On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Trish Clark about this summer's 48 Hour Film Project New Haven, the eighth annual Elm City competition to make a 4 to 7 minute movie that follows an assortment of randomly assigned criteria over the course of one weekend. Breen and Clark also talk about the Nutmeg Institute, which Clark co-founded to help connect and inspire local filmmakers.
http://www.48hourfilm.com/new-haven-ct
PIZZA, A LOVE STORY director Gorman Bechard (center) and producers Colin Caplan (left) and Dean Falcone.
Today’s show is all about PIZZA, A LOVE STORY, a new documentary from local filmmaker Gorman Bechard and producers Colin Caplan and Dean Falcone that is all about just why, oh why, the small New England city we call home has three of the best pizza places in the world, all within a few blocks of one another. Host Tom Breen talks with them about about their research into Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern, and about how America’s century-long love affair with pizza has been influenced by a small group of family-owned, Italian-American restaurants based out of New Haven.
Kickstarter page for PIZZA, A LOVE STORY: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gormanbechard/pizza-a-love-story-a-documentary-on-the-ultimate-s?ref=creator_nav
PIZZA, A LOVE STORY website: http://www.pizzaalovestory.com/
One panel of the Amistad Memorial, designed by Ed Hamilton, that stands outside of New Haven's City Hall. (Photo by Thomas Breen)
This marks the 20th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s AMISTAD, a 1997 historical drama about a successful revolt among enslaved Africans aboard a Cuban slave ship in 1839, those Africans’ subsequent recapture and detention in, among other places, New Haven, Connecticut, and the subsequent landmark United States court cases that resulted in the Africans’ freedom.
On today’s episode, host Tom Breen talks with Yale Film Studies Center director Michael Kerbel, Gilder Lehrman Center postdoctoral associate Joseph Yannielli and local film critic and lecturer Steve Fortes about Spielberg’s take on the Amistad uprising and trials, how themovie holds up two decades after its initial release, and how it resonates for audiences in New Haven where this story is so widely celebrated as one of this city’s primary connections to an international history of anti-slavery and civil rights.
Treasures from the Yale Film Archive screening of AMISTAD: http://calendar.yale.edu/cal/event/eventView.do?b=de&calPath=%2Fpublic%2Fcals%2FMainCal&guid=CAL-ff808081-5e1b392f-015e-3451c399-000079e4bedework@yale.edu&recurrenceId=
New Haven Independent article about Marcus Rediker's documentary GHOSTS OF AMISTAD: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/a_peoples_history_of_the_amistad/
Joseph Yannielli's talk on "“The Mendi Mission and the African Rehearsal for Reconstruction”": http://calendar.yale.edu/cal/event/eventView.do?b=de&calPath=%2Fpublic%2Fcals%2FMainCal&guid=CAL-ff808081-5e1b392f-015e-3946e364-00000183bedework@yale.edu&recurrenceId=
THE LIFE AND GARDENS OF BEATRIX FARRAND (2017) by Karyl Evans
On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with two Connecticut filmmakers who will be screening their new movies playing at this year's New Haven Documentary Festival.
On the first segment of the show, Breen is joined by six-time Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Karyl Evans to talk about her new movie The Life and Gardens of Beatrix Farrand, about a pioneering female landscape architect who lived and worked in New Haven for over a decade in the first half of the 20th century.
On the second segment, Breen talks with writer / producer Fred Cantor The High School that Rocked, a short documentary about how from 1966 - 1968 Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut hosted concerts by some of the biggest names in rock and roll, including The Doors, The Animals, Cream, The Rascals, and Sly & The Family Stone.
NHDocs: http://www.nhdocs.com/
The Life and Gardens of Beatrix Farrand trailer: https://vimeo.com/201694337
The Life and Gardens of Beatrix Farrand Website: http://www.beatrixfarranddocumentary.com/
The High School That Rocked Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheHighSchoolThatRocked/
On the first segment of today’s show, host Tom Breen talks with Yale film studies professor Charles Musser about the 4th annual New Haven Documentary Film Festival, which runs from June 1 through June 11 at the Whitney Humanities Center and the Main Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library in downtown New Haven. Musser is a co-founder and co-director of the fest.
On the second segment of the show, Breen is joined by New Haven Independent staff writer Allan Appel for a review of Alien: Covenant, the latest installment in the four-decade-old sci-fi / horror series that finds a new ship, a new crew, and a new planet beset by the same old problems of merciless nature and technology, and big chomping mouths with rows upon rows of teeth.
