Olivier Assayas interview + Bruce Bennett Returns + Naomi Ackie on Mickey 17 + True/False + German genre movies
Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
The latest edition brings together a quartet of episodes. First we have an interview with Olivier Assayas about his latest movie, Suspended Time, speaking quite eloquently about making art. And then there are a couple of festival round-ups: documentary highlights from True/False with Eric Hynes, and the German genre cinema series shown at the Berlinale, with K.J. Relth-Miller.
And for those readers in New York, come out to tonight’s event: An Evening with The Last Thing I Saw (aka a double feature) at Light Industry. Featuring one movie inspired by the fourth episode in this edition: another visit with Bruce Bennett, who brought up a couple of films scripted by Kaneto Shindo.
That’s all for now. My thanks to all the supporters of The Last Thing I Saw!
Nic
THE PODCAST
[To play each episode, click the episode title, or click in the player below. Or find The Last Thing I Saw elsewhere...]
Olivier Assayas on his movie Suspended Time, personal filmmaking, and recent favorites
Bruce Bennett on Two by Kaneto Shindo, Breezy, Anita Pallenberg, Nightshift, My First Film
Eric Hynes on True False 2025: WTO/99, A Body to Live In, Resurrection, Kouté Vwa, The Undergrowth
K.J. Relth-Miller on Berlinale Classics: Tenderness of the Wolves, Solo Sunny, Spare Parts, Don’t Cheat, Darling!
Episodes of The Last Thing I Saw are available at many other podcast places.
RECENT WORK
Mickey 17, Bong Joon Ho’s latest movie, is out in theaters, and I had a great time chatting with Naomi Ackie about starring opposite Robert Pattinson, for W Magazine. (Ackie plays Mickey’s shipmate turned lover turned savior in a dystopian future, and she’s great, funny and fierce.)
I wrote about doc highlights at the 2025 edition of True/False for Screen Slate, as I’ve done before.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
The Celebration (Criterion) I’m not sure I’ve seen this since it came out in theaters
Such a Pretty Little Beach (Criterion)
My First Film (MUBI) This is the movie Bruce Bennett talks about on his episode
Time of Roses (OVID) Finnish sci-fi
Meek’s Cutoff (MUBI) Leadership!
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.