Errol Morris + Sean Baker + Isabelle Huppert + Documentary Riches from IDFA!
Cinema, I tell you! Cinema!
Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
I have returned from distant lands, and also my desk, bearing podcasts. This roundup features two (2) filmmaker interviews, and highlights from my festival travels.
In the very latest episode, Errol Morris discusses his new film, Separated, which concerns the first Trump administration’s policy of separating children from families at the U.S.-Mexico border as a deterrent, and what the future might hold. I think Errol might also break a little news about his next film? Listen and find out.
Previously posted: an instant classic with Sean Baker, director of Anora, discussing film influences and his voracious viewing.
And from my trip to the wonderful International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): I talk about a few films first with the festival’s Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia, and then another batch with Abby Sun, editor of Documentary Magazine.
Plus, some recent scribbles, including a nuts-and-bolts chat with Isabelle Huppert!
Thank you to all the supporters of The Last Thing I Saw. Together we are immortal. Also, hope you had a good Thanksgiving break.
Nic
THE PODCAST
Sean Baker on Anora and its influences, and highlights from his recent watches
Errol Morris on Separated, his new documentary about the Trump immigration policy of separating children from families
IDFA 2024 with Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia, feat. The Guest, The Propagandist, and more
IDFA 2024 with Abby Sun on A Want in Her, An American Pastoral, TWST, 1957 Transcripts
Shonni Enelow on Acting: We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Mid-to-Late Rohmer, The Beast
Episodes of The Last Thing I Saw are also available at many other podcast places.
RECENT WORK
Isabelle Huppert is my latest interview at the mighty Screen Slate. She’s made another film with director Hong Sangsoo, A Traveler’s Needs, and this became a delightful conversation about Hong’s style and her process.
For Air Mail, I wrote up a book about Orson Welles’s radio adaptation of War of the Worlds, which you might possibly have heard of. Surprise, it raises relevant questions about mass media demagoguery!
At IDFA I saw a documentary about a rich Dutch filmmaker who eagerly became a propagandist for the Nazis. I interviewed the documentary’s director, Luuk Bouwman, about his film, which is called The Propagandist.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (MUBI) See it again for the first time! As seen on Manohla Dargis’s New York Times “Best Movies of 2024” list
Listen Up Philip (MUBI) 10th anniversary! Alex Ross Perry directs, Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss star, also featuring Jonathan Pryce
The Roaring Twenties (MAX) Cagney
The Assassin (Criterion) Hou Hsiao-hsien’s final feature
Bushman (Criterion) Curious hybrid
Union (Gathr) About the historic Amazon strike - a rare VOD rec, for a limited time only. As seen on Alissa Wilkinson’s New York Times “Best Movies of 2024” list
THE END
Here I may end with a song.
ABOUT ME
Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw! I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. You can get in touch re: writing, editing, programming, moderating, podcasting, etc. at
nicolas.rapold[at]gmail.com
Besides hosting the podcast, I’m a writer, editor, and programmer. My features, interviews, festival reports, and reviews are published in The New York Times, Screen Slate, Sight & Sound, Filmmaker, Air Mail, The Financial Times, and W Magazine. (Dearly departed publications include The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine.) I’m also proud of the film series and one-offs I’ve programmed, revivals and premieres, so do drop me a line if you’d like to collaborate.
Editorially speaking, I worked as editor-in-chief of Film Comment magazine, where I was for 15 years in all. I assigned and edited both web and print, hosted The Film Comment Podcast and Talks, curated and hosted Film Comment Selects screenings, learned from brilliant writers, and wrote a lot, including interviews with Spike Lee, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Pedro Costa, and Frederick Wiseman. Film Comment received the Film Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics.