Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

Another festival coverage episode? We’re back to back with Asian film festivals and Ben returns to Singapore to cover the hottest films from the festival circuit and the region for the 36th Singapore International Film Festival. Our film coverage spans the most hotly contested tickets (Silent Friend, Girl, Resurrection, Sentimental Value), cinema classics (Matador, Water, Bye Bye Love), and promising first features from the region (Amoeba, A Useful Ghost, Old Man and His Car)This is a spicy and fun episode where Ben reflects honestly about his festival experience and Singapore’s cinema culture, as well as sharing his optimism with the concurrent ground-up efforts (The Daily, FFIGS) reinvigorating that culture. On top of all that, we also find the time to do a very special celebration in the middle of the episode.Links:Correspondence / The Daily⁠Ben’s piece on the Cinephile PassFFIGSDeepa Mehta Write-upLuca Guadagnino video on costumes Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers at MoMAMadame Morible Wicked Witch memeInterview with Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (forthcoming!)Correspond with us at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:03:15 Festival as a whole 00:08:45 Netflix acquisition of WB00:11:51 Festival operations00:20:33 Festival passes00:24:15 Banned films00:27:48 SGIFilmFeud00:28:25 Correspondence / The Daily00:30:56 FFIGS00:34:40 Optimism00:38:14 The films / Bye Bye Love (1974) dir. Fujisawa Isao00:43:10 How Dare You? (2025) dir. Mipo O00:46:14 Two Seasons, Two Strangers (2025) dir. Sho Miyake00:48:29 Audience behaviour00:51:25 Girl (2025) dir. Shu Qi00:56:20 Resurrection (2025) dir. Bi Gan01:02:25 Water (2005) dir. Deepa Mehta01:07:02 A Celebration01:09:00 Sentimental Value (2025) dir. Joachim Trier01:11:25 Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloe Zhao01:14:25 Late Fame (2025) dir. Kent Jones01:18:07 Matador (1986) dir. Pedro Almodovar01:21:20 Silent Friend (2025) dir. Ildikó Enyedi 01:27:00 SEA Shorts Programme01:31:36 The Old Man and His Car (2025) dir. Michael Kam01:36:50 Amoeba (2025) dir. Tan Siyou01:43:10 A Useful Ghost (2025) dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke01:51:16 Wrapup01:57:30 Bonus

While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and lead actress Bella Boonsang for their film Morte Cucina.Morte Cucina follows Sao as she takes an unconventional path toward revenge against a man who has wronged her.Listen in to hear about Ratanaruang’s candid thoughts on his approach to filmmaking, Boonsang’s initial trepidation and determination to tackling this tricky role, and Ratanaruang’s evolving working relationship with the film’s DP, Christopher Doyle (their third feature film collaboration!).Special thanks to the TIFF team for arranging the interview!Get revenge at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:22 Inspiration for the film04:30 Bella’s reaction to the script06:23 Casting Bella Boonsang09:45 Cinematography with Chris Doyle13:15 The movie is made on set17:30 What is love?22:17 Outro

Armed with a press pass and the Japanese language level of a 3 year old, Ben took to the cinemas of Tokyo during the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival. Ben’s coverage spans a varied 17 films over 10 days of the festival: buzzy and fresh Japanese films (Bring Him Down to a Portable Size; The Last Blossom; All Greens…) international film festival darlings (Lost Land; Palestine 36…), and a handful of exciting restorations (Demon Pond, Love Massacre…). And if you haven’t listened to Ben’s interviews from during the festival, what are you waiting for?114. Sato and Sato (2025): Interview with Director Amano Chihiro116. Morte Cucina (2025): Interview with Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Bella BoonsangOther Links:Chloe Zhao x Hirokazu Koreedaようこそto our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:04:23 TIFF38 Press Experience00:08:55 Demon Pond (1979) dir. Masahiro Shinoda00:14:28 Pale Flower (1964) dir. Masahiro Shinoda 00:17:55 Floating Clouds (1955) dir. Mikio Naruse00:23:32 Love Massacre (1981) dir. Patrick Tam00:29:01 April Story (1998) dir. April Story00:32:58 3.11 disaster sidebar00:36:10 Blonde (2025) dir. Yûichirô Sakashita00:39:35 Sato and Sato (2025) dir. Chihiro Amano00:43:41 All Greens (2025) dir. Takashi Koyama00:47:40 The Last Blossom (2025) dir. Baku Kinoshita00:52:35 Lost Land (2025) dir. Akio Fujimoto00:58:30 Echoes of the Orient (2025) dir. Yang Liping01:00:55 Labyrinth (2025) dir. Shoji Kawamori01:03:46 Bring Him Down to a Portable Size (2025) dir. Ryota Nakano01:07:18 Morte Cucina (2025) dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang01:12:45 Palestine 36 (2025) dir. Annemarie Jacir01:20:16 The Mastermind (2025) dir. Kelly Reichardt01:24:23 Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloé Zhao01:32:55 Wrap-up

