July 29, 2008
TELL NO ONE
An interview with GUILLAUME CANET director of TELL NO ONE — a crime thriller and winner of the best director, best actor, best editing and best music at France's César Awards. France. The film focuses on Alexandre Beck a pediatrician who misses his beloved wife who was brutally murdered eight years ago when he was the prime suspect. When two bodies are found near where the corpse of Margot was dumped, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes suspect again. The mystery increases when Alex receives an e-mail showing Margot older and alive. After his critically-acclaimed directorial debut, Mon Idole (Whatever You Say), French actor Canet rounded up a stellar cast, which includes Marie-Josée Croze, Kristen Scott-Thomas, Nathalie Baye, André Dussollier, Jean Rochefort, Marina Hands and Canet himself in this film .based on American writer Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel.

Listen to KUCI live / MP3 24k | 128k / Real Audio 24k | 128k HELP

July 22, 2008
MAN ON WIRE
An interview with JAMES MARSH director of MAN ON WIRE — a look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century. Petit committed one of the most astonishing performance stunts of the late 20th century: he strung a thin cable in-between the two towers of the World Trade Center and not only walked across, from one building to another, but did a nerve-wracking series of knee-bends and acrobatic movements on the cable, some 1,350 feet above the ground, before turning himself in. This occurred to the consternation and chagrin of Port Authority policemen, who immediately arrested Petit for the act. When Marsh decided he wanted to become a filmmaker, he "took the path of least resistance" and landed a job at the BBC, making documentaries for Arena. Specialising in American pop culture, notable docs included Trouble Man: The Last Years Of Marvin Gaye (1994) and The Burger And The King (1996), examining the dietary quirks of Elvis Presley. It was Marsh's work on acclaimed 1999 documentary Wisconsin Death Trip that provided his big screen breakout. He followed that with his first feature, The King. Man on Wire won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

July 15, 2008
ROMAN PULANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
An interview with MARINA ZENOVICH director of ROMAN PULANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED — a documentary that examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States. On March 11, 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with the following counts: furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, committing a lewd or lascivious act on a child, unlawful sexual intercourse, rape by use of drugs, perversion and sodomy. Less than a year later, on February 1, 1978, Polanski drove to LAX, bought a one-way ticket to Europe, and never came back. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired explores the implausible events that took place between these dates, along with details, before and after, that forever altered the life and career of Polanski, one of the world's most acclaimed directors. Polanski, whose life already read like the script of one of his most tragic, brutal films, lost both his Polish parents during WWII, but rose to become a star filmmaker in Poland, England and, later, the U.S. His storybook love affair with Sharon Tate ended with her 1969 murder at the hands of followers of Charles Manson; she was eight months pregnant. Surviving the tragedy and press firestorm accompanying it, Polanski rebuilt his career in the 1970s - until he made a fateful mistake during a 1977 photo shoot with a 13-year-old girl. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

July 8, 2008
THE ART OF FAILURE: CHUCK CONNELLY NOT FOR SALE
An interview with JEFF STIMMEL director of THE ART OF FAILURE: CHUCK CONNELLY NOT FOR SALE — the unusual story of the rise and fall of a major talent, along with Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat, from the 1980s art world. Though he was extremely talented with a profitable collection of work, Connelly ended up alienating every collector and gallery owner he worked with. This documentary follows the life of this brilliant yet enigmatic painter, who had great success as a young artist but who now sees his career fading. Driven by desperation, and left by his wife during the course of this documentary, Connelly hires an actor to pose as a young, upcoming artist to sell Chuck's work to galleries and art dealers. The film provides an intimate and often troubling character study of Connelly, a working-class guy from Pittsburgh who holds "traditional" beliefs that art is, above all, about personal expression and craftsmanship. These notions have proven to be less-than-fashionable in today's elite art world, the inner workings of which are also glimpsed in the film. Shot over six years, this documentary explores a painter's passion for his work, despite being his own worst enemy. Stimmel is a Los Angeles based filmmaker who has directed several short films. In 2001, he received the PEER award for the production of Ed Sherman's The State of the Artist. The Art of Failure will screen on HBO beginning July 7 and will be available thereafter on HBO On Demand.

