Filmwax Radio

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 PBS program Soundstage predicted he would become “the next performer to lay claim to superstardom.”  That sense of missed opportunity forms the emotional core of a new documentary about the star titled "Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between". The title refers both to Jeffreys’ musical style — an uncategorizable mix of rock, reggae, and soul — and to his identity as the mixed-race son of a Black father and a Puerto Rican mother who struggled to find his place in the overwhelmingly white world of ’70s and ’80s rock. With fellow artists Laurie Anderson, Bruce Springsteen, Harvey Keitel, Vernon Reid, Alejandro Escovedo, Graham Parker, writers Robert Christgau, David Hajdu, Jamaica Kincaid and Roger Guenveur Smith, this is a warm and intimate look at an artist who belongs in the conversation.

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 full of downtrodden men connect unexpectedly through an impromptu sing-off. The film explores the complexities of masculinity and the power of vulnerability through art. Smither's most recently album is called "All About the Bones". He will be performing at Kingston's Assembly on a double bill with Loudon Wainwright III on Thursday, September 18th. https://youtu.be/LPAJExna7bE

Filmwax Radio is proud to welcome 3 female documentary filmmakers to the podcast for their first time. First up is the filmmaker Wendy Lobel. "Anxiety Club" provides an intimate and humorous look at anxiety through the eyes and minds of some of the most brilliant comedians working today. Marc Maron, Tiffany Jenkins, Baron Vaughn, Aparna Nancherla, Mark Normand, Eva Victor and Joe List offer candid reflections on their relationship with anxiety through exclusive interviews, standup performances, sketch videos, therapy sessions, and everyday life. With rare access to private therapy sessions, the film follows comedian Tiffany Jenkins (a content creator with over 9 million followers) as she undergoes behavioral therapy, capturing the profound changes her treatment brings about. Others find support from alternative sources, such as world-renowned meditation expert Tara Brach, PhD, or the psychologist-in-residence at The Laugh Factory, or simply from mentors in the comedy community. All of the comedians in "Anxiety Club" have created standup or sketch material about their mental health that is not only funny but uniquely relatable and disarming to audiences. With comedy, vulnerability, and honesty, these comedians provide remarkable insight into anxiety - the most prevalent mental health disorder affecting an estimated 300 million people worldwide. Then filmmakers Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez with their PBS documentary "Slumlord Millionaire". Winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 DOC NYC Film Festival, “Slumlord Millionaire” explores the rapid gentrification of New York City neighborhoods and the housing crisis sweeping not only New York but the nation. Median rents nationwide are higher than ever, and in Manhattan, the average rent is now almost $5,000 per month. As rents increase, some landlords have become aggressive in getting long-term tenants to leave: ignoring repairs, turning off heat and gas, and doing nothing to eliminate mold and vermin infestations. The landlord’s goal is to make the apartment so uninhabitable that residents are forced out, allowing them to deregulate the apartment and turn it over to market rate for a high profit. These actions drive up costs in the already unaffordable housing market and displace families who make up the fabric of these neighborhoods, changing communities forever. “Slumlord Millionaire,”  premieres on the PBS series VOCES on Monday, July 28, 2025, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app.

Filmwax friend Julia Loktev returns to the podcast for her third visit. Last Fall the first part of her epic documentary premiered at the New York Film Festival. This Friday, August 15th "My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow" will have its theatrical premiere at Film Forum in New York City. Moscow, winter 2021: At TV Rain, the only remaining independent channel, young journalists have been branded foreign agents— targeted for surveillance or worse, and required to tag their reporting with a disclaimer that they are serving foreign powers. Regardless: Ksyusha furiously produces and edits stories to distract herself from her fellow-journalist fiancé’s imprisonment; Anya hosts everyday heroes of resistance on her interview show, while shielding both her sanity and her young daughter from the regime’s relentless fuckery; Sonya produces the “Hi, You’re a Foreign Agent” podcast at her kitchen table while beholding her empty living room (why buy a sofa when who knows what will happen to her?); Alesya fends off anxiety that her office has been bugged, while hiding her relationship with her girlfriend from her traditional mother. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is just weeks away, as these Gen-Z heroines confront propagandist absurdity and personal endangerment, fighting for the soul of a country they love to the bitter end.

Returning to the podcast in this first segment is the documentary filmmaker Lisa D'Apolito ("Love, Gilda"). Coming-of-age can be difficult, but is always more bearable when you have someone who connects with you on a cellular level. Shari Lewis - a children’s television  pioneer before Fred Rogers, Jim Henson, and others - was one of those people. She was a dancer, singer, and magician, but was best known as the ventriloquist behind sock puppets Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and, of course, Lamb Chop. This heartfelt and entertaining doc charts the life, loves, and career hits and misses of the spunky perfectionist who forever changed the face of children’s television. Featuring ventriloquists she inspired and nostalgia-laden clips, this upbeat portrait brims, like Lewis, with warmth and charm. "Shari & Lamp Chop" is the tonic we all need to reconnect with our inner children, and celebrate pure imagination. "Shari & Lamp Chop" is currently enjoying a theatrical run. Visit the website for details. Returning to the podcast in the second segment is the documentary filmmaker Daniel Kremer. He was last on the podcast back in May of 2018. Perhaps at first glance, the filmography of Silvio Narizzano appears unremarkable. Thanks to his sleeper hit "Georgy Girl" (1966), he's known largely as a 'one-hit wonder' director. Upon closer inspection, however, likely no other filmmaker used cinema as effectively to exorcise personal demons in ways both ugly and beautiful. And few directors' sensibilities were more gay, both overtly and covertly. Film historian Daniel Kremer is your tour guide through an obscure, perplexing body of work heretofore ignored and often unfairly shunned. "Cruel, Usual, Necessary: The Passion of Silvio Narizzano" is an essay documentary of discovery. —Imprint Films

In the first segment, a returning Michael Koresky ("Films of Endearment"), the Museum of the Moving Image’s editorial director, with his latest book "Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness" (Bloomsbury, 2025). The book is an original history celebrating the persistence of queerness onscreen, behind the camera, and between the lines during the dark days of the Hollywood Production Code. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the Motion Picture Production Code severely restricted what Hollywood cinema could depict. This included 'any inference' of the lives of homosexuals. Gay activist Vito Russo famously condemned Hollywood’s censorship regime, lambasting many midcentury­ films as the bigoted products of his titular “Celluloid Closet.” Koresky reexamines these scorned films to tell the story of how filmmakers, straight and queer, in-the-closet and out-in-the-open, smuggled queer themes and ideas into their work, incrementally paving the way for recognition and representation. There is more to the movies during this period of popular filmmaking than meets the eye: The Golden Age set in motion many of the ways we still talk about queerness in the twenty-first century. In this insightful, wildly entertaining book, cinema historian Michael Koresky ­finds new meaning in 'problematic”' classics of the Code era like Hitchcock’s "Rope," Minnelli’s "Tea and Sympathy", and—bookending the period and anchoring Koresky’s narrative—William Wyler’s two adaptations of "The Children’s Hour," Lillian Hellman’s provocative hit play about a pair of schoolteachers accused of lesbianism. Lifting up the under-appreciated queer filmmakers, writers, and actors of the era, Koresky finds artists who are long overdue for reevaluation. Through his brilliant analysis, "Sick and Dirty" reveals the 'bad seeds' of queer cinema to be surprisingly, even gleefully subversive, reminding us, in an age of book bans and gag laws, that nothing makes queerness speak louder than its opponents’ bids to silence it. In the second segment, Filmwax friend Josh Karp returns once again to discuss his latest article for the online magazine, Air Mail: "The Miracle at the Truck Stop", about the long shuttered Burt Reynolds Theater in Jupiter, Florida. At the height of his fame, Burt Reynolds had a dream: to open a dinner theater in the middle of nowhere! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szjlaU00vKw

"Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse" (1991), the award-winning documentary chronicling the tumultuous making of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" recently had a theatrical run at New York's Film Forum in a new 4K restoration. In the late 1970s, director Francis Ford Coppola, accompanied by his family and cast and crew, travelled to the Philippines to begin work on what would become "Apocalypse Now". But it soon became one of the most notorious shoots in cinema history, spiraling into a hellish, life-threatening nightmare. Chronicling the drama was Coppola's wife, the late Eleanor Coppola, who shot extensive behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot in 16mm, and recorded audio interviews with her husband and others involved in the movie's making. In the early '90s, Eleanor turned her 16mm footage and audio interviews over to filmmakers George Hickenlooper and podcast guest Fax Bahr, who then interwove it with new interviews with the movie's cast members (including Martin Sheen and Dennis Hopper) and observers (like George Lucas). After a year of editing, the new documentary debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. Says Filmwax Radio guest James Mockoski, Film Archivist and Restoration Supervisor at American Zoetrope, "For the past 30 years, Eleanor's 16mm behind-the-scenes footage has been three to four generations removed from the original elements. For this new release and restoration of the documentary, Francis decided to scan the original sources in 4K. The extensive excerpts from the feature are now presented in their original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, rather than being letterboxed into a 4x3 frame." "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse" has been restored by American Zoetrope from the original negative, with a re-mixed 5.1 soundtrack. Co-director Fax Bahr approved the grading, with the final seal of approval given by Francis Ford Coppola. Grading carried out at Roundabout Entertainment, Burbank, California.

In the first segment of this episode I am joined by the producers Fisher Stevens and Maura Anderson of Highly Flammable. They have 2 documentaries that want you to know about. One is "We Are Guardians" directed by the team of Edivan Guajajara, Rob Grobman and Chelsea Greene. In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, thousands of people are unlawfully invading protected lands, devastating centuries-old forests for resources and fast profits. Now as the health of the entire Amazon teeters at the edge, will Brazil and the world take notice? "We Are Guardians" is having its theatrical premiere starting today, Friday, July 11th at the Village East in NYC. Check the website for other screenings near you. Also we discuss another of their films: "A King Like Me" directed by Matthew Henderson which is currently on Netflix. Follows members of the Zulu Club, New Orleans’ first Black Mardi Gras, as they work to bring the Zulu parade back to the streets for Mardi Gras Day 2022, in the face of a global pandemic, hurricane Ida and the loss of members due to COVID and gun violence. Then I talk to film producer Chris Walters and muralist, artist, and fashion designer Mike Norice abut a film they collaborated on called "Artfully United" directed by Dave Benner. A project 10 years in the making, the documentary "Artfully United" follows street artist and fashion entrepreneur Mike Norice as he creates a series of inspirational murals in underserved neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles. Mike's Artfully United Tour transforms from a simple idea on a wall to a community of artists and activists coming together to heal and uplift the city they call home. As the murals are unveiled, the gritty documentary explores the forces that shape the streets of L.A. and those that shape Mike as an artist, delving into his past to create a rich tapestry of family and faith, love and loss, music, hope, and life. The film will be screening at the Greenpoint Film Festival on August 8th at 8pm.

My guests today are the filmmaker Jonathan Berman, director of "Commune", Elliott Sharp, the film's composer, and one of its producers, Christian Ettinger. In 1968, two hippies hiking near Mt. Shasta in Northern California stumbled across an unlikely property for sale: an abandoned goldmine and surrounding land, 300 acres for $22,000. Fueled by contributions from the Doors, the Monkees, Frank Zappa and others, they bought the property and named it Black Bear Ranch. It quickly became the prototypical 1960s commune, with the motto “Free Land for Free People.” Utopian communities have always been a part of the United States, but in the 60’s and 70’s their audacious goal was to reshape the world with free love and common property – creating a revolutionary movement that would spread to the rest of society. But utopia is different for each person, and these experiments often brought strife, jealousy and sometimes even endangered lives. Featuring interviews with several Black Bear alumni, including actor/activist Peter Coyote, alongside a wealth of photographs and home movies, this acclaimed documentary offers a candid look into the joys and difficulties of free love, nude farming, survival in the wilderness, multiple-parent childrearing and other fascinating aspects of communal living. "Commune" is enjoying a new theatrical release based on its recent 4K restoration. It will be screening at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema beginning Friday, July 11th.

"Death & Taxes" is a feature documentary about wealth, inequality and the American Dream, viewed through the lens of the estate tax and the very personal story of a father and son at odds over what kind of inheritance we want to leave our kids and our country. Filmmaker Justin Schein’s father, Harvey Schein, liked to say he lived the so-called “American Dream:" rising from poverty in Depression-era Brooklyn to great financial success as one of America’s top CEOs of the 1970s. But Harvey Schein also spent the last 20 years of his life fixated on trying to keep his hard-earned wealth from the taxman—an obsession that almost broke the Schein family apart. More broadly, inherited wealth and the tax system that shields it have badly distorted American democracy, perpetuating racial and economic inequity in the country. Filmed over more than 20 years and weaving intimate family footage with interviews with prominent experts from all sides of the debate, DEATH & TAXES tells this crucial story through the tale of one American family.

My guest in this episode are documentary filmmaker Jake Rademacher whose new film "Brothers After War", a follow up to his 2009 documentary "Brothers At War", is currently available on DVD and digital platforms. He's joined by his Executive Producer Gary Sinise ("Forrest Gump", "The Green Mile"). "Brothers After War" finds Rademacher on a journey to reconnect with the veterans (including his two brothers) he embedded with in Iraq during the making of the first film. Combining footage from his time in Iraq with a journey around the World to reunite with the members of these elite combat units, Jake furthers his mission of helping service members and their families navigate the challenges of deployment and life beyond service.  More about The Gary Sinise Foundation.

My guests are multi-hyphenate creatives and frequent collaborators Edgar Morais and Luke Eberl. They are both currently in post-production on a narrative feature film set in rural Portugal, and in production on a documentary that they started filming in 2014 that spans the lives of Jonathan Velasquez, Eddie Velasquez and their friends, executive produced by Larry Clark. Edgar Morais is a filmmaker, photographer and actor. His directorial debut, the short film"Heatstroke", screened in competition at PÖFF, Maryland, ISFF Detmold, FEST New Directors New Films, IndieLisboa among others and won the CinEuphoria award for Best Screenplay. His second short film, "We Won't Forget", world premiered in competition at Palm Springs ShortFest and screened at over 25 festivals worldwide including, Hamptons IFF, IndieLisboa, Woodstock, Tirana, Dresden, Rooftop Films, and Rio de Janeiro. It received the Grand Jury Prize and the award for Best Editing at Castrovillari, the Honorable Mention at FEST New Directors New Films and was selected as Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. The film received a nomination for a Portuguese Academy Award (Sophia) for Best Short Film. Edgar has directed music videos for bands such as Mothxr and Grammy-nominated Shiny Toy Guns. As an actor, he has worked with directors such as Teresa Sutherland, Victoria Mahoney, and Tiago Guedes in films that have screened at Cannes, Venice, Fantasia, Gothenburg, Vila do Conde, and Rotterdam. Edgar received recent widespread critical acclaim for his starring turn in Albania’s submission to the Oscars "A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On" (Fischer Audience Award winner at Thessaloniki IFF) earning him the award for Best Actor at the Prishtina IFF as well as rave reviews for his performance from the likes of Variety and Screen Daily. Luke Eberl is a filmmaker and actor. His directorial feature film debut, "Choose Connor" screened at Rome Film Festival, Seattle, Newport Beach, Woodstock, CineVegas and Philadelphia, where it won the Jury Prize for Best American Independent. It was released theatrically and on video by Strand Releasing to outstanding reviews by the likes of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. Luke was subsequently named one of the "10 Young Americans to Watch” by Eric Kohn in MovieMaker Magazine. He has directed music videos for bands such as Mothxr and Grammy-nominated Shiny Toy Guns and the short film "We Won't Forget" which screened at over 25 festivals including Palm Springs ShortFest, Hamptons IFF, Woodstock, Tirana, Dresden, Rooftop Films, IndieLisboa and Rio de Janeiro and won the Grand Jury Prize and the award for Best Editing at Castrovillari, the Honorable Mention at FEST New Directors New Films, was nominated for a Portuguese Academy Award (Sophia) for Best Short Film and was selected as Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. As an actor he has worked with directors such as Tim Burton, Alfonso Arau, Vincent Paterson, Peter Hoar, and Clint Eastwood on his Oscar-winning "Letters from Iwo Jima". Music in this episode by Kaki King.

