Gorman Bechard at the WNHH studio.
On today's episode, host Tom Breen talks with prolific New Haven filmmaker Gorman Bechard about his latest rock documentary, Who Is Lydia Loveless? The movie follows a 24-year-old country rock musician as she tours the midwest in the early stages of her career, and dives deep on the challenges and joys of making art for a living.
What Were We Thinking Films website: http://whatwerewethinkingfilms.com/
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/
Brian Slattery on the banjo.
On today’s very special episode of the show, host Tom Breen talks with writer-editor-musician Brian Slattery about the music documentaries of Les Blank, a pioneering independent filmmaker who made over 40 movies between 1960 and 2015, many of which focused on the diverse traditional musical subcultures of the American South. Over the course of the show, Brian plays songs on the guitar, fiddle, and banjo that are inspired by or some way related to the music in Les Blank's movies.
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3381-les-blank-s-cinema-vitalite
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/
Excerpt from FRANK FILM (1973) by Frank and Caroline Mouris
On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen welcomes experimental animators and filmmakers Frank and Caroline Mouris and film archivist Brian Meacham to the show to talk about the Mouris' careers making movies, some reflections on the mesmerizing world of experimental animation, and upcoming screenings of their films at the Whitney Humanities center. For the second segment of the show, Breen, Allan Appel, and Lucy Gellman review the new movie The Handmaiden.
00:00 - 43:02 -- interview with filmmakers Frank and Caroline Mouris and Yale film archivist Brian Meacham
44:00 - 59: 38 -- review of The Handmaiden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZm67rgUAfQ
https://www.facebook.com/events/964252377030216/
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.
Brendan Toller (Lucy Gellman photo)
00:00 - 36:37 -- interview with Brendan Toller
39:35 - 55:43 -- interview with Russ D Martin
On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with local filmmaker Brendan Toller, director of the new documentary DANNY SAYS, about two movies that have had a profound influence on him as a watcher and maker of movies: BENJAMIN SMOKE, a 2000 documentary about a singer-songwriter, drag queen, speedfreak, misfit named Benjamin from Atlanta, Georgia, and SILVERLAKE LIFE, a 1993 documentary about a California couple living and dying with AIDS. On the second segment of the show, Tom interviews local filmmaker Russ D Martin about his new movie, ...an inappropriate affect.
http://dannysaysfilm.com/Danny_Says/Danny_Says.html
https://www.facebook.com/aninappropriateaffect/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGE_LX5nO54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjGVT4BUG-w
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
The Land by Steven Caple Jr.
Guest: Lucy Gellman
0:00 - 18:30 - review of THE LAND by Steven Caple, Jr.
Guests: Chef the Chef, Lucy Gellman
18:30 - 44:39 - discussion of hip hop movies over the past 30 years
On this episode, host Tom Breen talks to Bridgeport-based musician Chef the Chef and WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about Steven Caple Jr.'s "The Land" and how the hip hop movie genre has evolved and grown over the last 30-40 years.
Trailer for THE LAND
Mike Rhodes (Lucy Gellman photo)
Guest: Mike Rhodes
0:00 - 39:29 - interview with CT filmmaker Mike Rhodes
Guest: Lucy Gellman
41:02 - 53:07 - review of MONEY MONSTER
On this episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen sits down with Connecticut filmmaker Mike Rhodes to discuss freelancing, music videos, and the benefits and challenges of making movies in the Nutmeg State. During the second part of the episode, Breen also talks to WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about Jodie Foster's new flick "Money Monster," starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney.
Higher Learning: Children of the Underground. Directed by Mike Rhodes.
MONEY MONSTER (2016) by Jodie Foster
Miles Ahead
How to Listen
Guests: Allan Appel, Brian Slattery
0:00 - 40:50 - Miles Ahead and Born to Be Blue reviews
40:50 - 50:50 - favorite music documentaries and biopics
On today's episode, host Tom Breen talks with New Haven Independent staff writer Allan Appel and arts editor Brian Slattery about two new movies about legendary jazz trumpeters: Don Cheadle's MILES AHEAD, about Miles Davis, and Robert Burdreau's BORN TO BE BLUE, about Chet Baker. Tom, Allan and Brian talk through the representation of drug addiction in movies about musicians, the differences between music documentaries and music biopics, and the underlying assumption that there is some meaningful connection between the artist's biography and the art itself.
Trailer for Miles Ahead
Trailer for Born to Be Blue
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
Gorman Bechard (Thomas Breen photo)
Guest: Gorman Bechard
0:00 - 40:21 - interview about Who Is Lydia Loveless? and other rock documentaries
Guest: Lucy Gellman
40:22 - 51:03 - review of The Revenant
Tom Breen talks with local filmmaker Gorman Bechard about rock docs, animal rights, and New Haven film culture.
Trailer for Who Is Lydia Loveless? by Gorman Bechard
Trailer for The Revenant
Brendan Toller (Lucy Gellman photo)
Guest: Brendan Toller
0:00 - 37:18 - interview with local filmmaker Brendan Toller
Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
37:19 - 54:41 - review of SICARIO
WNHH host Tom Breen sits down with local documentary filmmaker Brendan Toller to talk about his latest music documentary, DANNY SAYS, about the punk rock pioneer Danny Fields.
Trailer for SICARIO (2015)
Lesbian Film Series at Yale
Guests: Ron Gregg, Lena Eckart-Erdheim
0:00 - 37:19 - interview with film studies professor Ron Gregg and Yale grad student Lena Eckart-Erdheim about the Lesbian Filmmaker series at Yale
Guest: Ken Winokur
37:20 - 59:55 - conversation with Ken Winokur about the Alloy Orchestra and the Man with the Movie Camera
Tom Breen talks with professor Ron Gregg and Yale grad student Lena Eckart-Erdheim about the new film series that focuses on 6 groundbreaking lesbian filmmakers. He then talks with Ken Winokur of the Alloy Orchestra about their score for Dziga Vertob's THE MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA.
Trailer for BOYS DON'T CRY