On today's episode of Kitchen Sync, host Lucy Gellman is joined by Deep Focus host Tom Breen and local filmmaker Jim O'Connor to talk about Food Haven, O'Connor's new documentary that explores New Haven's rich and varied culinary scene.
For the first segment of today's show, host Tom Breen talks with local rapper Joey A.X. and Boston-based filmmaker Sev One about their recent music video, "Love Hate Relationship," which explores Joey's ambivalent, affectionate perspective on the city in which he grew up: Elm City. Tom is joined by Lucy Gellman and Allan Appel during the second segment for a divisive review if La La Land, Damien Chazelle's new musical that stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN_10rZyBwk
http://www.killjoeyax.com/
Poster for I AM SHAKESPEARE
This episode of Deep Focus is all about I AM SHAKESPEARE, a new documentary from New Haven filmmaker Stephen Dest that tells the story of Henry Green, a young man from Newhalville struggling to reconcile the many different sides of himself in a city painfully divided by class, race, education, and violence. Breen talks with Dest and Green about the story behind this film, the power of committing so much of yourself to a work of art, and the prospect of better understanding yourself and your city through movies. For the second segment of the show, Tom is joined by Inner City News editor Babz Rawls-Ivy and New Haven Independent reporter Markeshia Ricks for a review of MOONLIGHT.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/new_film_supports_new_art_for_new_haven/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/new_film_will_tell_henry_green_story/
Jerry Lombardo (Thomas Breen photo)
00:00 - 38:20 -- interview with Jerry Lombardo and Eric Michael Schrader about It Happened, But Nobody Noticed
39:20 - 58:42 -- review of Denial
This week's episode is about It Happened, But Nobody Noticed, a 2009 documentary from directors Jerry Lombardo and Eric Michael Schrader that documents New Haven’s punk and New Wave underground music scene from 1978 to 1988. Host Tom Breen talks with Lombardo and Schrader about how this movie came to be; some of the bands, venues and unique personalities that made up New Haven’s punk and New Wave scene in the 80s; and the ways that movies and music can intersect to help us understand this specific time and place in our city’s underground cultural history. The second half of the show features a review of the new movie Denial.
Molly Wheeler (Lucy Gellman photo)
00:00 - 31:20 -- interview about Home Movie Day
34:40 - 55:38 -- review of 13TH with Babz Rawls Ivy
On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks to Brian Meacham, Molly Wheeler, and David Pilot about Home Movie Day New Haven 2016, hosted Saturday 10/15 at the New Haven Museum. During the second half of the show Breen welcomes fellow WNHH host and Inner City News CT editor Babz Rawls Ivy for a review of Ava Duvernay's new Netflix documentary, 13TH.
Rich Hanley (Thomas Breen photo)
00:00 - 48:47 -- interview with Rich Hanley about Last Days of the Coliseum
On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Rich Hanley, Associate Professor of Journalism at Quinnipiac University and writer/director of the 2010 documentary Last Days at the Coliseum. Tom and Rich talk about the history of the New Haven Coliseum, and the symbolic intersections of hockey, rock and roll, wrestling, and urban renewal in mid-century downtown New Haven.
https://www.facebook.com/newhavencoliseum/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUslRv5A3IU
https://soundcloud.com/new-haven-independent/episode-47-rich-hanley-last-days-of-the-coliseum?in=user8148908/sets/deep-focus
Russ D Martin and Li Martin (Thomas Breen photo)
Guests: Russ D Martin, Li Martin
0:00 - 51:44 - interview with Russ D Martin and Li Martin about the 2016 48 Hour Film Project New Haven
On this episode host Tom Breen talks to Russ D and Li Martin, a husband and wife who headed different teams in this year's 48 Hour Film Project New Haven contest, about the challenges, joys, and lessons learned while making films on a tight schedule.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/48_hour_filmmakers/
Wheel to Sea Productions
Guests: William Minter, Leah Russell
0:00 - 34:55 - interview due behind Wheel to Sea productions
Guest: Allan Appel
36:38 - 57:18 - review of FREE STATE OF JONES
On this episode, host Tom Breen talks to filmmakers William Minter and Leah Russell about Wheel to Sea, a video production company that focuses on making videos about non-profits in the greater New Haven area. During the second part of the show, Breen talks to New Haven Independent reporter Allan Appel about "Free State of Jones," director Gary Ross' new release about medic and confederate deserter Newt Knight .
