Tag Archives: documentary

Newport And The Great Folk Dream PT 2

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We’re back this week with more of our conversation with Robert Gordon and Joe Lauro, director and producers of the film Newport and the Great Folk Dream, about the Newport Folk Festival in the years 1963 to 1966. The festival, started by George Wein and Pete Seeger–where all artists got paid the same–led to an incredible diversity in the music showcased there.

Click on the mp3 link or small triangle above to listen to the interview as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

The Strike: Part 2

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Above, Part 2 of my interview with the directors of The Strike, JoeBill Munoz and Lucas Guilkey.

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The Strike

The Strike

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I’ve watched a lot of film documentaries this year, but none more  powerful than The Strike. It’s the story of how the inmates of Pelican Bay prison in California, incarcerated in solitary confinement sometimes for decades, went on a life-threatening hunger strike in order to regain their rights and dignity. I was happy to speak to the the directors of The Strike, JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey for Arts Express.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen to the interview as broadcast yesterday on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

And Part 2 is here…

The Strike: Part 2

Happy Campers

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Ever since I was a child, the summer meant freedom and joy, and summer’s end was always bittersweet. Now filmmaker Amy Nicholson captures that feeling even into adulthood with her new documentary Happy Campers, about a low rent trailer/camper community whose simple pleasures are threatened by greedy real estate developers.

I was happy to speak with Amy Nicholson about her film on Arts Express radio program broadcast this week on WBAI FM and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 above to hear the interview.

Finding The Money Part 2

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Our conversation about how the US economy really works, with Stephanie Kelton and Maren Poitras of the documentary Finding The Money, continues.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

Part One can be heard by clicking here

Finding The Money

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What if everything you thought you knew about the way the US economy works was wrong? I mean everything: the national debt, the role of taxes, even what money is. Now a new documentary Finding The Money challenges the story that we’ve all heard about how the national debt is out of control. The film flips the narrative on its head, challenging the arguments of those who say we can’t afford social spending. I was happy to have on Arts Express filmmaker Maren Poitras, and also one of the major subjects of Finding the Money, economist and former advisor to Bernie Sanders, Stephanie Kelton.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear part one of the interview as broadcast last night on the Arts Express program heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Part Two is here:

Finding The Money Part 2

Taking Venice: The US And The Cold War Culture War

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At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government was determined to showcase US culture to the world as proof of capitalism’s superiority as an economic system. And so in 1964, the US government embarked on a daring plan to make artist Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize at The Venice Art Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition. A new film documentary, Taking Venice, gives us an inside look at how the Biennale was manipulated, and more than that, a look at the enigma that was Robert Rauschenberg.

I was happy to interview the director of Taking Venice, and an art critic in her own right, Amei Wallach. Click on the small triangle above or the mp3 link to hear the interview as broadcast on Pacifica affiliate stations across the nation.

The Atomic Cafe–Part 2!

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Last week we brought you Part 1 of an interview with Jayne Loader, one of the directors of the classic 1982 film documentary called The Atomic Cafe, a darkly comic and horrifying collage of government propaganda clips and popular culture surrounding the development and deployment of US nuclear weapons. In Part 1 we talked about the dropping of the A-bomb and the lies that were told about it. This week, Jayne talks about how she and her co-directors obtained the material and the impact the cold war and nuclear weapons had on American culture from duck and cover drills in schools to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Here now is Part 2 of my interview with Jayne Loader director of The Atomic Cafe.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program this week on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Part 1 is here:

The Atomic Cafe: It’s The Bomb!

A Life In The Key Of Community

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Veronica White was a local artist and activist who was full of surprises. In a new short film documentary called Veronica White: A Life in the Key of the Community, her many facets are explored. I was happy to speak with Director Chuck Moss and Executive Producer Julius Hollingsworth about the film.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the conversation as broadcast yesterday on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI FM NY and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

32 Sounds

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It’s quite wonderful how powerful and evocative our sense of hearing can be. Worlds can be conjured up and recalled from just a subtle sound. It may seem contradictory, but my guest on Arts Express this week was the creator of a new film all about sound, 32 Sounds, Sam Green. We had lot of fun discussing that favorite topic of ours.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Sam Green as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program as heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country.