While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Chihiro Amano for her film Sato and Sato.Sato and Sato covers the 15 year span of a relationship as it slowly unravels, covering marriage, parenting, and the ways relationships morph over time. In our short interview, we talk about changing gender dynamics as depicted in Amano’s film, how she worked with her cast to create the characters and relationship, and find a little resonance with other Deep Cut director Chantal Akerman. Special thanks to the festival team for arranging the interview and guiding me around the festival, and to the provided interpreter, Ninomiya Yukako.Get hitched at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:44 Interview: Same last names03:50 Working with the cast07:47 Women’s empowerment09:49 Spoiler10:40 Male insecurity12:44 What is love?13:56 Outro

We have a very special guest this week: Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, Twisters) brings one of his favorite movies of all time, Steven Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence, to the podcast as his Deep Cut Pick! Isaac chats about his awe and love for the film, what he’s learnt as a filmmaker from working with Spielberg on Twisters, and his own transition into blockbuster filmmaking. We also discuss Hayley Joel Osment’s all-timer of a child performance, the film’s divisive ending, Spielberg’s masterful blocking, and the film’s worldbuilding and depictions of the future. Find the blue fairy at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00:00 Introducing Lee Isaac Chung00:01:50 Introduction to Steven Spielberg and our connection with his work00:09:02 Why Isaac chose AI as his Deep Cut00:13:46 First reactions to AI00:18:04 Plot summary and production context00:20:19 Kubrick00:24:48 Minor Barry Lyndon spoiler00:26:24 Spoiler ends00:28:12 Love/hate and Spielberg’s touch00:35:38 Hayley Joel Osment’s performance 00:41:53 Strategies for directing children00:46:29 Act 2: Jude Law and Flesh Fair00:52:03 Worldbuilding and depiction of AI00:55:46 Ending01:01:13 Spielberg’s blocking01:09:24 Isaac’s experience moving into blockbuster filmmaking01:13:46 Outro

“Kurosawa, you dog.” – Eli.’“It’s like edging, in cinema.” – Wilson“What is this, looney tunes?” – BenKurosawa can only make the kind of movie that leaves us both perplexed, impressed and dropping memorable reactions. Listen on as we unpack the film’s critique of the next generation of hustlers and entrepreneurs, figure out what it’s trying to say through its allegory, and finally answer if anything can beat a jet2 holiday.Links:The Kinetoscope: Cinemagoing in JapanBuy our stuff at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro04:36 Ben and Wilson's general reactions12:14 Eli's experience watching at  Lincoln16:31 Cloud plot summary20:34 Compared to other Kurosawa films25:00 Sano and the younger generation32:41 Nihilism and cynicism36:42 Locations and spaces40:50 What is this movie trying to say42:37 Takimoto46:31 Akiko49:04 Dorsality51:49 Sound52:56 Productively frustrating critique of late-stage Capitalism56:22 Kurosawa's reversals58:26 Odds and ends and questions

Eli joins the other boys hot off of his Lincoln Center press screenings to tell us the must-watches and the maybe-skip-overs of this year’s New York Film Festival. But before that, Wilson and Ben briefly get their words in for the latest Paul Thomas Anderson joint, One Battle After Another. Catch Eli talk about other NYFF titles like Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, Olivier Laxe’s Sirāt, and possible film of the year: Bi Gan’s Resurrection. Links:Secret Goldfish - Bi Gan short filmI’m walking here at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro04:46 One Battle After Another (2025, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)13:32 No Other Choice (2025, dir. Park Chan-wook)16:58 Sirāt (2025, dir. Oliver Laxe)20:18 Queen Kelly (1932, dir. Erich von Stroheim)25:29 Angel’s Egg (1982, dir. Mamoru Oshii)31:27 Japanese Film Festival (in Singapore)34:34 The Arch (1968, dir. T’ang Shushuen)35:09 The Mastermind (2025, dir. Kelly Reichardt)38:03 Mare’s Nest (2025, dir. Ben Rivers)41:13 Jay Kelly (2025, dir. Noah Baumbach)42:22 Back Home (2025, dir. Tsai Ming-liang)44:49 Ecce Mole (2025, dir. Heinz Emigholz)48:15 Peter Hujar’s Day (2025, dir. Ira Sachs)50:34 What Does That Nature Say To You? (2025, dir. Hong Sang-soo)53:10 A House of Dynamite (2025, dir. Kathryn Bigelow)57:40 Resurrection (2025, dir. Bi Gan)