A short video about Yaira Matyakubova of Music Haven, by Wheel to Sea productions
Trailer for FREE STATE OF JONES
NHDocs
Guest: Professor Charles Musser
0:00 - 38:04 - interview with Professor Charles Musser about the third annual New Haven Documentary Film Festival
On today's episode, host Tom Breen talks with Professor Charles Musser about the third annual New Haven Documentary Film Festival, which runs from Thursday, June 2nd through Sunday, June 12th and will be bringing 15 documentary features and 26 documentary shorts to the Elm City. A founder and co-director of the festival, Musser shares some thoughts on the films and filmmakers included in this year's line up, including Alex Gibney, Barbara Kopple, East Lyme middle school students, and many more.
Trailer for ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (2005) by Alex Gibney
Scene from The Hill
Guest: Lisa Molomot
0:00 - 38:22 - interview with Lisa Molomot
Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
39:22 - 55:05 - Eye in the Sky and Marguerite reviews
On this episode, host Tom Breen talks with filmmaker Lisa Molomot about some of her most recent projects: her 2013 release "The Hill," which covers the city's displacement of 94 families to build a new school in the Hill neighborhood, and 2011 film "School's Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten." During the latter half of the show, Breen talks with WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about the recent release "Eye in the Sky," and New Haven Independent reporter Allan Appel about "Marguerite."
Trailer for The Hill (2013) by Lisa Molomot
Trailer for Eye in the Sky (2015) by Gavin Hood
LADY IN THE VAN
Guests: Rebecca Abbott, Frank Mitchell
0:00 - 32:08 - interview about Unsung Heroes
Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
32:09 - 54:31 - review of The Lady in the Van
Tom speaks with filmmaker Rebecca Abbott and historian Frank Mitchell about their 2001 documentary "Unsung Heroes: The Music of Jazz in New Haven." During the second segment, Tom discusses the latest Alan Bennett screen adaptation, "The Lady in the Van," with WNHH hosts Lucy Gellman and Allan Appel.
Clip from Unsung Heroes by Rebecca Abbott and Frank Mitchell
Dan Vieira (Lucy Gellman photo)
Guest: Dan Vieira
0:00 - 34:33 - interview about Youth Rights Media
Guest: Debby Evans
34:34 - 53:47 - interview about contemporary African cinema series
Host Tom Breen welcomes New Haven-based freelance videographer Dan Vieira to talk about his work with Youth Rights Media and foray into independent filmmaking, and Westville resident Debby Evans about her three-part African cinema series.
Trailer for Labeled by Youth Rights Media
Trailer for Munyurangabo by Lee Isaac Chung
Elihu Rubin (Lucy Gellman photo)
Guest: Elihu Rubin
0:00 - 41:48 - interview with filmmaker and architectural historian Elihu Rubin about his New Haven Trilogy of documentaries
On this week's episode, WNHH host Tom Breen speaks with Elihu Rubin, the author of Insuring the City: The Prudential Center and the Postwar Urban Landscape (Yale University Press, 2012).
Clip from ON BROADWAY (2000)
Stephen Dest (Lucy Gellman photo)
Guest: Stephen Dest
0:00 - 38:03 - interview with filmmaker Stephen Dest
Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
38:04 - 51:33 - review of SPOTLIGHT
WNHH host Tom Breen interviews local filmmaker, writer and director Stephen Dest, then discusses the film "Spotlight" with NHI reporters Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman.
Trailer for Spotlight (2015)
Travis Carbonella (Lucy Gellman photo)
Guest: Travis Carbonella
0:00 - 33:11 - interview with Travis Carbonella
Guest: Doris Zelinsky
35:50 - 52:05 - interview with Doris Zelinsky about People Forget, New Haven Remembers
On the first segment of today's episode, Tom talks with Travis Carbonella, a local videographer whose many short promotional, documentary, and fiction movies offer a unique perspective on the people and places that make up the Elm City. They talk about a few of the subjects he’s trained his camera on to date; the differences between making a movie for hire and making one for oneself; and the challenges and benefits of being a New Haven-based filmmaker. For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with producer Doris Zelinsky about People Forget, New Haven Remembers, a new documentary about New Haven's Holocaust Memorial on Whalley Avenue.
Travis Carbonella's video about the Westville Artwalk 2016