Angola Do You Hear Us?

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 What does it take for a writer/actress to perform a play she’s written about prisons, at a prison? And in particular, at one of the most notorious prisons in the country, Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, America’s largest prison-plantation. A new documentary about that performance and its aftermath, titled Angola Do You Hear Us?, has been shortlisted for the Oscar for Documentary Short Subject. I was happy to speak with the director of the film, Cinque Northern, and the playwright/performer, Liza Jessie Peterson.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program today, aired on WBAI -FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

The film is streaming on Paramount +

Gun Show!

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The American mass obsession with guns is clearly unique and filmmaker Richard Chisolm has made an intriguing short documentary called Gun Show which details one artist’s attempt to come to grips with the national gun worship.

Click on the triangle above or the mp3 link to hear my review as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Cell-Based Meat? Meat The Future

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Imagine a world where meat is produced from animal cells rather than a slaughter house. Dr. Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of Upside Foods claims such a world is now within reach. A new film documentary, Meat the Future—that’s meat spelled  M-E-A-T–follows Dr. Valeti over a five-year period as he attempts to make his dream a reality. From the world’s first cell-based meatball which cost $18,000 per pound to the establishment of a growing industry,  Meat the Future presents a different kind of meat-eating future. I was happy to have as my guest on Arts Express, Meat the Future’s director, Liz Marshall.

Click on the triangle above to hear my interview with director Liz Marshall, as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI FM NY and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Guantanamo Diary Revisited

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In 2002 a Mauritanian engineer named Mohamedou Slahi was bundled onto a military transport plane and imprisoned by the US at Guantanamo for 14 years enduring years of physical and psychological torture. He wrote a book about it while he was in there that eventually got made into a film called The Mauritanian. But after the film’s release,  journalist John Goetz found himself enlisted by Slahi on an obsessive mission that Goetz could never have predicted. Goetz documents his journey with Slahi in a new film called Guantanamo Diary Revisited. I was very happy to speak with Goetz about his new film.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview with John Goetz as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

The Automat

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When I was a child, my father took me to a Shangri-la. A beautiful high-ceiling building filled with people sitting at tables; the walls were made up of scores of little windowed cabinets filled with slices of lemon meringue pie, or coconut crème pie, or bean soup or dozens of other treats. And if you put your nickels into the magic slot, the window popped open and it all could be yours. Of course, I’m talking about the Automat. I was happy to speak with Lisa Hurwitz who has made a nostalgia-filled film documentary called The Automat.

Click on the gray triangle or mp3 link above to hear the discussion of The Automat with director Lisa Hurwitz, as broadcast today on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Marionette Land

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There’s a long history of actors and variety performers who have had their first taste of theater with a basement childhood puppet stage. But actor Robert Brock of Lancaster PA was determined to make good on his childhood dream of building a marionette theater for the public and living in an apartment upstairs. Now in a new documentary, director Alexander Monelli brings to life the joys and woes of Robert’s single-minded adult pursuit of his childhood dream in Monelli’s new film Marionette Land.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview with Alexander Monelli, as broadcast yesterday on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

Rebel Hearts: Defiant Nuns of the Immaculate Heart

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In the early nineteen sixties, a hidebound Catholic Church attempted to modernize with a movement known as Vatican 2. But some Church people, nuns and priests, wanted changes that were a bridge too far for Vatican 2. In Los Angeles, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary went toe to toe with the church hierarchy, involving themselves in anti-war and social justice movements. I was happy to speak with Pedro Kos, the director of a new film documentary called Rebel Hearts about those women of the Immaculate Heart who insisted on staying true to their consciences.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview with Pedro Kos as broadcast today on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

Lady Buds: Six Women Underground Cannabis Growers

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In 2016, Californians voted “Yes” on proposition 64 which made cannabis legal for recreational purposes. But perhaps counter-intuitively, the consequences of that act were decidedly mixed and complex. A new documentary, Lady Buds, focuses on a group of six cannabis growers, mostly women, who had to wrestle with the many unforeseen circumstances that came along with pot legalization. I was happy to be speaking with the director of Lady Buds, Chris J Russo.

Click the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Chris Russo, as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC, and Pacifica stations across the country.

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time

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Kurt Vonnegut’s humorous and fantastical novels are all still in print today. Certainly, if you were a college student of the 60s, 70s or 80s, you probably know lines from Vonnegut novels by heart. Producer, director and writer Robert Weide has come out with a new documentary on Kurt Vonnegut, which includes Mr. Weide’s personal relationship to Vonnegut, called Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. I was happy to interview Robert Weide for Arts Express.

Click the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Robert Weide, as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC, and Pacifica stations across the country.

The Real Chaplin

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It’s the 100th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s first full-length feature, The Kid, and that’s as good  an excuse as any to celebrate all of his films. But who was Chaplin off-screen? A new Showtime documentary, The Real Chaplin directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney purports to get to the bottom of the real Charlie Chaplin…does it?

Click the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my review, as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC, and Pacifica stations across the country.

Savior For Sale: Da Vinci’s Lost Masterpiece?

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Some fifteen years ago the art world was aghast over what was called the biggest discovery of the 21st century: a newly found painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Originally bought for about $1000, it eventually sold at auction for an astounding record breaking 450 million Euros. But was all what it seemed? Was the painting really by Da Vinci? And who was the mysterious buyer? And who were the shadowy middle men and agents taking their cuts? Was the whole art world just one large international scam operation?  In a fascinating new documentary film, Savior For Sale: Da Vinci’s Lost Masterpiece?  the full tangled story is explored. I was happy to interview the director and writer of Savior For Sale, filmmaker Antoine Vitkine.

Click the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Antoine, as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC, and Pacifica stations across the country.

Fireboys

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California is once again on fire and it’s unlikely to end anytime soon. But the firefighters fighting those fires include a large number of incarcerated youth who have been trained to combat the fire on the ground. I was happy to speak with filmmakers Drew Dickler and Jake Hochendoner, director/producers of a wonderful documentary film, Fireboys, about those youth who are risking their lives to fight the fires.

Click the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Jake and Drew, as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC, and Pacifica stations across the country.

The Conductor: Marin Alsop

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Photo: “WEF Annual Meeting” by WEF

The Conductor is an excellent documentary film about Marin Alsop, who struggles against enormous odds to become the first female conductor of a major symphony orchestra in the US. It’s a wonderful story told by Director Bernadette Wegenstein, with a compelling theme about the world of high stakes musicianship, along with the high cost of success for a woman in that field.

Click the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my review, as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NY and Pacifica stations across the nation.

With Drawn Arms: Tommie Smith’s Olympic Win

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In 1968, the winners of the Olympics 200 meter sprint, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stunned the world when they stood on the winners’ stand and as the Star Spangled Banner played, they raised their black-gloved fists in an image that was destined to be remembered around the world and through time. Now Glenn Kaino, a noted artist, and Afshin Shahidi, a noted cinematographer and photographer, have documented the meaning and enduring  repercussions of that moment in a new documentary about Tommie Smith called With Drawn Arms.  I was happy to have spoken with the two co-directors of the film.

Click on the triangle or link above to hear my conversation with Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi as broadcast today on WBAI NY and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Free Voice Of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists

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In 1980, Joel Sucher made a film called Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists, which was a portrait of immigrant life in the U.S. as seen through the eyes of sweatshop workers who made up the Jewish anarchist movement. Between 1900 and World War I, these Yiddish-speaking anarchists constituted an influential political movement affecting trade unions, newspapers, left-wing culture—and hysteria—in the US. Now 40 years later, that film has been re-released. I was happy to interview one of the original directors of Free Voice of Labor, Joel Sucher.

Click on the triangle or link above to hear my conversation with director Joel Sucher as broadcast today on WBAI NY and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.