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KUCI: Film School

Mike Kaspar

Independent Film News and Interviews

tv & film

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Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project / Film...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/11/06

Co-directors Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster’s insightful and entertaining Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators. Combining parallel cinematic story editing with visually innovative treatments of her poetry, along with intimate vérité, rich archival footage, and Giovanni’s own captivating contemporary performances, Going to Mars recounts

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Beyond Utopia / Film School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/11/06

A suspenseful, riveting portrait of the lengths people will go to gain freedom, BEYOND UTOPIA follows various individuals as they attempt to flee North Korea, one of the most oppressive places on Earth, a land they grew up believing was a paradise. At the film’s core are a mother desperate to reunite with the child she was forced to leave behind; a family of five — including small children and an elderly grandmother — embarking on a treacherous journey across the Yalu River and into the hostile

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The Last Repair Shop -. Film School Radio interview...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/11/06

In their second collaboration, co-directors Ben Proudfoot & Kris Bowers’ THE LAST REPAIR SHOP introduces us to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s instrument repair facility for all of the LAUSD student musician. Led by the charming general manager, Steve Bagmanyan, the film introduces a technician from each department: Dana Atkinson, in the strings division, who takes us to his personal breaking point as a young man confronting his sexuality; Paty Moreno, in charge of brass and the sole woman

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Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely / Film School Radio...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/11/05

FLOYD ABRAMS: SPEAKING FREELY explores America’s dedication to the foundational principles of free speech and free press through the groundbreaking work of attorney Floyd Abrams. A biopic of the First Amendment told through Abrams’ important cases, we reveal how this legal giant helped transform the First Amendment from an oft-ignored principle into a bulwark of American democracy. Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely follows the 50-year career of preeminent First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams. See how his

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Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of a Man If He Was...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/11/05

Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea is a 3-D documentary film about the life and work of artist and marine H.C. (“Cliff”) Westermann. As a veteran of World War II and the Korean War who struggled with the ramifications of modern warfare, Westermann’s dramatic personal history can be traced through his beguiling, surreal artworks. Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of a Man If He Was an Idea explores the themes of Westermann’s life and work, including resiliency, hope, and humor

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The Mission / FIlm School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/11/04

In 2018, a shocking event made headlines around the world: a young American missionary, John Chau, was killed by arrows while attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous peoples on remote North Sentinel Island. From Emmy winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (“Boys State”) with Oscar winning producer Simon Chinn and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn of Lightbox, comes National Geographic Documentary Films’ THE MISSION, which uncovers the gripping story beyond the

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Periodical / Film School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/10/13

PERIODICAL, Director Lina Lyte Piloplyte and Executive Producer Amanda Spain’s new feature documentary from XTR and MSNBC Films, tells the unexpected story of the human body by exploring the marvel and mystery of the menstrual cycle, from first period to last. But this is not your middle school sex-ed class. Bringing you stories from soccer champion Megan Rapinoe who reveals how members of the U.S. Soccer team track their cycles when training for the Women’s World Cup (which they won), to scientists

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My Love Affair with Marriage / Film School Radio...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/10/13

From Signe Baumane, director of Rocks in My Pockets, comes a new award-winning animated feature about a spirited young woman determined to find love in the bewildering world. MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MARRIAGE follows Zelma on her 23-year quest for perfect love and lasting marriage set against a backdrop of historic events in Eastern Europe. From an early age, songs and fairy tales convince Zelma that Love would solve all her problems as long as she abides by societal expectations of how a girl should

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Into the Weeds / Film School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/10/03

Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? On October 3, 2023, Film Movement and Fathom Events invite audiences to discover for themselves with a special one-night only nationwide theatrical release of INTO THE WEEDS, which follows the story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrichemical giant Monsanto (now Bayer, which bought the company in 2018), the manufacturer of the weed killer, Roundup. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer

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Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court /...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/22

Dawn Porter’s DEADLOCKED: How America Shaped the Supreme Court is a four-part SHOWTIME documentary series traces the modern history of the Supreme Court, the people, decisions and confirmation battles that have shaped America. From our right to privacy, to access to the ballot, and all rights protected by the Constitution, the nine unelected justices of the Supreme Court have the final word on issues that shape our democracy and daily lives. The series unfolds during a profoundly consequential

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26.2 to Life / Film School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/22

The San Quentin Prison Marathon has an unconventional route: 105 dizzying laps around a crowded prison yard. Director Christine Yoo deeply empathetic documentary, 26.2 TO LIFE, tells the story of incarcerated men who are members of the 1000 Mile Club, the prison’s long distance running club. They train all year for 26.2 mile long marathon race, all of which takes place inside the walls of the infamous San Quentin Men’s Prison mile race. For the men who take their places at the starting line on a

