Filmwax Radio

In filmmaker Michael Kellman‘s “Say Less” a night of funny sibling warfare between Cassie and Max takes a sinister turn when Cassie stumbles on a shocking secret hidden in the house. What begins as ammunition to humiliate her brother soon morphs into something much darker. Now Cassie must decide how far she’s willing to go, because the weapon she’s holding doesn’t just threaten Max. It threatens everyone. The film can currently viewe on Amazon Prime Video and other streamers. https://youtu.be/yWZ1a7oy8iM

Told by operatives in the rooms where it happened, “White With Fear” is a deep dive into the decades-long quest by some of America’s conservative political machine to amass power by exploiting racial fault lines. The documentary will have its broadcast premiere on PBS on Tuesday, March 24, 10PM. https://youtu.be/7b7993E3Gx0 Andrew Goldberg is an Emmy-Award-winning investigative producer, Andrew has directed 14 prime-time documentary specials for PBS/public television, and both longand short-form segments for outlets like CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC News, Live From Lincoln Center, and National Public Radio. His work has appeared on major networks on every continent, and has been supported by more than 250 foundations, corporations and major donors around the world. Eric K. Ward is Executive Vice President of Race Forward, is a notable civil rights leader and philanthropist rooted in America’s punk rock scene. Ward is a sought-after project collaborator because of his innovative approaches to combating white nationalism, antisemitism and advancing racial justice. The only American recipient of the Civil Courage Prize, Ward’s work bridges grassroots activism and strategic leadership to advance inclusive democracy and social change. Eric is a Senior Fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center and serves on the boards of The Proteus Fund, The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, and Auburn Theological Seminary. Eric is a founder of States At The Center (STAC); CultureGuard; and Momentum Magazine’s Wide River Project.

My guests on this episode are part of a pilot for a potential new series called “Woodstockers”. The show will have its world premiere at SxSW beginning today, Saturday, March 14. On this episode is the show runner and cast members Corbin Bernsen (“LA Law”, “My Friends and Neighbors), director Oliver Bernsen and cast member, and very recent podcast guest, Stephen Tobolowsky (“Groundhog Day”, “Memento”). https://youtu.be/eIH0MpklhHQ In the summer of ’69, Lenny Baker and his best friend Calvin Reddick went to Woodstock. What they witnessed there changed their lives, so much so that they decided to never go home again. Armed with a vision of a new path forward, they built a life in upstate New York alongside Rebecca and Lizzy, two women they met at the festival and married soon after. Decades of willful detachment followed, but every trip has its comedown. Now, more than half a century later and with his marriage up in smoke, Lenny is forced to face a hard truth: the better world they once envisioned never quite arrived… and if it ever does, he won’t be around to see it. Calvin’s sudden death makes that painfully clear.

“Beyond the Duplex Planet” is a feature documentary about artist David Greenberger and his unconventional work with senior citizens. In 1979, fresh out of art school, Greenberger took a job as activities director at the Duplex Nursing Home in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. He began conducting quirky interviews with the home’s senior citizens, rejecting a pat oral history approach in favor of questions that would spark engagement: “Which do you prefer – coffee or meat?” “Why do people spit?” “What do you think George Washington’s voice sounded like?” and “What is embarrassment?” The result of this was The Duplex Planet, an early ‘zine, complete with excerpts from the interviews, as well as offbeat music reviews and poems, unorthodox illustrations and graphics, all by the residents themselves. Over time this material has become the basis for spoken word shows, podcasts, graphic novels and numerous albums, many of these projects featuring well-known artists. Champions and/or collaborators of Greenberger and his senior colleagues include people like magicians Penn & Teller, cartoonists Daniel Clowes and Lynda Barry, musicians Dave Alvin, Bill Frisell, Peter Buck (REM), David Hidalgo and Louie Perez (Los Lobos), artist Ed Ruscha, actors Lili Taylor and Martin Mull, and legions of other fans. Greenberger’s work interviewing seniors continues to this day. Beyond the Duplex Planet explores notions of aging and its intersection with art and community. It’s also a revealing look at the life of an artist devoted to documenting the elderly who is himself moving into his senior years. The film will have its world premiere at SxSW this month with a number of screenings. And it’s being distributed by Filmwax friend Jim Browne’s Argot Pictures. Beth Harrington is an Emmy-award winning independent producer, director and writer, whose fervor for American history, music and culture has led to a series of critically acclaimed films. Her independent production Welcome to the Club – The Women of Rockabilly, a music documentary about the pioneering women of rock ‘n’ roll, was honored with a 2003 Grammy nomination and has been seen on public television and at film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Beth’s most recent work, The Winding Stream – The Carters, The Cashes and The Course of Country Music appeared at over 30 festivals worldwide including a SXSW premiere and has won many top festival awards. Earlier work with WGBH-Boston for the NOVA science series was honored with two national Emmy nominations while her local work with Oregon Public Broadcasting has resulted in six other regional Emmy nominations for historical and public affairs program producing and writing. A rock ‘n’ roll singer and guitarist, she is most noted for her years as a member of Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers on Sire Records. https://youtu.be/nzgbOeFOFYk

Making his first appearance on the podcast, the Danish filmmaker Jeppe Rønde. His latest feature film is called “Acts of Love” and is currently available on various streamers. Hanna lives in a New Age Christian community in rural Denmark and longs to have a child. But her sheltered life starts to unravel as the unexpected arrival of her younger brother Jacob stirs up long-buried memories of their troubled past. Will his arrival threaten Hanna’s dream of becoming a mother? And will the members of the community be able to live up to their own rules and beliefs, when they are confronted with the question: who gets to decide over love? “Acts of Love” investigates the boundaries of love and what happens when we fall outside of society’s norms.

A conversation with the actor, author and storyteller Stephen Tobolowsky. Besides being in countless films and episodics over the past 4 decades, Stephen has done a podcast in which he tells stories. The Tobolowsky Files ran for 99 episodes. He has also made 2 films in which the core is his story telling: “Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party” and “The Primary Instinct”. He has also written several books including “The Dangerous Animals Club”, “My Adventures with God” and “A Good Day in Auschwitz”. Stephen has been in too many movies to mention though he might be best known for his supporting role in “Groundhog Day” as Ned Ryerson. He has also been in “Memento”, “Thelma and Louise”, and “Spaceballs” to name just a few. He has also had recurring roles in episodic television series such as “Silicon Valley”, “The Mindy Project” and “The Goldbergs”. https://youtu.be/KdOohkoAiow

The filmmaker John Sayles (“Eight Men Out”, “The Brother From Another Planet”) returns for his 3rd visit. In addition to the 18 feature films he has written and directed, he is also a longtime author of novels. His latest, “Crucible” is now available where books are sold. From the Oscar-nominated filmmaker comes a complex and sweeping historical novel about Henry Ford — the Elon Musk of his day — and his attempt to rule not only an automotive empire but the rambunctious city of Detroit. It is an epic tale ranging from the 1920s through the second World War, featuring violent labor disputes, misbegotten jungle expeditions, a tragic race riot, and the gestapo tactics of Ford’s private army . . . Already the gateway for illegal Canadian liquor during Prohibition, the Motor City becomes a crucible for American class conflict during the Great Depression, with an army of laid off Ford workers drifting into the ranks of the burgeoning union movement — Henry Ford’s worst nightmare. To keep the hundreds of thousands still employed by him in thrall, the man who was formerly ‘America’s favorite tycoon’ recruits black laborers migrating from the deep South to serve as ‘strike insurance’, and gives Harry Bennett, pugnacious as he is diminutive, free reign over the legion of barroom brawlers and ex-cons who make up the company’s ‘Security Department’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_cHq5UhYRI The Model T mogul has also bought a sizable chunk of Brazil’s Amazonian rainforest, vowing to grow his own rubber for tires, but stubbornly refusing to include a botanist in his troop of would-be jungle tamers. As a series of biological plagues descend on the Fordlandia plantation, the racial melting pot he has created in Detroit begins to boil over, and not even the Sage of Dearborn can control the forces that have been unleashed. The novel’s cast — Ford workers black and white and their families, young radicals, cynical newsmen, gangsters, Brazilian rubber tappers, cameos from boxer Joe Louis and muralist Diego Rivera — create the tapestry of differing points of view that John Sayles has become famous for, the events portrayed fundamental to the country we live in today.