July 1, 2008
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON
An interview with ALEX GIBNEY the director of GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON — the definitive film biography of a mythic American figure, a man that Tom Wolfe called our “greatest comic writer,” whose suicide, by gunshot, led Rolling Stone Magazine, where Thompson began his career, to devote an entire issue (its best-selling ever) to the man that launched a thousand sips of bourbon, endless snorts of cocaine and a brash, irreverent, fearless style of journalism - named “gonzo” after an anarchic blues riff by James Booker. Gibney is the Academy Award nominated director of Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room and the director of the Academy Award winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side. While Gibney shaped the screen story, every narrated word in the film springs from the typewriters of Thompson himself. Those words are given life by Johnny Depp, the actor who once shadowed Thompson’s every move for the screen version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and who bankrolled Thompson’s spectacular funeral (photographed for this film) in which the good doctor’s ashes were fired from a rocket launcher mounted with a towering two-thumbed fist whose palm held a giant peyote button.

June 24, 2008
PRINCE OF BROADWAY
An interview with SEAN BAKER the director /writer of PRINCE OF BROADWAY — the story of Lucky and Levon, two men whose lives converge in the underbelly of New York's wholesale fashion district. Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, makes ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knock-off brand merchandise. Levon, an Armenian-Lebanese immigrant, operates an illegal storefront with a concealed back room where counterfeit goods are showcased to interested shoppers. Lucky's world is suddenly turned upside down when a child is thrust into his life by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. Shot in a fast-paced guerilla style that is akin to the hustler lifestyle, the film reveals the lives of immigrants in America seeking ideals of family and love, while creating their own knock-off of the American Dream. Baker is best known for co-creating the cult television show "Greg the Bunny." His first feature, "Four Letter Words," a study of adolescent males in Suburbia USA, premiered at South by Southwest 2001. It is currently being released on DVD by Vanguard Cinema. "Take Out," Sean's second feature is slated for release by Cavu Cinema. Having premiered at Slamdance 2004, it won Best Feature at the Nashville Film Festival. Prince of Broadway will begin screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival Sunday, June 22, 7:00pm at The Regent in Westwood.

June 17, 2008
HOTTIEBOOMBALOTTIE
An interview with SETH PACKARD writer / director / lead actor of HOTTIEBOOMBALOTTIE — a geektastic comedy full of hip tunes and embarrassing situations. Trapped in Utah with an overbearing mother and an older brother bent on sabotaging his entire life, teenage Ethan channels all his ambitions into a deluded obsession with uber-hottie Madison Sweet. Meanwhile, his cousin Cleo seems to want to be closer than just family. Commanding the screen with his Flock of Seagulls-meets-Wolverine hairdo, Ethan is an irresistable bundle of peculiar energy, both cheerfully clueless and unexpectedly charming. will began screening Saturday, June 21st 7:15pm at The Regent as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival.

June 10, 2008
THE COOL SCHOOL
An interview with MORGAN NEVILLE the director THE COOL SCHOOL - a documentary about the Ferus Gallery which from 1957 to 1966 was the catalyst of modern art in Los Angeles. Operating out of a small storefront, the gallery hosted debut exhibitions and served as a general launching point for Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses and Robert Irwin, among many other artists. By the time it closed in 1966, the gallery had also played a role in solidifying the careers of many of New York's brightest talents, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns building an art scene from scratch and transforming the cultural climate of the West Coast. Neville is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who specializes in history and cultural subjects. Through a series of films on important music subjects (including The Brill Building, Sam Phillips and Sun Records, Nat King Cole, Brian Wilson, Leiber & Stoller, The Highwaymen and Burt Bacharach), Neville has documented stories of songwriters and producers who helped shape 20th-century music, including the Grammy-nominated Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied and the Emmy-winning Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues, both of which aired on PBS's American Masters series as well as Channel 4/UK and the BBC's Arena series. The Cool School will air on KCET Independent Lens Wednesday, June 11, at 8:00pm.

