiographical work called “Amnesiac: A Memoir” (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024) which is currently available where books are sold. In this vivid, moving and strange memoir, Neil Jordan – the author of classic...
Jonah Feingold (“Dating and New York”) returns to the podcast to discuss his latest film “31 Candles” currently in theaters. When a Jewish film director who makes Christmas movies in New York City decides to have his Bar Mitzvah at the age of 31, he must navigate situationships, exes, and family to complete his Mitzvah project and impress his childhood camp crush. Inspired...
The non-fiction filmmaker Lynne Sachs returns to Filmwax for another memorable visit. Lynne has a new film, “Every Contract Leaves a Trace”, which is to have its world premiere at IDFA in Amsterdam on November 17th: Synopsis (from IDFA website): Since 1990, filmmaker Lynne Sachs has collected 600 business cards—from a hairdresser, a therapist, a textile artist. Together they form an...
The world premiere of Filmwax friend the filmmaker Alan Berliner‘s “Benita” will take place at DOC NYC. “Benita” is about experimental documentary filmmaker Benita Raphan who died by suicide during the loneliness of the COVID-19 shutdowns. DOC NYC 2024 Lifetime Achievement filmmaker Alan Berliner, who was her friend and creative advisor, creates a kind of posthumous...
The filmmaker Heidi Levitt returns to the podcast for her 2nd visit. She was on last October when her documentary “Walk With Me” was about to have its Hudson Valley premiere at the 2024 Woodstock Film Festival. Over four years of filming with Heidi as director and care partner, they crisscross the country, redefining how life will be lived to its fullest. Charlie’s charm, warmth, and...
The actor Louis Cancelmi (“The Irishman”, “Killers of the Flower Moon”) returns to the podcast to discuss his craft and his recent role in the Sundance hit film “Sorry, Baby”. He’s also in the current episodic series “Government Cheese” on Apple TV+.
The 2nd Annual Borscht Belt Film Fest takes place Friday, October 31st through Sunday, November 2nd in Ellenville, NY. One of the main events will take place on the first evening when comedian Judy Gold will be honored with the first ever Mensch Award. Included is a seriously intimate and casual chat with Gold about her extensive career and how her Jewish identity and the Borscht Belt shaped it...
The legendary composer, arranger, musician and penny whistle player, David Amram, will be in conversation with Academy Award documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple at the Woodstock Film Festival on Sunday, 10/19 12 noon. The venue is the Kleinert/James Art Center, 34 Tinker St, Woodstock. David Amram started his professional life in music as a French Hornist in the National Symphony Orchestra...
In the year 2010, writer/performer/provocateur Chad Holt and filmmaker Bob Ray teamed up to make a vérité style documentary about Chad Holt’s last six months of felony probation, his life, his creative output, and his relentless dick-centric drive. Despite some critical hullabaloo, their doc, “Total Badass“, went mostly unseen due in no small part to the aforementioned dick flopping...
The filmmaker Steven Feinartz (“The Bitter Buddha”) makes his first appearance on the podcast. His new documentary is called “Are We Good?”. “Are We Good?”, which premiered out of SXSW Film & TV Festival and screened out of Tribeca Festival is not a biopic, nor is it a stand-up routine film – it is a look at one person’s process through grief told with...
My guest is Claire Jeffreys who has made her directorial debut with a documentary about her husband Garland Jeffreys. It’s currently available to stream on Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video and YouTube. In the late 1970s, many of music’s top tastemakers felt sure Garland Jeffreys would become the next big thing. Rolling Stone named him the “most promising artist” of 1977. The prestigious...
The great troubadour, Chris Smither, is the guest. In addition to releasing 20 albums of mostly original material and touring for over 40 years, Smither recently made his acting debut in a short film called “The Singers” which premiered at SxSW this past Spring. “The Singers” is a film adaptation of a 19th-century short story written by Ivan Turgenev, in which a lowly pub...