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Rebel / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/22

Co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life, Ms. Marvel and Batgirl) deliver their most intimate and personal film, REBEL. The film focuses on Kamal Wasaki (Aboubakr Bensaihi) an idealistic Belgian rapper who after getting busted for drugs in his home country flees to Syria to volunteer to help the victims of the war. Upon his arrival, he is left stranded in Raqqa. Soon after he is kidnapped by ISIS where he is forced to shoot their propaganda videos thanks to his experience

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Mr. Jimmy / Film School Radio interview with Director...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/21

In snowbound Tokamachi, Japan, teenaged Akio Sakurai took refuge in his room, escaping to another world with a pair of headphones and a pile of Led Zeppelin records. Moving to Tokyo, Akio worked as a kimono salesman by day, but by night became "Mr. Jimmy," adopting the guitar chops and persona of Jimmy Page. For 30 years, Akio recreated vintage Zeppelin concerts note-for-note in small Tokyo clubs, until the real Jimmy Page stopped by one night and Akio’s life changed forever. Inspired by Mr. Page’s

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The Mountain/ Film School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/21

Director, writer and lead actor, Thomas Salvador’s beguiling new film, THE MOUNTAIN, follows Pierre, a Parisian in his forties, on his emerging quest to break from his daily routine of morning coffee in a run-down apartment, his phones, his keys, and his computer on the train to work. During a business meeting to demonstrate the capability of a robot to some clients he is distracted by the sight of a mountain. Shortly after his enigmatic encounter with the natural world Pierre begins to act on an

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IO STO BENE / FIlm School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/21

Director, producer and writer Donato Rotunno’s third feature film, IO STO BENE (I Am Fine) focuses on the life of Antonio, a man who has spent his whole life away from his home country ofItaly. Antonio is facing down his own mortality when he crosses paths with Leo, a young Italian artist who is trying to make it abroad. The old man and the young woman’s destinies mirror each other. Memories from the past are awoken and end up offering a more peaceful future to the both of them. This multi-layered

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Before Now & Then / Film School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/21

Set amid the political violence of late-1960s Indonesia, Kamila Andini's intoxicating film BEFORE, NOW & THEN follows Raden Nana Suhani, a Sundanese woman who in the 1960s lost and father and son to the war in West Java. We find her as the beautiful wife of a wealthy plantation owner, who always looked down on her. For Nana, her inner life remains with her deceased first husband, murdered in the civil war a decade prior. A survivor, Nana values her safety and material comforts, but carries out a

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Invisible Beauty / FIlm School Radio interview with...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/21

Naomi Campbell, Kimora Lee Simmons, Tyra Banks, Tyson Beckford were dazzling, barrier-breaking supermodels of color in the ’90s. But two decades earlier, Bethann Hardison burst onto French and American runways with a defiant strut and sui generis personality. In this intimate and insightful documentary, INVISIBLE BEAUTY, fashion revolutionary and co-director Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in

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Film School Radio interview with Production Designer...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/09/08

Production Designer JUDY BECKER is one of thousands of gifted artists who have made crucially important contributions to the most iconic films in cinema history. But their work often flies under the radar in large part because film critics and others don’t often lavish the attention they give to directors and stars on the work of a film’s production designer. But these production designer’s sometimes unheralded art consists of nothing less than building the world of a movie, and in the process do a

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Our Father, The Devil / FIlm School Radio interview...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/08/29

Nominated for the 2023 "Best Feature" Independent Spirit Award, Ellie Foumbi's elegant moral thriller and debut feature OUR FATHER, THE DEVIL ("Mon père, le diable") stars a riveting Babetida Sadjo, (Ritual), as Marie, the head chef at a retirement home in small-town France. Her easy day-to-day life spent caring for residents, hanging out with her co-worker and best friend Nadia (Jennifer Tchiakpe), and teasing a potential new romance is disrupted by the arrival of Father Patrick (former Spirit

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Fremont / Film School Radio interview with Director...

KUCI: Film School ·

2023/08/27

In Babak Jalali’s playfully eccentric FREMONT focuses on a beautiful and troubled 20-something Donya, an Afghan translator who used to work with the U.S. government and now has trouble sleeping. Each morning Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) leaves her tight-knit community of Afghan immigrants in Fremont, California. She crosses the Bay to work at a family-run fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. Donya drifts through her routine, struggling to connect with the culture and people of her new, unfamiliar

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KUCI: Film School

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