This episode celebrates two new outstanding documentaries that have been in the festival circuit these past months. Filmmaker Sasha Wortzel makes both her feature documentary directorial debut with "River of Grass", and on Filmwax as well. "River of Grass" is a present-day reimagining of environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s celebrated book, “The Everglades: River of Grass,” (1947), which transformed the public’s understanding of the area from worthless swamps to an essential source of freshwater, enabling the ecosystem to endure, just barely, today. In the wake of a hurricane, Douglas visits filmmaker Sasha Wortzel in a dream and catalyzes a prismatic study of a wilderness that is home to a rich history and a site of resistance in the face of climate collapse. Wortzel reads Douglas's book and joins prayer walks through the Everglades with Miccosukee educator Betty Osceola, transporting the audience through the watershed past and present. We meet a mother taking on the polluting sugar industry; a Two-Spirit Miccosukee environmentalist and poet; a mother daughter team removing snakes wreaking havoc on the ecosystem; and a family who have fished in the Everglades for six generations. Interweaving Douglas's writing, present-day verité, and archival glimpses, "River of Grass" reveals how this country’s origin story haunts and inextricably shapes contemporary American life, while asking how we might weather coming storms better together. Then in the second segment, I am joined by first-time guests, co-directors of "The Invisible Doctrine", Lucas Sabean and Peter Hutchison. “The Invisible Doctrine” - featuring activist & best-selling author George Monbiot - deconstructs the roots, secretive propagation and deep impact of a doctrine that has played a profound role in transforming our economics, politics, environment, and even how we’ve come to view ourselves – converting us from citizens to consumers in the process.

The Texas based filmmaker Bryan Poyser returns for his 3rd visit to the podcast. It's been 11 years since he visited. His new film, a comedy, is called "Leads" and will be having its world premiere this week at the Tribeca Film Festival. Written and directed by two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee Bryan Poyser, Leads is a sharp, spirited comedy about second acts and sibling chaos. Mags (Heather Kafka) is a drama lecturer with a steady job, a kid to raise, and her dreams of artistic greatness on the back burner — until her charmingly unpredictable younger brother Merritt (Justin Arnold) shows up out of nowhere… and signs up for her acting class. What starts as an awkward reunion quickly spirals into a hilariously messy journey as old wounds, big ambitions, and way-too-honest monologues bubble to the surface. With Mags trying to maintain control and Merritt stirring the pot, the class turns into a chaotic proving ground for everyone’s creative (and personal) baggage. Poyser turns the classroom into a comedic pressure cooker, where drama — both scripted and unscripted — explodes in surprising, heartfelt, and laugh-out-loud ways. With standout performances from Kafka and Arnold, plus a winning ensemble that includes Macon Blair and Sara Paxton, Leads is a love letter to late bloomers, awkward family reunions, and the beautiful mess of trying to make art — and sense — of your life. —Cara Cusumano (Tribeca Film Festival) https://youtu.be/aUj9N5OfwEs

Struggling documentarian Simon (Tristan Turner) relies on the unique perk of his roommate and best friend Bruce’s (Anthony Oberbeck) airline job: free flights as his travel companion, which he indulges in frequently to shoot footage for his films. When Beatrice (Naomi Asa), a charming fellow up-and-coming filmmaker, enters their lives and starts to date Bruce, Simon fears his one advantage in the harsh world of the film industry may disappear before his eyes. Increasingly obsessed and unable to adapt to the evolving dynamics of his friendship, his relentless fixation on his precious travel companion status causes a tension that builds to irreversible levels. Filmmaker duo Travis Wood and Alex Mallis’ strong feature debut announces them as an exciting collaborative voice. With hilarious deadpan humor and excellent understated performances, "The Travel Companion" offers a deft and painfully comedic insight into the push and pull of aspiring filmmakers’ woes, the inner turmoil when professional and personal jealousies collide, and the growing pains of long term friendships.—Celeste Wong (Tribeca Film Festival) The Tribeca Film Festival World Premiere of "The Travel Companion" will screen on Thursday, June 5th, 8:30 PM at the Village East Cinema in NYC. The filmmakers will be present at the Q&A. There are 4 more subsequent screenings. Visit the website for tickets and details.

