This weeks review is brought to you by Sarah, featuring Dark City Beneath the Beat(2020). The documentary that reveals the untold narrative of the Baltimore club music and dance scene through the lens of film director and musician, TT the Artist. One to get your mates together for a group watch.
bMovies is back baby! And so is Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival. Today we spoke with Richard Riddiford about his documentary 'Before Everest' which explores his father Earl Riddiford's involvement in New Zealand’s first Himalayan expedition, and his complicated legacy as a man.
It's our last installment of bMovies, and we're pulling out all the stops. Director of The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash, Thom Zimny, pops up to the studio and talks with Rachel about his experience making the film and the narratives in making a documentary. You can learn more about this artform at Thom's Masterclass, a very special workshop. And in the second half, 95bFM Programmer, Sarah Thomson, joins Rachel for some top tips on films to catch before the festival ends. With special mention to The Day Shall Come, don't miss out.
Director of Come to Daddy, and Incredibly Strange programmer, Ant Timpson, joins Rachel to talk about what it takes to pick a strange film. And resident fashion expert, Penelope Noir, reviews Halston, Director Frédéric Tcheng's latest portrait of an artist, about the rise and fall of American fashion legend Roy Halston Frowick. Jot these films down in your diary, you don't want to miss them.
It's movies galore, Rachel reckons. And we're lucky enough to have Director, Tearepa Kahi, in studio to talk about Herbs: Songs of Freedom (2019) a very special tribute to an iconic Aotearoa band, Herbs. Tearepa chats to Rachel about the Director's role to listen and the amazing footage he found in the process of making this affectionate documentary. And, Steve Newall pops up to talk about his Flicks pick from the festival, High Life and the annual film quiz.
Get your diaries ready, we've got our second installment off bMovies to help you organise your NZIFF calendar. We're chatting to Director, Justin Pemberton, of Capital in the 21st Century about whether our captialist society is sustainable. And a special guest, Amanda Jane Robinson, reviews Varda by Agnès, part of the Vive la Varda! section of the festival and encourages others to get excited about celebrating this brilliant woman.
bMovies is back! In Part One, Rachel chats to Simon Coldrick about By The Balls (2019), a documentary about some of the historic events in New Zealand's Rugby culture. And in Part Two, Amelia reviews You Don’t Nomi (2019) directed by Jeffrey McHale, another documentary style film, from the Incredibly Strange section of NZIFF that analyses the different thoughts of the cult film, Showgirls(1995). Get your tickets sorted as soon as possible, folks.
Documentary director/producer Tina Brown rolls in to talk about her feature, United Skates, a wonderfully engaging framing of US rollerskating rinks and their still-present concurrent threads of community, music, and racial segregation. Mary-Margaret Slack then recommends, while talking as-little-as-she-can [SPOILERS] about, another documentary feature, Tim Wardle's Three Identical Strangers. With limited sessions left as the festival draws to a close, don't sleep on these two. Eight-wheels-out-of-eight / three-strangers-out-of-three.
This week on bMovies, Director Eryn Wilson, joins us in studio to talk Dog's Best Friend. Talking about the harsh stories of these pup's pasts, Mikey's heart is warmed by the tales of our furry friends. And 95bFM's Viewmaster, Sam Sinnott, is back to review The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a topical and confronting depiction of teenagers searching for their truth. Sam sums up the film in two words. But no spoilers, please!
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