Filmwax Radio

Jonah Feingold ("Dating and New York") returns to the podcast to discuss his latest film "31 Candles" currently in theaters. When a Jewish film director who makes Christmas movies in New York City decides to have his Bar Mitzvah at the age of 31, he must navigate situationships, exes, and family to complete his Mitzvah project and impress his childhood camp crush. Inspired by Jonah Feingold’s life, 31 Candles is a heartwarming rom-com about love, identity, and growing up—eventually. https://youtu.be/hZ_8q3CSJH4

The non-fiction filmmaker Lynne Sachs returns to Filmwax for another memorable visit. Lynne has a new film, "Every Contract Leaves a Trace", which is to have its world premiere at IDFA in Amsterdam on November 17th: Synopsis (from IDFA website): Since 1990, filmmaker Lynne Sachs has collected 600 business cards—from a hairdresser, a therapist, a textile artist. Together they form an archive of encounters. The title of this imaginative essay film, Every Contact Leaves a Trace, is a basic principle of forensic science, coined by Edmond Locard, a pioneer in the field. And any trace can link a person to a place, another person or an object. If that’s true, Sachs wonders, might every personal encounter not also leave a trace on your being? To find out, she tracks down some of the people behind the business cards. The thread connecting these hundreds of cards is Sachs herself, so the filmmaker naturally becomes the center of the film. Yet the focus is not on her; as in many of her works spanning more than three decades of film making, she merely provides the perspective—the point of departure. With her warm, contemplative voice-over and playful visual invention, Sachs weaves countless faces and voices into a patchwork of connections. These encounters—whether forgotten or remembered, faint or vivid—have become part of her being. https://youtu.be/1LV-r6VDUfM

The world premiere of Filmwax friend the filmmaker Alan Berliner's "Benita" will take place at DOC NYC. "Benita" is about experimental documentary filmmaker Benita Raphan who died by suicide during the loneliness of the COVID-19 shutdowns. DOC NYC 2024 Lifetime Achievement filmmaker Alan Berliner, who was her friend and creative advisor, creates a kind of posthumous collaboration with Benita on her final project, using as many of her images, sounds, and words as possible. BENITA is a deep dive into the many complexities of artists’ lives, from the whimsical to core existential questions, and lessons we can learn about the intersection of mental health and creativity. – Jaie Laplante of DOC NYC Screenings: Friday, 11/14 7PM at the IFC Center & Sunday, 11/16 11:30 AM at Village East. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk-lAX_947Q

The filmmaker Heidi Levitt returns to the podcast for her 2nd visit. She was on last October when her documentary "Walk With Me" was about to have its Hudson Valley premiere at the 2024 Woodstock Film Festival. Over four years of filming with Heidi as director and care partner, they crisscross the country, redefining how life will be lived to its fullest. Charlie’s charm, warmth, and appeal take center stage, illuminating a story of love and a reminder that life is really about our relationships. "Walk With Me" is currently enjoying a theatrical run at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Los Angeles. It will also be having a theatrical at the Cinema Village in NYC beginning November 20th.

The actor Louis Cancelmi ("The Irishman", "Killers of the Flower Moon") returns to the podcast to discuss his craft and his recent role in the Sundance hit film "Sorry, Baby". He's also in the current episodic series "Government Cheese" on Apple TV+. https://youtu.be/vZ62V8CvslY

The 2nd Annual Borscht Belt Film Fest takes place Friday, October 31st through Sunday, November 2nd in Ellenville, NY. One of the main events will take place on the first evening when comedian Judy Gold will be honored with the first ever Mensch Award. Included is a seriously intimate and casual chat with Gold about her extensive career and how her Jewish identity and the Borscht Belt shaped it. Moderated by Alan Katz, Founder & CEO of The Mountains Media. After a Q&A, Gold will sign her book about freedom of speech, "Yes I Can Say That: When They Come for The Comedians We Are All in Trouble". For the full schedule of screenings and special events visit the festival's website. I also have the film festival's director Melody Gilbert and programmer Jay Blotcher on this episode for a lively conversation about what you can expect to see later this month. Photo credit: Justine Ungaro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPb5K_Qwj0&t=1403s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbwnxgUV8z0