We are very excited to welcome Prof. Lisa Dombrowski to our podcast! She is a Professor of Film Studies and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. She’s the author of the books: The Films of Samuel Fuller: If You Die, I’ll Kill You! (2008), the editor of Kazan Revisited (2011), and co-editor of ReFocus: The Later Works and Legacy of Robert Altman (2022). (Ben worked on that last one!) We took Lisa’s fantastic film classes and she’s a big reason this podcast exists, and why we talk about movies the way we do. (You can read more about the podcast’s origin story on Patreon!) Together, we preview a newly restored film showing at the upcoming New York Film Festival and M+ Restored programmes, T’ang Shushuen’s The Arch, which Lisa teaches in her classes. Lisa shares with us the film’s unconventional transnational production context, and we have an in-depth discussion about the film’s groundbreaking use of film form to portray female subjectivity. Eli highlights the film’s use of deep staging, Wilson compares the film with Ann Hui’s A Simple Life (2011), and Ben explains what he means by an “oyako-don” pantheon.Links:Read more about and get tickets for the M+ Restored programmeScreening in NYC for NYFF at Film at Lincoln CenterObey your ancestors at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:01:36 Introducing Prof. Lisa Dombrowski00:06:48 M+ Restored00:09:39 Context on director Tang Shu-shuen and The Arch00:11:16 Lisa's relationship with The Arch00:17:16 General reactions00:23:30 Adaptation and subjectivity00:26:06 Subtitles00:28:06 Female gaze and melodramatic situation00:30:28 The opening setup00:33:28 Cinematography context00:40:28 Love triangle and deep staging00:43:34 Plum scene00:52:37 Source material00:55:28 Cultural context and societal norms01:00:04 River scene and Mid-Autumn Festival01:03:39 A Simple Life (2011) sidebar, subjective realism01:07:25 Confucianism and social conditioning01:10:29 Loom scene01:13:04 Editing for meaning01:16:32 The arch, the ending, the takeaway01:24:57 Fractured images and liminal spaces01:30:15 Lisa Lu and casting01:31:32 The film's reception01:33:56 Tang's approach01:39:03 Cultural identity, transnational cinema, aesthetic expectations01:43:32 Tang's career post The Arch01:46:05 Outro

We are joined by special guest Alex Heeney, the founder and editor in chief of Seventh Row, to dive into Luca Guadagnino's 2017 coming-of-age masterpiece, Call Me By Your Name. They talk about their deep personal connections to the film, with Alex recounting her experience at the world premiere at Sundance and Wilson sharing his obsessive journey preparing for the New York Film Festival premiere of the film. Eli discusses the film's sensual direction, and Ben explains why he thinks this is Guadagnino’s most mature work. Links:Find more of Alex on Seventh Row. They are hosting a summit celebrating queer and trans stories called Living Out Loud. Check it out here.Mina Le: why does hollywood love an age gap romance?Ben’s CMBYN meme videoWomen around the fountain videoCall us by your name at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:14 Introducing Alex Heeney00:04:00 Our histories with CMBYN00:21:50 Masculinity and Romance00:26:03 Narrative structure00:32:05 Performances00:37:39 Scenes and blocking00:41:00 The statue scene00:47:44 The parents00:51:20 The peach scene01:00:30 Age gap discourse01:10:42 Homophobia and queerness01:13:05 Cinematography and Marzia01:31:00 Editing01:35:36 The Sufjan element01:39:15 Outro

We continue our series on Akerman with a double-bill of personal documentaries about her mother, and of home. News from Home immediately follows her seminal Jeanne Dielman, and No Home Movie is the final film of Akerman’s filmography. In this episode, we thread the throughline across Akerman’s career in comparing both films, see the influence of structural and slow cinema, and marvel at her capacity for personal artmaking.Links:Celine Sciamma on Chantal AkermanI Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman (No Home Movie BTS footage)Go home to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro05:32 Plot summaries and Reactions17:15 2015 critical reactions to No Home Movie21:00 Structural films and emotional responses27:07 Power of the cut33:41 Akerman and her mother40:33 Comparing Akerman with Varda44:36 Private artmaking48:33 Akerman's career arc52:13 Preview for next eps