Founder and Artistic Director of the Berkshires International Film Festival, Kelley Vickery makes her 3rd appearance on the podcast. The 19th festival runs May 29th through June 3rd in Great Barrington, MA and Lenox, MA.

Rob King returns to the podcast. He is a professor of film and media studies at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. He is the author of "Hokum! The Early Sound Slapstick Short and Depression-Era Mass Culture" (2017) and "The Fun Factory: The Keystone Film Company and the Emergence of Mass Culture" (2009). And now Rob has a new book "Man of Taste: The Erotic Cinema of Radley Metzger" (Columbia University Press, 2025). We are joined by novelist Cathy Brown who has some background behind the camera in the adult film industry. https://youtu.be/9kvinUaOKKk Radley Metzger was one of the foremost directors of adult film in America, with credits including softcore titles like "The Lickerish Quartet" and the hardcore classic "The Opening of Misty Beethoven". After getting his start making arthouse trailers for Janus Films, Metzger would go on to become among the most feted directors of the porno chic 'era of the 1970s, working under the pseudonym Henry Paris. In the process, he produced a body of work that exposed the porous boundaries separating art cinema from adult film, softcore from hardcore, and good taste from bad. Rob King uses Metzger’s work to explore what taste means and how it works, tracing the evolution of the adult film industry and the changing frontiers of cultural acceptability. "Man of Taste" spans Metzger’s entire life: his early years in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, his attempt to bring arthouse aesthetics to adult film in the 1960s, his turn to pseudonymously directed hardcore movies in the 1970s, and his final years, which included making videos on homeopathic medicine. Metzger’s career, King argues, sheds light on how the distinction between the erotic and the pornographic is drawn, and it offers an uncanny reflection of the ways American film culture transformed during these decades.

The filmmaker Geremy Jasper ("Patti Cake$") returns for her second visit to the podcast with his new film, "O'Dessa". Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa is an original rock opera about a farm girl on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test. The film's cast includes Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett, and Regina Hall. "O'Dessa" is currently streaming on Hulu. Photo: Director Geremy Jasper and Sadie Sink on the set of O'DESSA. Photo by Nikola Predovic, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

During demonstrations in apartheid-era South Africa, the police arrest Panic (Thomas Mogotlane), a mapantsula or petty gangster, while rounding up activists. His interrogation reveals the motivation for his involvement in the township riots. Once only concerned with partying, alcohol and his own interests, Panic finds himself being irreversibly pulled into the fray. Now, he is forced to choose between his personal freedom and taking a stand in the fight against the oppressive apartheid government. Directed by Oliver Schmitz and written by Schmitz and lead actor Thomas Mogotlane, "Mapantsula" has been hailed as the “first South African film to truly represent apartheid onscreen” (Okayafrica). Banned in its homeland and made while evading the local authorities, the film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and went on to be selected as the South African entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Widely considered one of the most influential African motion pictures of all time, "Mapantsula" has been newly restored in 4K from the original 35MM negative. https://youtu.be/zeS9sfuuCz8?si=LMgKTLJrUktJcJaU

Follow the intellectual and emotional journey of a group of medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx in the new PBS documentary "The Calling: A Medical School Journey". Captured through verité scenes and personal video diaries, the film offers an inside look at America’s healthcare system through the eyes of these aspiring practitioners as they learn what it takes to become a doctor in one of the country’s most underserved communities. On this episode I speak with the filmmaker Asako Gladsjo and one of the medical students from her documentary, Shauna Phinazee. The film premieres on PBS Monday, March 17th. https://youtu.be/8tMGWx-8PIY From the DC/DOX film festival website: Asako Gladsjo is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and writer based in New York City. Her recent credits include the upcoming "Eyes on the Prize III" for HBO; "Rise and Rebuild: A Tale of Three Cities"; "Why We Hate" for Discovery; "(Un)Well" for Netflix; "By Whatever Means Necessary", for Epix; the PBS special "Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise"; Soundtracks: "Songs that Made History" for CNN; and "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross", which won Emmy, DuPont, Peabody, and NAACP Image awards. She has directed and written documentaries on society, culture, race, and immigration for international broadcasters including Arte, BBC, and France Télévision. She teaches directing in the School of Visual Art’s MFA Program in Social Documentary.