Episode 107: Pizza, A Love Story

PIZZA, A LOVE STORY director Gorman Bechard (center) and producers Colin Caplan (left) and Dean Falcone.

Description

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.

Links

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/

Episode 80: The Life and Gardens of Beatrix Farrand / The High School That Rocked

THE LIFE AND GARDENS OF BEATRIX FARRAND (2017) by Karyl Evans

Description

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.

Links

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/

Episode 79: NHDocs 2017 / Alien: Covenant

Description

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.

Links

http://www.nhdocs.com/

Episode 76: Food Haven

Description

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.

Episode 64: Crow Stories / Hidden Figures

CROW STORIES by Sean Kernan

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Branford photographer Sean Kernan about CROW STORIES, his new documentary that offers a glimpse into the life, landscape, and culture of the Crow People, a Native American tribe concentrated in southern Montana. For the second segment, he's joined by Inner City News editor Babz Rawls-Ivy for a review of the new movie HIDDEN FIGURES.

Other Links

http://www.crow-stories.net/
http://www.seankernan.com/
http://www.bestvideo.com/film-screening-connecticut-photographer-sean-kernans-crow-stories-documentary-screens-mon-jan-30/

Episode 58: Shaping the American Identity

Still from Emory Farb's short documentary Standing with Standing Rock

Description

Today's interview-only episode of the show is all about student documentaries that explore the elusive and contentious nature of American identity. Host Tom Breen is joined in the studio by Rena Tobey, who teaches an Honors College-level course at Southern Connecticut State University called “Shaping the American Identity.” As the semester nears its conclusion, she has given her students the opportunity to satisfy their final project requirements by creating short documentaries that explore some of the themes covered in the course. We’ll talk with Rena and two of her student documentarians, Evie Jenkins and Emory Farb, about the scope of this course, some of the challenges of being a student filmmaker, and trying to use documentaries to better understand what it means to be an American.

Episode 56: I Am Shakespeare / Moonlight

Poster for I AM SHAKESPEARE

Description

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.

More Links

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/

Episode 47: Rich Hanley / Last Days of the Coliseum

Rich Hanley (Thomas Breen photo)

Topics

00:00 - 48:47 -- interview with Rich Hanley about Last Days of the Coliseum

Description

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.

Links

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

Episode 36: Charles Musser / New Haven Documentary Film Festival

NHDocs

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First Segment

Guest: Professor Charles Musser
0:00 - 38:04 - interview with Professor Charles Musser about the third annual New Haven Documentary Film Festival

Description

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.

Video Links

Trailer for ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (2005) by Alex Gibney

Episode 34: Bruce Ditman / Francofonia

Bruce Ditman (Thomas Breen photo)

How to Listen

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First Segment

Guest: Bruce Ditman
0:00 - 40:19 - reviews of THIEF and BEVERLY HILLS COP

Second Segment

Guests: Lucy Gellman, Allan Appel
41:51 - 1:00:15 - review of FRANCOFONIA

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with New Haven's own Bruce Ditman about two films from the early 1980s that have had a profound influence on the way he watches, makes, and enjoys movies today. Michael Mann’s THIEF and Martin Brest’s BEVERLY HILLS COP have become classics of the heist and comedy genres respectively, but how do they hold up in 2016? For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman FRANCOFONIA, a new meditative documentary by Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov about the timelessness of art and the history of the Louvre under Nazi occupation.

Video Links

Trailer for Thief (1981) by Michael Mann

Scene from Beverly Hills Copy (1984) by Martin Brest

Trailer for Francofonia (2016) by Alexander Sokurov

Other Links

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/everyone_leaves/

EXTRA: City of Gold review

CITY OF GOLD still

Description

On this Kitchen Sync + Deep Focus EXTRA, hosts Lucy Gellman and Tom Breentalk about "City of Gold," a new documentary from Laura Gabbert that follows Pulitzer Prize winning LA Times food critic Jonathan Gold on his endlessly stimulating journey through LA's culinary culture.

Episode 28: American Reds / Jay Lender

American Reds

How to Listen

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First Segment

Guest: Richard Wormser
0:00 - 31:47 - interview with Richard Wormser about American Reds

Second Segment

Guests: Jay Lender
31:48 - 1:02:24 - interview with Jay Lender about They're Watching

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen interviews filmmaker and UNH professor Richard Wormser about his new documentary AMERICAN REDS, which offers a new history of the Communist Party USA, from the Russian Revolution in 1917 to the death of Stalin and the dissolution of the American party in the mid-1950s. For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with New Haven-born writer, director, and animator Jay Lender about his directorial debut, THEY'RE WATCHING.

Video Links

Opening clip for American Reds (2015) by Richard Wormser

Trailer for They're Watching (2016) by Jay Lender and Micah Wright

Episode 23: Karyl Evans / Hail, Caesar!

Karyl Evans (Phil Holt photo)

How to Listen

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First Segment

Guest: Karyl Evans
0:00 - 33:02 - interview about Letter from Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio and other movies by documentary filmmaker Karyl Evans

Second Segment

Guest: Allan Appel
33:03 - 53:57 - review of Hail, Caesar!

Description

Tom speaks with North Haven filmmaker Karyl Kreizinger Evans, director of "Letter From Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio" and discusses Coen-brother comedy "Hail, Caesar!" with Allan Appel.

Video Links

Trailer for Letter from Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio by Karyl Evans

Trailer for Hail, Caesar! by the Coen brothers

Episode 20: Gorman Bechard / The Revenant

Gorman Bechard (Thomas Breen photo)

How to Listen

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First Segment

Guest: Gorman Bechard
0:00 - 40:21 - interview about Who Is Lydia Loveless? and other rock documentaries

Second Segment

Guest: Lucy Gellman
40:22 - 51:03 - review of The Revenant

Description

Tom Breen talks with local filmmaker Gorman Bechard about rock docs, animal rights, and New Haven film culture.

Video Links

Trailer for Who Is Lydia Loveless? by Gorman Bechard

Trailer for The Revenant

Episode 13: Travis Carbonella / Doris Zelinsky

Travis Carbonella (Lucy Gellman photo)

How to Listen

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First Segment

Guest: Travis Carbonella
0:00 - 33:11 - interview with Travis Carbonella

Second Segment

Guest: Doris Zelinsky
35:50 - 52:05 - interview with Doris Zelinsky about People Forget, New Haven Remembers

Description

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.

Video Links

Travis Carbonella's video about the Westville Artwalk 2016

Episode 12: Jennifer Abod / The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen

Angela Bowen (left), Jennifer Abod, and poet Kitty Tsui (PHOTO BY ROSIE KAR, PHD)

How to Listen

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First Segment

Guest: Jennifer Abod
0:00 - 52:33 - interview with director Jennifer Abod about THE PASSIONATE PURSUITS OF ANGELA BOWEN

Description

Deep Focus host Tom Breen sits down in the studio with Dr. Jennifer Abod, scholar, activist, feminist, and musician, to speak about her recent documentary "The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen."

Episode 2: Exploitation Flicks / Best of Enemies

How to Listen

William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal in BEST OF ENEMIES

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First Segment

Guests: Joe Fay, Brandon Upson
0:00 - 39:08 - interview about exploitation cinema with Lyric Hall's Joe Fay and Vinegar Syndrome's Brandon Upson

Second Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
38:50 - 53:20 - review of BEST OF ENEMIES

Description

Host Tom Breen talks with Joe Fay from Lyric Hall and Brandon Upson from Vinegar Syndrome about the unique pleasures of exploitation cinema. He then reviews BEST OF ENEMIES with Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman.

Review of BEST OF ENEMIES