The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 235: K.J. Relth-Miller on Berlin Retrospectives: Lubitsch, Helke Sander, Carlos Saura, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a number of festivals now, I’ve been fortunate enough to delve into the retrospective selections with programmer K.J. Relth-Miller from the Academy Museum (who also teaches at CalArts). This time we talked about the special Retrospective selections drawn from the Deutsche Kinemathek and films in the Classics section at the Berlinale. We start with Ernst Lubitsch’s 1921 silent comedy Kohlhiesel’s Daughters, which screened with live musical accompaniment, and then move on to later selections such as The Germans and Their Men (1989, Helke Sander), Herzsprung (1992, Helke Misselwitz), Angels of Iron (1980, Thomas Brasch), and Deprisa, Deprisa (1981, Carlos Saura). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 234: Radu Jude on Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I present a chat with Radu Jude, the director of what’s already the most acclaimed movie of the year: Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World. The wild, funny, multi-layered movie follows a young production assistant, Angela (the incredible Ilinca Manolache), on her endless days working in Bucharest, Romania. Jude creates a crazy quilt that captures what it’s like to get through the world today, folding in Angela’s hilariously foulmouthed Instagram videos and weaving in clips from a Communist-era 1981 film about a female taxi driver. Nina Hoss and Uwe Boll also have memorable roles. I first saw Jude’s continually surprising film at its world premiere in the Locarno Film Festival, and we spoke on the eve of its U.S. release on March 22. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Christine Smallwood, an author and critic known for her insightful writings, dives into Chantal Akerman's film 'La Captive'. She discusses how the film's interior spaces reflect complex emotional states like desire and entrapment. The conversation touches on themes of jealousy, intimacy, and repetition in film viewing. Smallwood also examines emotional depth in Akerman's work, offering reflections on aging and memory. The haunting presence of characters and the unique visual compositions further enrich the dialogue, showcasing Akerman's significant artistic contributions.

Ep. 232: Eric Hynes on First Look and True/False 2024: Flying Lessons, There Was, There Was Not, Knit’s Island, Achilles Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As I did last year, I joined forces with Eric Hynes, curator of film at Museum of the Moving Image, for a double fest discussion, covering True/False, the Missouri nonfiction festival, and MoMI’s own annual First Look in New York. We discuss titles including: Flying Lessons (directed by Elizabeth Nichols), Magic Mountain (Mariam Chachia & Nik Voigt) Knit’s Island (Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h), A Photographic Memory (Rachel Elizabeth Seed), Achilles (Farhad Delaram), Spermworld (Lance Oppenheim), I Like It Here (Ralph Arlyck), Obsolete (Sumira Roy), and There Was, There Was Not (Emily Mkrtichian). Listeners will find that many movies discussed on here and in previous episodes can be seen in First Look at MoMI (March 13 to 17). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 231: Berlin 2024 with Jordan Cronk: Who by Fire, Tu Me Abrasas, Abiding Nowhere, Chime, Direct Action, More Docs Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest episode about the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, I’m pleased to reunite with Jordan Cronk, who helped kick off this year’s series. We round up some vital highlights that hopefully will wend their way to other cinemas: Who by Fire, Philippe Lesage’s prize-winner in the Generation section; Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s mid-length Chime; Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau’s Direct Action, winner in the Encounters section; Matías Piñeiro’s Tu Me Abrasas; and Abiding Nowhere, the latest in Tsai Mingliang’s Walker series. Plus some words on the documentaries At Averroes and Rosa Parks (directed by Nicolas Philibert, last year’s Golden Bear winner), Favoriten (Ruth Beckermann), and Intercepted (Oksana Karpovych). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 230: Berlin 2024 with Keva York: Christine Angot’s Une Famille, Spaceman, Berlin Critics’ Week Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I continue my reporting from the 2024 Berlin Film Festival by welcoming my latest guest to the podcast, critic Keva York, who is writing for Reverse Shot and ABC Arts (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation). We discuss the new film from French writer Christine Angot, Une Famille (A Family); the Adam Sandler movie Spaceman, directed by Johan Renck; and two selections from Berlin Critics’ Week, An Evening Song for Three Voices (directed by Graham Swon) and the Riar Rizaldi short Notes from Gog Magog. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 229: Berlin 2024 with Jessica Kiang: Dahomey, Pepe, Through the Graves the Wind Is Blowing, The Human Hibernation, The Devil’s Bath Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I continue my reporting from the Berlin Film Festival 2024 with a grand episode starring Jessica Kiang, who is writing about the Berlinale for Variety and The New York Times. The movies we discuss include: Pepe (directed by Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias), Dahomey (Mati Diop), Through the Graves the Wind Is Blowing (Travis Wilkerson, director of Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?), The Human Hibernation (Anna-Cornudella Castro), and The Devil’s Bath (Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala). Stay tuned for more from Berlin! Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 228: Berlin 2024 with Guy Lodge: Hong’s A Traveler’s Needs, Matt and Mara, Suspended Time Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. It’s onward and upward with the Berlin Film Festival 2024, as I join forces with Guy Lodge of Variety and spotlight three movies from this year’s selection which feel differently pivotal for each respective filmmaker: A Traveler’s Needs (directed by Hong Sangsoo and starring Isabelle Huppert), Suspended Time aka Hors du Temps (Olivier Assayas), and Matt and Mara (Kazik Radwanski). Stay tuned for more from Berlin! Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 227: Berlin 2024 with Jonathan Romney: Architecton, Cuckoo, La Cocina, No Other Land Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Berlin Film Festival continues to roll out some remarkable premieres, and so I sat down with critic Jonathan Romney (Screen Daily) to reflect on a few of them. Movies discussed include: La Cocina (directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios), Architecton (Victor Kossakovsky), No Other Land (from an Israeli-Palestinian collective consisting of Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor), and the batso thriller Cuckoo (Tilman Singer), which comes to U.S. theaters on May 3. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 226: Berlin 2024 with Jordan Cronk: Bruno Dumont’s Empire, The 14-Hour Movie Called Exergue, Henry Fonda for President, The Adamant Girl, Republic Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I’m chatting all about the wild assortment of movies at the Berlin Film Festival. First up is critic and programmer Jordan Cronk, who takes us through one highly distinctive movie after another: Empire (directed by Bruno Dumont), a 14-Hour movie called Exergue (Dimitris Athiridis), Henry Fonda for President (Alexander Horwath), The Adamant Girl (P.S. Vinothraj), and Republic (Jin Jiang). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass