The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 289: Eric Hynes on Sundance 2025: Preview and 2000 Meters to Andriivka Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival has begun, and I kick things off with curator Eric Hynes of the Museum of the Moving Image. We talk about where Sundance’s evolving plans for the future, we trade a few titles we’re anticipating in the lineup, and finally we talk about a film that premiered on the first night. That would be 2,000 Meters to Andriivka, the bold new documentary from Mstyslav Chernov, whose 20 Days in Mariupol won an Academy Award (and who has been a guest on this podcast). Much more is to come, so don’t be a stranger! Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 288: Mark Asch on David Lynch RIP, Best of Spectacle, Wicked, La Commune (Paris, 1871) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. In memory of David Lynch (1946-2025), I rang up critic Mark Asch to commiserate and reflect on his work, both movies and other art. We were also originally going to talk about the world of noted Brooklyn microcinema Spectacle Theater, where Asch volunteers, so we do that as well, covering rarely shown works from Logistics to Hamburger Dad. We also address Wicked, which revisits the world of The Wizard of Oz in rather different ways from Lynch. Finally, Asch shares his experience of watching Peter Watkins’s La Commune (Paris, 1871) at Anthology Film Archives. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 287: Payal Kapadia on All We Imagine as Light Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light keeps gaining new admirers and garnering more honors (since winning the Grand Prix at Cannes last spring). I had a wonderful conversation with Kapadia about the myriad directorial decisions that went into creating her nuanced portrait of three women in Mumbai—two roommates, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha), who work at a hospital, and their older widowed friend, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), a cook who’s in danger of losing her home. She goes into detail on inspirations for the characters, the details of Mumbai she strove to capture, her choices about composition and color and sound, the influence of her mother on her work, and much, much more—including, of course, recent favorites from her moviegoing. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 286: Dave Kehr on To Save and Project 2025: 7th Heaven, A Circle in the Fire, Maria Candelaria, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. To kick off the new year, I welcomed back Dave Kehr, curator in the department of film at the Museum of Modern Art, to talk about a perennial favorite starting now: To Save and Project, the festival of preservation and restoration, which received a Film Heritage award this year from the National Society of Film Critics as well as one from the New York Film Critics Circle. Kehr takes us on a tour of several titles in the 21st edition, including: 7th Heaven (directed by Frank Borzage), A Circle in the Fire (Victor Nunez), Maria Candelaria (Emilio Fernández), Rosaura at 10 O’Clock (Mario Soffici), Raskolnikow (Robert Wiene), Mia Luang (Vichit Kounavudhi), and Shoulder Arms, a Chaplin mid-length being seen in its proper full form for the first time in over a century. To Save and Project runs through January 30 at the Museum of Modern Art. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 285: Amy Taubin 2024 Finale: Juror No. 2, Robert Frank, Nosferatu, The Clock, His 3 Daughters, Flow, Conclave Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest episode, I close out the year with the one and only Amy Taubin, as we catch up with a few movies we missed to talk about in 2024. The discussion includes Juror No. 2 (directed by Clint Eastwood), Nosferatu (Robert Eggers), His Three Daughters (Azazel Jacobs), Conclave (Edward Berger), and Flow (Gints Zilbalodis), plus two exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art: the Robert Frank exhibitions and Christian Marclay’s The Clock. Thanks for listening, and check back in the new year for more new episodes! Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 284: Tyler Taormina, director of Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, on Christmas Eve Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This year the stars aligned for a movie set on Christmas Eve and its director to hop on the ol’ podcast in time for Christmas Eve! Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point is making its way through cinemas, and it was a pleasure chatting with him about his recent viewing, which brought a number of terrific titles to my attention, along with a few thoughts on holiday-themed movies. Gorgeously shot and designed, with a wonderfully lived-in performances, Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point centers on an extended family gathering in a Long Island house on the holidays, as well as the particular rituals of teenagers getting together on their own. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 283: Beatrice Loayza and Adam Nayman Do Their Bests (2024 Edition) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Tis season of making lists and checking them twice, and this December, I was pleased to welcome back Beatrice Loayza (of The New York Times and other publications) and Adam Nayman (of The Ringer and elsewhere) to the podcast. Loayza and Nayman share a few outstanding films that stuck with them from 2024, plus an assortment of other high points from their lists, ranging from debut features to crowning works by auteurs in their prime. I won’t spoil their choices here, so have a listen and find out. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 282: Thomas Beard of Light Industry on The Old Dark House, Japanese Paper Films, Community Action Center, and More Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I am a longtime admirer of Light Industry, home to wonderful screenings with original programming, and in my humble opinion a true New York institution. Shortly after Halloween, I was delighted to chat with programmer Thomas Beard, who together with Ed Halter developed and oversees Light Industry. The conversation begins with the James Whale classic The Old Dark House, and then moves through a discussion of film curation, Beard’s development as a programmer dating back to Cinematexas, the history of Light Industry, recent screenings there such as the Japanese Paper Films program, and the vital role of preservation, programming, and exhibition in keeping films alive (or bringing them back from the dead). See what’s showing next at Light Industry at lightindustry.org Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 281: Errol Morris on Separated, his new documentary about the Trump immigration policy of separating children from families Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Separated, the latest documentary from the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris, is about the people and bureaucracy behind the border immigration policy enforced by the first Trump administration: namely, to separate children from their families at the border as a deterrent. In this new interview, Morris spoke with me about the moral implications of such a policy; about the dangerous moment in American history now, about his own personal history; about his use of dramatization; and about key figures who opposed the policy (Jonathan White, in the Office of Refugee Resettlement) and enforced it (Scott Lloyd, director of the ORS, and Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of Homeland Security, both political appointees). Separated airs on December 7 on MSNBC, and is also screening in select theaters nationwide. It is based on the book Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, by NBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, who also appears in the film. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 280: IDFA 2024 with Abby Sun on A Want in Her, An American Pastoral, 1957 Transcripts, TWST Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For my next dispatch from the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2024, I sat down with Abby Sun, editor-in-chief of Documentary Magazine, who has also programmed extensively. Amid the hustle and bustle at IDFA we discussed A Want in Her (directed by Myrid Carten), An American Pastoral (Auberi Edler), The 1957 Transcripts (Ayelet Heller), and TWST (Andrei Ujica). An American Pastoral won an IDFA Award for Best Directing - International Competition. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass