To celebrate our 100th episode, ten regular guests share what they would choose if they got to make the whole world watch one movie.
Ep. 100: Films for the future
Brett Pardy podcast
Ep. 95: No Ordinary Man and John Ware Reclaimed: Reclaiming history in documentary
We discuss two of the best films of 2021, No Ordinary Man and John Ware Reclaimed, documentaries that use creative techniques to reclaim lost history. We touch on why nonfiction is such a great medium for telling historical stories, because it’s uniquely equipped to connect those stories to our lives today.
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney (@bwestcineaste), Executive Editor Orla Smith (@orlamango), Associate Editor Brett Pardy (@antiqueipod), and special guest Courtney Small (@SmallMind).
On this episode
- 0:00:00, Introduction
- 0:03:10, Creative Nonfiction Workshop
- 0:06:55, Related episodes
- 0:08:45, A deep dive on No Ordinary Man
- 0:27:56, A deep dive on John Ware Reclaimed
- 0:45:30, Comparing how both films use nonfiction to reclaim history
- 1:21:35, Outro and next week on the podcast
No Ordinary Man (Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt)
No Ordinary Man’s subject is Billy Tipton, an influential jazz musician who worked between the 1930s and 1970s. It wasn’t until 1989, when Tipton died in the arms of his son, Billy Jr., that Tipton’s family and the public discovered that he was assigned female at birth. After his death, Tipton’s story was twisted: Tipton was unequivocally a trans man, but the cis-dominated media presented him as a woman who dressed as a man in order to get a foot in the door in the music industry. Even the most cited text about Tipton’s life, Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton by Dianne Middlebrook, framed his story around this harmful narrative. In the film, directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt interview experts and family members of Tipton. They also audition transmasculine actors to play the part of Billy, and discuss with them the impact of Billy’s legacy on their own lives.
John Ware Reclaimed (Cheryl Foggo)
Cheryl Foggo’s John Ware Reclaimed is part of her ongoing project of research into the story of John Ware, which has included a book and a play. John Ware was a successful Black Albertan rancher who began his life as an enslaved American before moving to Canada in 1882. What little was known about him before her work was compiled in Grant MacEwan’s book John Ware’s Cow Country, which is full of racist stereotypes about Black masculinity. Through interviews, newspaper clippings, original songs, animation, and reenactments, Foggo creates a new mythology around John Ware and illuminates the stories of members of his family, as well. The film follows Foggo through her research process, which involves talking to academics, people who knew Ware’s family, people who have succeeded him on the land, and personal friends, she reveals how Black history has been obscured in the prairies. She also relates John Ware’s story, and its erasure, to her experience — and the experience of people she talks to — as a Black woman in the prairies.
Episode notes
- Pre-register for the 2021 Creative Nonfiction Workshop, featuring the directors of John Ware Reclaimed and No Ordinary Man
- Read Orla’s interview with Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt on No Ordinary Man
- Read Brian Tallerico’s rogerebert.com review of No Ordinary Man
- Read Alex’s interview with Cheryl Foggo on John Ware Reclaimed
- Read Courtney’s POV Magazine review of John Ware Reclaimed
- Watch the documentary By Blood
- Watch Chloé Galibert-Laîné’s desktop documentaries
- Read Courtney’s publication Cinema Axis
- Read Courtney’s reviews on his Rotten Tomatoes page
- Buy the latest issue of POV Magazine to read Courtney’s feature on Black trailblazers in documentary, and to read the cover story interview with the great Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Related episodes
- Ep. 12: Hail Satan? featuring director Penny Lane
- Ep. 39: Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Blood Quantum
Both of these episodes are older than six months, and thus they’re only available to Seventh Row members as part of the Premium Podcast feed. Membership is cheap and comes with a ton of benefits. Click here to find out more.
Ep. 90: Jeanne Dielman and Les Rendez-vous d’Anna: A Chantal Akerman mother’s day
On this Seventh Row Podcast episode, we celebrate Mother’s Day with the queen of on-screen mothers, Chantal Akerman, and her films Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles and Les Rendez-vous d’Anna.
This Chantal Akerman podcast episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, Associate Editor Brett Pardy, and Contributing Editor Lindsay Pugh.
On this podcast episode on Chantal Akerman’s mothers
- Chantal Akerman’s legacy (4:20)
- Jeanne Dielman (17:52)
- What to make of Jeanne Dielman‘s ending (34:31)
- Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (41:03)
- Mothers in the two films (55:25)
- Jewish identity in Akerman’s films (1:00:52)
- Akerman’s aesthetic (1:09:24)
- Conclusion (1:13:36)
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) – on the podcast
Akerman’s breakthrough feature, Jeanne Dielman, follows a single mother’s household labour routine, showing chores and food preparation in real-time, set over the course of three days.
Jeanne Dielman is available on VOD, DVD/Blu-ray, and is streaming on The Criterion Channel in Canada and the US
Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (1978) – on the podcast
Anna (Aurore Clément) is a filmmaker, travelling through West Germany, Belgium, and France to screen her new film. Along the way she meets various connections from her past, including her mother, most of whom talk at her, rather than with her.
Les Rendez-vous d’Anna is available on DVD and is streaming on The Criterion Channel in Canada and the US
Episode notes – Chantal Akerman’s mothers podcast
- Read Alex’s review of Chantal Akerman’s 2015 film, No Home Movie
- Visit Lindsay’s website Woman in Revolt
- Preview or purchase our ebook Tour of memories: The creative process behind Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir
- Preview or purchase our ebook Road to nowhere: Kelly Reichardt’s broken American dreams.
- Preview or purchase our ebook Peterloo in process: A Mike Leigh collaboration
- Listen to our episode featuring The Assistant and Promising Young Woman (content warning: discussion of sexual violence)
- Listen to our episode featuring Spinster
- Listen to our episode featuring Meek’s Cutoff
- Listen to our episode on the films of Anne Émond
- Read our newest feature, our editors picks for the fifty most exciting emerging actors working today
- Read Orla’s interview with Nadia, Butterfly cinematographer Stéphanie Anne Weber Biron
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Ep. 86: Una & Slalom: Depictions of childhood sexual assault
On this episode we discuss how two films, Una and the recent Slalom, depict the trauma of childhood sexual assault. We discuss the films’ messy navigation of depiction and questions of empathy and catharsis.
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, Associate Editor Brett Pardy, and staff writer Lena Wilson.
On This Episode
- Why we paired these films (5:08)
- Explaining our snarky tone as coping mechanism and the challenges of discussing the difficult subject of childhood sexual assault (8:27)
- Jennifer Fox’s The Tale (10:50)
- Why do we watch so many films about terrible things that happen to women? (23:15)
- Una (30:02)
- Slalom (61:30)
Una (Benedict Andrews, 2017)
Based on David Harrower’s Olivier Award Winning play Blackbird, which he has also adapted for the screen, Una is about reckoning with the past by trying to break the silence. Una confronts Ray about their relationship, both angry and accusing and tender and needy. As an adult, she can understand and say the things she didn’t when they were in each other’s lives, but she’s also susceptible to trying to rewrite history, now that she’s old enough to consent. Because things ended between them so abruptly — Ray went to prison and Una was told he was disgusted with himself — there are lots of blanks to fill in their memories. They may be toxic to one another, but they’re also the only two people who went through this ordeal together.
Read the rest of Alex’s review
Una is available on VOD and to stream on Prime and Hoopla in Canada and the US and MUBI in the UK.
Slalom (Charlene Favier, 2020)
Charlène Favier’s Cannes-labelled directorial debut, Slalom, is a tense pas-de-deux between a 15-year-old professional skiing star, Lyz (Noée Abita), and her coach, Fred (Jérémie Renier). Like Una, the film is a complex exploration of the dynamics of an abusive relationship between a man in power and a child in his charge. Though it deals with sexual abuse, the film is most interested in Lyz’s perspective, avoiding judgement or sensationalism, while making Fred human if reprehensible.
Effectively abandoned by her mother, who has accepted a job in another city, Lyz begins training at a school designed for professional skiers under Fred’s guidance. Living alone in her apartment, and without any real support network at her new school, Lyz initially struggles with Fred’s gruff manner. But when she starts succeeding on the slopes, he warms up to her, giving her special attention, training, and encouragement.
Read the rest of Alex’s review
Slalom opens April 9 in virtual cinemas in Canada and the US.
Show notes for Una and Slalom
- Read Lena’s New York Times article on rape-revenge films
- Read Lena’s New York Times review of Violation
- Read Alex’s interview with Una director Benedict Andrews
- Read Alex’s interview with The Tale director Jennifer Fox
- Read Justin Smith’s interview with Genèse director Philippe Lesage
- Listen to Lena guest on our episode about Paddington and Paddington 2
Ep. 85: The films of Naomi Kawase, featuring True Mothers
Naomi Kawase is one of the most prolific women directors in international cinema and a multiple award winner at the Cannes film festival. Yet her films have rarely been given the critical attention they deserve. In this episode, we look at her latest film True Mothers, re-visit the divisive Still the Water, and discuss other highlights from her filmography.
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
Ep. 82: Quo Vadis, Aida and Our Lady of the Nile: Genocide on film
Jasmila Žbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida is one of the best films of the year. On this episode, we discuss it in context of Atiq Rahimi’s Our Lady of the Nile, another film approaching the theme of genocide with tremendous empathy towards the human cost rather than being a spectacle of suffering.
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