The legendary composer, arranger, musician and penny whistle player, David Amram, will be in conversation with Academy Award documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple at the Woodstock Film Festival on Sunday, 10/19 12 noon. The venue is the Kleinert/James Art Center, 34 Tinker St, Woodstock. David Amram started his professional life in music as a French Hornist in the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.) in 1951. After serving in the US Army from 1952-54, he moved to New York City in 1955 and played French horn in the legendary jazz bands of Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and Oscar Pettiford. In 1957, he created and performed in the first ever Jazz/Poetry readings in New York City with novelist Jack Kerouac, a close friend with whom Amram collaborated artistically for over 12 years. Since the early 1950s, he has traveled the world extensively, working as a musician and a conductor in over thirty-five countries including Cuba, Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, Latvia and China. He also regularly crisscrosses the United States and Canada.He composed the scores for many films including Pull My Daisy (1959), Splendor In The Grass (1960) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He composed the scores for Joseph Papp's Shakespeare In The Park from 1956-1967 and premiered his comic opera 12th Night with Papp's libretto in 1968. He also wrote a second opera, The Final Ingredient, An Opera of the Holocaust, for ABC Television in 1965. From 1964-66, Amram was the Composer and Music Director for the Lincoln Center Theatre and wrote the scores for Arthur Miller´s plays After The Fall (1964) and Incident at Vichy (1966). Appointed by Leonard Bernstein as the first Composer In Residence for the New York Philharmonic in 1966, he is now one of the most performed and influential composers of our time. For tickets & details: https://woodstockfilmfestival.org/2025-all-events?eventId=68c4216f81b8e06c5bb8c1fc

In the year 2010, writer/performer/provocateur Chad Holt and filmmaker Bob Ray teamed up to make a vérité style documentary about Chad Holt’s last six months of felony probation, his life, his creative output, and his relentless dick-centric drive. Despite some critical hullabaloo, their doc, "Total Badass", went mostly unseen due in no small part to the aforementioned dick flopping across the screen. Unsatisfied, they planned to bring the doc directly to the people themselves and set forth on eleven weeks of touring around America screening the flick. Come jail or high water, this is their trip. https://youtu.be/ccypQwym4XE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqgc-aqA720

The filmmaker Steven Feinartz ("The Bitter Buddha") makes his first appearance on the podcast. His new documentary is called "Are We Good?". "Are We Good?", which premiered out of SXSW Film & TV Festival and screened out of Tribeca Festival is not a biopic, nor is it a stand-up routine film – it is a look at one person’s process through grief told with honesty, humanity, and humor. The touching documentary not only dives into the career and life of comedian and podcast pioneer Marc Maron but focuses on his process grieving the loss of his partner Lynn Shelton who passed during Covid, as well as his relationship with his declining father. Like Marc, the doc beautifully balances humor and heart and shows us that even during times of grief there is room for laughter. https://youtu.be/l583VoPYn3o "Are We Good?" features exclusive interviews for the film with comics such as Nate Bargatze, John Mulaney, David Cross, Michaela Watkins, W. Kamau Bell, Laurie Kilmartin, Sam Lipsyte, Brendan McDonald as well as obtain podcast footage from Marc’s interviews with President Barack Obama, Andrew Garfield, Patton Oswalt and many more. Directed by Steven Feinartz who is an established filmmaker with over 15 comedy specials and series including "Matt Braunger: Big Dumb Animal", "Eddie Pepitone: In Ruins", "Sklar Brothers: Hipster Ghosts" and "The Comedy Show Show". Steven also directed Marc’s recent special "Marc Maron: Panicked" for HBO. Utopia will release the film in theaters in NY and LA on October 3rd and nationwide theatrical events on October 5th & 8th. The theatrical releasee will coincide with the end of Maron’s enormously popular podcast WTF. 16 years in, WTF is one of the most streamed and longest running podcasts of all time.

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.