In episode 6 of the podcast we discuss Free Solo, one of the best documentaries of the year which follows free soloist Alex Honnold as he prepares for and ascends Yosemite’s El Capitain. Read our interview with Honnold.
[Read more…] about Ep. 6: Free Solo and humans in extremisBrett Pardy podcast
Ep. 5: Christian Petzold’s Transit
In the fifth episode of our film podcast, we talk about Christian Petzold’s modern-day holocaust drama Transit and how it refreshes the holocaust drama while exploring the bureaucratic trauma of being a refugee.
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
Podcast episode 5: Christian Petzold’s Transit
In the fifth episode of our film podcast, we explore why setting a holocaust drama in modern day France is so effective, how the film relates to Petzold’s previous film, Phoenix, and why it’s such a thoughtful film. The film is adapted from Anna Seghers’ 1944 WWII-set novel, Transit Visa. In this update, we never see Nazi symbols, but the threat of the encroaching fascist occupation is ever-present; historically accurate references to concentration camps being set up at, e.g., the Velodrome in Paris signal that this is a topsy-turvy version of WWII.
The film follows a German man (Franz Rogowski) who is trying to flee the country after the Nazi invasion. He assumes the identity of a dead author whose papers he possesses. Stuck in Marseilles, he meets a young woman desperate to find her missing husband – the very man he’s impersonating.
Our two previous episodes of our film podcast also focus on films about or related to the holocaust. In our fourth episode, we discussed Luca Guadagnino’s 1977-set Suspiria remake, which looks at guilt and complicity in post-war Germany. In our third episode, we discussed Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch, which tells the story of a Rhineland child — a black German who is the daughter of an Aryan mother and an African soldier from WWI — and her historically unique experience of the holocaust and the war.
For this discussion, Associate Editor Elena Lazic is joined by Associate Editor Orla Smith, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, and Contributing Editor Brett Pardy.
To get the most out of this episode, we recommend listeners watch the film, as well as Petzold’s previous film, Phoenix, then read our essays on other films that address the holocaust: Barbet Schroeder’s Amnesia, Chantal Akerman’s No Home Movie, and Petzold’s Phoenix.
This episode was edited by Edward von Aderkas.
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Ep. 3: Where Hands Touch
In the third episode of our film podcast, we talk about Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch, a flawed but often intelligent film worthy of a closer look.
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
Episode 3: Where Hands Touch
In the third episode of our film podcast, we tackle a complex, imperfect film nevertheless worth talking about. Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch is flawed, but rich and often intelligent, deserving of a closer look than other outlets have given it.
The film follows Leyna (Amandla Stenberg), a mixed-race girl in Nazi Germany, who falls in love with Lutz (George MacKay), a member of the Hitler youth. Where Hands Touch is based on a real but largely forgotten part of history: the so-called “Rhineland bastards,” children of Aryan mothers and African soldiers. This premise naturally generated controversy, and in this episode, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Associate Editor Orla Smith, and Contributing Editor Brett Pardy come to grips with the film’s complexities.
This was a passion project of Amma Asante since the very beginning of her career: it was supposed to be her second film after her debut A Way of Life, but “I had to find a way to prove that this project was something I could do,” as she explained in our interview. Belle — her actual follow-up to A Way of Life and the film which made her a recognisable name in the film industry — as well as her third film, A United Kingdom, came to her because of her script for Where Hands Touch. These two films were Asante’s chances to show to the industry that she had what it takes to direct Where Hands Touch; as she explained, “It suddenly dawned on me that if I could prove I could do Belle, I might actually be able to get financing back for Where Hands Touch.”
To get the most out of this episode, we recommend listeners watch the film and/or read our interview with Asante before listening.
This episode was edited by Edward von Aderkas.
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You can also subscribe on Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.
Ep. 1: Leave No Trace
For the first episode of the new Seventh Row podcast, our host and Associate Editor Elena Lazic is joined by Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Associate Editor Orla Smith, and Contributing Editors Gillie Collins and Brett Pardy, for a discussion about Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace.
We chose to record a podcast episode on Leave No Trace because it’s one of our favourite films of the year and of the decade. We loved it so much that we wrote an entire ebook about it. In the book, you can find several writers who adore the film examining it from a variety of perspectives, whether that be an analysis of the film itself, an analysis of the performances, or a Debra Granik fan contextualising the film in her filmography.
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To get the most out of this episode, we recommend listeners watch the film and/or read our ebook on it before listening. The book is the essential companion to the film. It will make you see Granik’s latest masterpiece in a new light! It may also turn you on to her previous films, and help you realise to what extent Leave No Trace was a natural career progression for Granik.
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You can also subscribe on Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.