Glorious discoveries from Il Cinema Ritrovato, with a special guest
The director of Friends and Strangers returns for another episode! Plus, my latest writing, some action-related, some panic-related
Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
The adventure continues! This week I had a grand old time reuniting with James Vaughan, the director of Friends and Strangers, to talk about his highlights from Il Cinema Ritrovato, a festival of restored and rediscovered films. We’d chatted before about good and odd silent movies (see below) and so I was quite happy to quiz him on his latest findings.
We talked about the director Kira Muratova, who’s really due for another retrospective, Buñuel’s genuinely disturbing melodrama El, and a loopy Weimar-era comedy called The Cabinet of Dr. Larifari (which, oddly, is not a parody of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), Djibril Diop Mambéty’s scathing short Contras City, and much more.
It’s been a busy time for assorted articles I’ve been working on, one of which I can finally share with you (below): a profile of rising star Amber Midthunder.
Remember that it’s free to subscribe to The Last Thing I Saw, but paid subscriptions keep the podcast lights on. Thank you to all my supporters, who have such exquisite taste!
Your faithful host,
Nic
NEW PODCASTS
New discoveries from Il Cinema Ritrovato with filmmaker James Vaughan: Muratova, Mambéty, and More!
Also available to add on Spotify, Soundcloud, and other podcast places.
Il Cinema Ritrovato is an annual festival organized by the Cineteca di Bologna and dedicated to the history of cinema, screening classics, retrospectives and showcasing the latest restored films from labs and archives around the world.
James Vaughan is the director of the acclaimed feature Friends and Strangers. He was previously a guest on The Last Thing I Saw to talk about silent films.
Below, a rare glimpse behind the scenes at The Last Thing I Saw Studios
For more information on the podcast’s opening and closing music by The Minarets (gratefully used with permission):
Follow the band on Instagram
@theminaretsmusic
RECENT WRITING
For The New York Times, I profiled the rising star Amber Midthunder, who plays a Comanche warrior in Prey—a Predator film set in the 18th century. Turns out Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight, is a fan of Prey.
For W Magazine, I interviewed Rebecca Hall, who explores new levels of panic and dread in Resurrection (opposite Tim Roth as an unfathomably terrible person from her past). Last year I spoke with her on The Last Thing I Saw about another harrowing film, The Night House.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Delectable selections for home viewing.
Midnight Run (Criterion)
Under the Skin (HBO MAX) - Here’s my New York Times feature when I spoke to director Jonathan Glazer and star Scarlett Johansson
We Are the Best! (Criterion)
Synecdoche, New York (Hulu) - Scroll down in this old post for my interview with Charlie Kaufman when this movie came out
Okja (Criterion) Superpig Summer!
I Love You Again (Criterion)
THE END
Here I may end with a song.
ABOUT ME
Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw! I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold.
Besides hosting a podcast, I’m a writer and an editor. My features, interviews, festival dispatches, and reviews are published in The New York Times, Sight & Sound, Artforum, Filmmaker, and W Magazine (and appeared in dearly departed publications such as The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine).
Back in the day I was editor-in-chief of Film Comment magazine, where I was for 15 years. I assigned and edited both web and print editorial, hosted its podcast and talks and screenings, learned from brilliant writers, curated Film Comment Selects, and wrote a lot, including interviews with Spike Lee, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Barry Jenkins, and Frederick Wiseman. Film Comment was subsequently awarded the Film Heritage Award by the National Society of Film Critics (an honor historically awarded to the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions).
Feel free to get in touch re: writing, editing, moderating, programming, podcasting, etc.
nicolas.rapold@gmail.com