May 27, 2008
CHOP SHOP
An interview with RAMIN BAHRANI the director of CHOP SHOP — winner of the Independent Spirit Someone to Watch Award. CHOP SHOP follows Alejandro, a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, as he lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, young Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister, Isamar. Born and raised in America, Bahrani moved to his parents' homeland of Iran for three years where he made his student thesis film, Strangers (2000). Bahrani then lived in Paris before returning to the states to begin work on his first feature film, Man Push Cart (2005). Winning over ten international prizes, Man Push Cart was also nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. CHOP SHOP, Bahrani’s second feature film premiered at The Cannes Film Festival where Le Monde declared it "The major revelation of the Director's Fortnight."

May 20, 2008
SANGRE DE MI SANGRE
An interview with CHRISTOPHER ZALLA the director of SANGRE DE MI SANGRE — winner of the Best Film at the Sundance Film Festival (under its former title Padre Nuestro). SANGRE DE MI SANGRE is an exhilarating and provocative thriller exposing the dark side of the American dream. A young Mexican immigrant, Pedro (Jorge Adrian Espindola), journeys to New York City in search of the successful father he has never met only to have his belongings and identity stolen by a conniving thief, Juan (Armando Hernandez). As Pedro is left alone and unable to communicate in a country foreign to him, Juan cons his way into the home of Pedro's father, Diego (Jesus Ochoa), finding a man just as flawed as he is. While Juan attempts to reinvent himself, Pedro's only hope lies with a mysteriously complex prostitute, Magda (Paola Mendoza), as he frantically searches for his identity back.

May 13, 2008
REPRISE
An interview with JOACHIM TRIER the director of REPRISE — a lean and kinetic journey through friendship, love, madness and creativity. Trier viscerally captures the way life takes off at rocket-speed in the beginning of adulthood and the what-ifs and why-nots that both drive and haunt us as the unbridled hopes of youth come to a screeching halt. The story kicks off just as Phillip (ANDERS DANIELSON LIE) and Erik (ESPEN KLOUMAN-HOINER) stand at the mailbox, each about to ship off his first novel to publishers, each is hoping to become a wildly influential cult author, each has visions of a new life of non-stop intensity, brilliance, romance and nightclubbing. REPRISE explores not just what happens to Phillip and Erik as they pick up the pieces but what might have happened to them, what they imagine could happen, what they fear will possibly happen and what they cant see actually happening. REPRISE marks the feature film debut of Joachim Trier, who wrote the screenplay with Eskil Vogt. In its native Norway, the film won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the national film awards.

May 6, 2008
MISTER LONELY
An interview with HARMONY KORINE the director of MISTER LONELY the story of a young American in Paris who works as a Michael Jackson lookalike. Michael Jackson meets meets Marilyn Monroe, who invites him to her commune in Scotland, where she lives with Charlie Chaplin and her daughter, Shirley Temple. In 1995, at the age of 19, Korine wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay Kids for director Larry Clark. Following his fame with Kids, Korine directed the beautifully jarring unconventional films Gummo (1997) starring Werner Herzog followed by Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) which was based on the experiences of Korine's schizophrenic uncle. Christened "the future of American cinema" by Herzog, Korine is the son of documentary filmmaker Sol Korine.

April 29, 2008
KISSING COUSINS
An interview with AMYN KADERALI, the director of KISSING COUSINS — a romantic comedy about a professional heartbreaker and cynical bachelor who teams up with his attractive cousin from the UK in order to fool his friends into believing he is capable of a relationship. KISSING COUSINS stars Samrat Chakrabarti (a rising Indian American star), Rebecca Hazlewood (from the UK hit series "Dog Eat Dog"), Zack Ward ("Transformers"), PJ Byrne ("Evan Almighty"), Gerry Bednob ("40 Year Old Virgin"), Jaleel White (aka "Urkel"), and David Alan Grier. AMYN KADERALI graduated cum laude with a degree in Communications Studies at UCLA in 1994, and pursued a Master’s Degree in Directing at the prestigious Graduate Film Department at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he received the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Award in 1996 and the Perry Ellis Breakthrough Filmmaker Award in 1997. His second-year short film, Little Man, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Short at the 1998 Slamdance Film Festival, the prestigious Lew Wasserman Award and Best Short Awards in Melbourne, Bilbao, and Marin County. KISSING COUSINS screens Sunday May 4. 6:30 pm at the Directors Guild of America Theatre as part of the Asian Pacific Film Festival.

April 22, 2008
LONG STORY SHORT
An interview with JODI LONG the writer and narrator of LONG STORY SHORT — the fascinating documentary about her parents Larry and Trudie Long, a popular husband-and-wife nightclub act of the '40s and '50s. The film traces the couple's rise from the Chinatown nightclub circuit to a coveted appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and beyond. Known as "The Leungs," (a more Chinese-sounding name), they performed a mix of tap dancing, witty repartee and "Chinaman" caricatures that both played to and undermined the racist attitudes of the day. The limitations facing Asian American performers become even more obvious when Larry lost a rare opportunity to play a major role in the Broadway production of Flower Drum Song, the first musical with an all-Asian cast. Although he went on to perform in the show's traveling company, he never made it to Broadway, a failure from which his career never fully recovered. Redemption of a complicated sort comes when Jodi appears on Broadway in a revival of the same musical, re-written by Chinese American playwright David Henry Hwang. LONG STORY SHORT will screen at the Los Angeles Asian American Film Festival Sunday, May 4 at 2 pm.

April 15, 2008
LIE TO ME
An interview with JOHN STEWART MULLER the director of LIE TO ME — a film that chronicles an attractive young couple’s open relationship as it is stretched to the breaking point when they find themselves falling in love with other people. This romance explores such universal issues as honesty, jealousy, commitment, maturity, understanding and ultimately our capacity for love. LIE TO ME stars Brandon Routh, best known as Superman/Clark Kent in the Superman Returns. A founding partner of Steele Films and a multi-talented director, MULLER began making films at the age of seven. Experimental, artistic and incredibly personal, his past work has helped hone his creative skills allowing him to pursue a career as a commercial director. LIE TO ME will premier at the NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL at 6:00 pm, Saturday Apr 26. For more information visit the NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL Facebook page.

April 8, 2008
ALBERT MAYSLES
An interview with ALBERT MAYSLES who, along with his brother David (1932-1987), is recognized as a pioneer of "direct cinema," the distinctly American version of French "cinema verité." The Maysles Brothers earned their distinguished reputations by being the first to make non-fiction feature films — films in which the drama of human life unfolds as is, without scripts, sets, or narration. The brother’s landmark non-fiction feature film SALESMAN (1968), a portrait of four door-to-door Bible salesmen from Boston, won an award from the National Society of Film Critics and is regarded as the classic American documentary. Their next two films became cult classics. GIMME SHELTER (1970) is the portrait of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones on their American tour which culminated in a killing at the notorious concert at Altamont. GREY GARDENS (1976) captures on film the haunting relationship of the Beales, a mother and daughter living secluded in a decaying East Hampton mansion (clip above). Maysles Films Inc. has produced many films on art and artists, including a long-standing collaboration of celebrated artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose monumental environmental projects were documented in Academy Award-nominated CHRISTO'S VALLEY CURTAIN (1974), RUNNING FENCE (1978), ISLANDS (1986), CHRISTO IN PARIS (1990), and UMBRELLAS (1995) — which won the Grand Prize and People's Choice Award at the Montreal Festival of Films on Art. In 2001 Albert received the Sundance Film Festival 2001 Cinematography Award for Documentaries for LALEE'S KIN: THE LEGACY OF COTTON. Albert received exclusive access to the Dalai Lama and filmed his visit to New York in the summer of 2003 and is currently producing, along with Antonio Ferrara, THE GATES, a documentary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s latest art piece.

VISIT MORE FILMSCHOOL ARCHIVES