The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 299: Jordan Cronk on Berlinale 2025: What Marielle Knows, new James Benning and Kevin Jerome Everson, Olmo, After Dreaming, Paul Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Look at me, I’m at the 75th Berlinale! For my latest dispatch, I spoke with a regular of the festival, Jordan Cronk, about titles from a mix of sections. Films discussed include: James Benning’s latest, Little Boy, and Kevin Jerome Everson’s latest, When the Sun is Eaten (from Forum and Forum Expanded, respectively); Olmo, directed by Fernando Eimbcke, in Panorama; What Marielle Knows, a Competition title directed by Frédéric Hambalek; Paul, from Denis Côté (in Panorama Dokumente); and After Dreaming, directed by Christine Haroutounian (in Forum). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 298: Jonathan Romney on Mickey 17 and Dreams at Berlin 2025 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Berlinale begins its 75th edition this year, and I’ve been busily seeing movies and talking to critics here at the festival. To kick things off I’m joined by Jonathan Romney (of Screen Daily and the Observer) to discuss the hotly anticipated Mickey 17 from multiple-Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho, headlined by Robert Pattinson, and the latest Michel Franco provocation, Dreams, starring Jessica Chastain and Isaac Hernandez. Both were world premieres, with Mickey 17 opening in the U.S. on March 7. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 297: RaMell Ross on Nickel Boys Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. One of the great films of 2024 and now nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay, Nickel Boys is the fiction feature debut of RaMell Ross, who adapted Colson Whitehead’s novel with Joslyn Barnes, after previously directing the Oscar-nominated Hale County This Morning, This Evening. I was lucky enough to speak with Ross about making the movie, especially crafting its form, the screenwriting collaboration, the technology of racism, what he brought from documentary filmmaking, casting, and some of his influences. Ross and his DP Jomo Fray use an innovative mix of extended first-person camerawork to tell the stories of two boys, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), in a Jim Crow-era reform school in Florida that’s essentially a prison; Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor co-stars as Elwood’s grandmother, Hattie. Archival video and film provide additional impressionistic glimpses of the world in the film's bold conception. (Note: this interview was recorded earlier.) Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 296: Chloe Lizotte on OBEX, Endless Cookie, Luz, The Reality of Hope, and 4DX Cinema Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. It’s been far too long since Chloe Lizotte, deputy editor of MUBI Notebook, has been on the podcast, so we joined forces for one more (final?) episode on Sundance 2025... and beyond! We talked about Sundance titles OBEX (directed by Albert Birney), Endless Cookie (Pete and Seth Scriver), Luz (Flora Lau), and The Reality of Hope (Joe Hunting). But then we conclude by re-entering the multiplex in all its mysteries: my guest shares a beat-by-beat experience with the sensory-assault-style 4DX format (at a screening of Flight Risk). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 295: Amy Taubin on BLKNWS, Ricky, Sorry Baby, Alabama Solution, The Things You Kill Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. There are still great movies to catch up with from Sundance 2025, and once again I was fortunate to talk with the one and only Amy Taubin about her highlights. Films we discussed included stand-outs and prize-winners from this year's edition: BLKNWS: Terms and Conditions (directed by Kahlil Joseph), Ricky (Rashad Frett), The Things You Kill (Alireza Khatami), The Alabama Solution (Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman), and of course Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor). Plus a few words from me about Train Dreams (Clint Bentley). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 294: Manohla Dargis on Sorry Baby, Atropia, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, BLKNWS, Omaha Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest Sundance 2025 podcast, I was fortunate again to discuss the festival and its movies with Manohla Dargis, chief film critic of The New York Times. In addition to reflecting on Sundance’s planned move and the backdrop to the festival, we talked about a whole selection of films from this year’s edition: Sorry, Baby (directed by Eva Victor), If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Mary Bronstein), Atropia (Hailey Gates), BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Kahlil Joseph), Omaha (Cole Webley), The Alabama Solution (Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman), The Ugly Stepsister (Emilie Blichfeldt), Rebuilding (Max Walker-Silverman), and more. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 293: Eric Hynes on Mad Bills to Pay, The Perfect Neighbor, Rebuilding, Seeds Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest Sundance 2025 podcast, I spoke with Eric Hynes, curator of film at the Museum of the Moving Image, with whom I kicked off this edition's podcasts. This time we talked about a mix of films, both fiction and documentary, prize-winners and not: Rebuilding (directed by Max Walker-Silverman and starring Josh O'Connor), The Perfect Neighbor (Geeta Gandbhir), Mad Bills to Pay (Joel Alfonso Vargas), and Seeds (Brittany Shyne). Stay tuned for more! Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 292: Alissa Wilkinson on Sundance 2025: Predators, Zodiac Killer Project, Life After, Middletown Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest Sundance 2025 podcast, I spoke with New York Times movie critic Alissa Wilkinson about some highlights in this year’s edition. We ended up talking about key documentaries: Predators (directed by David Osit), Middletown (Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine), Life After (Reid Davenport), and Zodiac Killer Project (Charlie Shackleton). We also chat about the current climate for documentaries and how they go out into the world. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 291: Bilge Ebiri on Sundance 2025: Peter Hujar’s Day, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Sly Lives!, The Ugly Stepsister, The Thing... Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. In chilly Park City—but indoors—I sat down for another Sundance episode, this time with Bilge Ebiri of Vulture / New York magazine. Sorting through the movies we’ve seen, we talk about the new Ira Sachs movie, Peter Hujar’s Day, and the new Kiss of the Spider Woman adaptation (directed by Bill Condon), plus the documentary Sly Lives! The Burden of Black Genius (Ahmir Questlove Thompson), and two genre films: The Thing with Feathers (Dylan Southern), The Ugly Stepsister (Emilie Blichfeldt), and Together (Michael Shanks). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 290: Steven Soderbergh on Presence, shooting in the first-person, and recent viewing Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Steven Soderbergh’s first-person ghost thriller Presence opens today in theaters—almost exactly one year after its premiere screening at Sundance, where I first saw it. I sat down with Soderbergh and asked him about directing and shooting the film, which entailed essentially embodying the character of the haunting presence as we move through a house of family and view their goings-on from a supernatural POV. He also shared his mother’s crucial influence on the film; how he built up both suspense and a grounded family drama; and an early change during filming that affected how he would film the presence. Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Callina Liang co-star; Soderbergh re-teams with screenwriter David Koepp. Finally, we talk about some of his recent viewing—which the director famously chronicles on his website. Here he explains, among other things, why he’s watching so much Star Wars, and also pays tribute to the dearly departed David Lynch. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass