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When you watch SOUVENIR (2025), you know you are watching something incredible -- filmmaker Renée Marie Petropoulos brings the power of cinema to the topic of relationship abuse. And what I mean is that she uses the full force of the medium to craft a story of what it really looks like in the modern age.

It's like nothing I've ever seen before, and SXSW agrees -- it won the 2026 narrative shorts competition. The jury said, "Led by moving, raw performances, this film meets viewers in an intimate space. Layering the complexities of love, trust, and the v...

PHENOMENA (2026) is a type of film that I've never seen before -- an exploration of nature through a visual medium. It's not surprising that it, too, comes from a filmmaker of a type I've never talked with-- an Australian who started doing art exhibitions and immersive experience shows before his debut feature.

So it's not surprising it's getting the rave reviews it's getting from places like Variety, and it is a testament to the vision that Josef brings to filmmaking. So get in early on this film and this filmmaker -- the sky is the limit for...

During this episode, you'll hear a part that's normally edited out -- a phone ringing. But given that's one of my guests' school calling, I decided to leave it in. Because that's the life of a parent, right? It doesn't stop for a podcast recording, a film premiere, whatever you have going on in life.

And the point of this episode, with Cinecamp founders Jessica Kivnik and Alexa Coblentz, is that's okay. We'll make it work. I love the way they put this description, so I'll use it here -- Cinecamp is a pop-up daycare center during...

A short film has never met its moment like THE SEEING EYE DOG WHO SAW TOO MUCH (2026), which premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival this month. Of course it won the audience award -- how could it not? The film, as filmmaker Eric Jackowitz explains, is a homage to Italian giallo films, a mix of mystery horror and thriller films that peaked in the 1970s.

Eric's career, as a filmmaker and musician based in Los Angeles, led him to this moment. He plays drums, attended the Berklee College of Music, and I'll say it: he's...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (2016)

Director: Matt Ross

Screenplay: Matt Ross

Stars: Viggo Mortensen; Samantha Isler; George MacKay

SYNOPSIS

Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen), his wife Leslie and their six children live deep in the wilderness of Washington state. Isolated from society, Ben and Leslie devote their existence to raising their kids -- educating them to think critically, training them to be physically...

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She'll tell you acting is her calling, but then you listen to Victoria Blade sing and watch her direct -- her most recent film, VICKY WAKES UP (2026) won the episodes grand jury prize at the 2026 Slamdance Film Festival -- and I'm with you in thinking maybe three things are her calling.

Filmmaker Victoria Blade is here to talk about her path to winning filmmaking prizes, and it starts with thinking she's going to be a dramatic actor and realizing she's can play comedy just as well. and then just rolling...

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RE-RELEASE: I'm re-releasing this episode, in part to congratulate the team behind MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN (2025), who won the Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, and also give further background to director David Borenstein's comments at the event. After you listen to this episode and hear about his background, his words come from experience. Congratulations, team. So well deserved.

From December, 2025:

Surely he didn't know it then, but his work in media in China made my guest, filmmaker David Borenstein, the perfect person to direct MR NOBODY AGAINST...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: HARD EIGHT (1996)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars: Philip Baker Hall; John C. Reilly; Samuel L. Jackson; Gwyneth Paltrow

SYNOPSIS

Veteran gambler Sydney befriends a young man named John, transforming into a Las Vegas casino champion. John falls for a prostitute, and the couple soon finds themselves in need of Sydney's help.

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If there's something that Mark Elijah Rosenberg hasn't done in film, I don't know what it is.

Started Rooftop Films, which presents art and films around New York. Made a studio feature. Made deeply personal short films like ____ IN PARIS (2026), which he premiered at Slamdance this year. Made interactive art. Taught film. With a background like that, I knew the insight he would bring is incredible, and he doesn't disappoint here.

The best part is you can tell Mark has thought about all these bigger issues in filmmaking, too, and I'm so thrilled he's here...

My conversation with filmmaker Sylvia Ray was eye-opening for me in so many ways. Let's start from the top: SEAWEED SNACKS (2026) is phenomenal filmmaking that is slightly dark, extremely funny, and captures a social dynamic that we too often don't see on screen: dads at a birthday party. Sylvia directed it, and the film was a product of Film Independent's Project Involve, where the SEAWEED SNACKS team was the only one with three out of 31 people with kids.

I'm seeing this from the vantage of someone who is chronically online, but the kids/no kids debate is...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: THE CELEBRATION (1998)

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Screenplay: Thomas Vinterberg; Mogens Rukov

Stars: Henning Moritzen; Ulrich Thomsen; Thomas Bo Laren

SYNOPSIS

A dark secret mars a Dane's (Henning Moritzen) 60th birthday celebration, attended by his family (Ulrich Thomsen, Thomas Bo Larsen) and friends.

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So when I invite someone on the podcast, it's usually about promoting a particular project at a festival. There certainly is that here with director Andrew Kightlinger regarding his genre-breaking film OKAY (2026), which had its world premiere at Slamdance 2026, a festival that he also served on the jury. But we don't hit OKAY discussion until minute 27!

That shouldn't surprise you, though, if you look at Andrew's biography. His origin story is incredible, yes, but what fascinated me the most is how deeply knowledgeable he is about the art of filmmaking...

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Kate Cobb is one of the most dynamic filmmakers working right now, and it's because she's willing to be an actress, an editor, a writer, a director, as well as empower everyone else on set to make the film happen. Her feature debut, OKIE (2024), was a revelation for its authenticity and heart, so it's no surprise that the filmmaker behind it is, too.

Her new film, BRB (2026), premiered at Slamdance 2026 to fantastic reviews. It's a "love letter to early Internet girlhood", and I'm so thrilled to see Kate's ambition expand...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: MISTRESS DISPELLER (2024)

Director: Elizabeth Lo

Writers: Charlotte Munch Bengtsen; Elizabeth Lo

Stars: Fei Fei; Wang Zhenxi

SYNOPSIS

A Chinese woman hires someone to secretly end her husband's extramarital relationship in an attempt to save her marriage.

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I can't think of a better way to start special Slamdance coverage than with Sammy LeMieur, talking about his film, THE LEMIEURS (2026), which debuted at Slamdance this week.

The logline: Fearing regret and desperate to keep hold of their history, the five sons of a small-town Minnesota matriarch must reconcile her aging, while her three grandsons running a funeral home face death head-on.

I spend a fair amount of time in Minnesota so I can say: this is exactly what it's like. That was one of his goals...

Treat your art like a startup is fantastic advice from filmmaker Charlotte Siller. She has a lot of great wisdom from her ten year journey into making a documentary. A CURIOUS IDOL is a film about the "life, and truth, of Louise Brooks", a film star but also an intellectual powerhouse.

Charlotte and I discuss so many topics we don't normally talk about on the podcast -- an unvarnished take on not showing up for class in college and the blockchain. It is thrilling to share an episode with such a unique filmmaker, Charlotte Siller.

...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: JACK GOES BOATING (2010)

Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Story by: Robert Glaudini

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman; Amy Ryan; John Ortiz; Daphne Rubin-Vega

SYNOPSIS

Single Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) drives a limo for a living and has a best friend, Clyde (John Ortiz), a married co-worker. Clyde and his wife decide to set up Jack with another friend, Connie (Amy Ryan...

Part of the reason my guest, French filmmaker Boris Lojkine, has been so amazingly successful with his films, most recently SOULEYMANE'S STORY (2024), is his humility and understanding of how to portray people not like himself.

Instead of making a "Parisian film about a middle age couple in the crisis of existential bullshit" -- his words -- he has made feature films that depict the life of an immigrant. Paris was the setting for his latest film, but he wanted it to come across as a foreign ZIP code.

This was all borne out of his...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: CITY ISLAND (2009)

Director: Raymond De Felitta

Writer: Raymond De Felitta

Cast: Andy Garcia; Steven Strait; Julianna Margulies

SYNOPSIS

Prison guard Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) wants to quit his job to become an actor, but he also needs to make up for lost time with Tony (Steven Strait), a long-lost son who's an inmate where Vince works. When Tony is...

The king of the pushback -- it's a great title to have.

In today's podcast, I talk with filmmaker Adam Neuhaus, who helped put together possibly the best brand in documentary, 30 for 30, and then bet on himself, founding Neuhaus Ideas and then The Nonfiction Hotlist. The latter project has continued to grow. March 6th, 2026 is the deadline for the Yahoo x The Nonfiction Hotlist partnership, which helps give a home to short docs.

He is also involved in numerous nonprofits that help people get started in filmmaking, a sorely-needed boost when people need it to...

Director, teacher, all around rebel Itonje Søimer Guttormsen premiered her latest film, the buddy comedy-drama BUTTERFLY (2026) at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and came here to talk about the film, her career, and all the bad advice she got at film school for the podcast.

When you watch BUTTERFLY, you get the sense of an assured filmmaker at work: a close to two hour runtime that goes quickly and a work of art that doesn't feel like it was made by a committee. It was made by a truly unique voice.

In this episode, I...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: OKIE (2024)

Director: Kate Cobb

Writers: Boris Lojkine; Delphine Agut

Cast: Kevin Bigley; Kate Cobb; Scott Michael Foster; Dan Johnson

SYNOPSIS

Louie, a lauded writer, returns to his dilapidated hometown after his father's death. Confronted with a deluge of people from his past, Louie is forced to reconcile with the stories he's stolen, twisted, or downright exploited for profit.

I don't know if it's fair or not, but if you're going to launch a service made up of Oscar nominated films, you have to have a background in making great films yourself to make it work. My guest today, director Alejandro Vilpa, is pushing forward with both: a streaming service called Vilpa Max that is now available in the Middle East/North Africa region and the UK for award-winning short films, and also going on a festival run with THE UNDERTONE OF DAVID JENSEN (2026), a sumptuous film about the struggles of a violin soloist.

He put...

Director and filmmaker Miguel Angel Ferrer did something truly remarkable and breathtaking in his film, THE SHADOW OF THE SUN (2023). Not simply that it's Venezuela's entry into the Oscars or he shot the film in his home country of Venezuela, although that's fantastic in its own right. When you hear the story of how the film came to be, through the radiant cinematography or the work of a 65 year old cameraman, you get an understanding of what a passion project this was for him. You understand why he imbued every single character in this film with their own backstory...

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: MADELEINE COLLINS (2021)

Director: Antoine Barraud

Writers: Boris Lojkine; Delphine Agut

Cast: Abou Sangare; Alpha Oumar Sow; Nina Meurisse

SYNOPSIS

Judith leads a double life: two lovers, two sons in France and one daughter in Switzerland. Entangled in secrets and lies, her lives begin to shatter.

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Most of the time, I'm hoping my guest will be a great one to have on the podcast, but with director + editor Sara Barger, I knew. She was an instructor as part of my documentary certificate program -- COVID killed the program -- but I got so much out of her thought process on how to make films. So when I saw her name listed prominently on the poster as the editor for her new film, DAD GENES, I knew I'd love to have her on the pod. I'm glad she agreed.

As you hear in the...

It shouldn't surprise you that somebody who is out looking for "weird stories that connect and resonate" would direct DAD GENES (2026), the film about a sperm donor meeting his biological children. Craig Downing has been around the world looking for great stories and when he finds one, he sticks to it, no matter the time it takes to tell. DAD GENES took almost 7 years from idea to festival fruition, and that's a big credit to his team. Matt Isaac did a fantastic job producing as well as developing a festival schedule -- the film had its world premiere at...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: SOULEYMANE'S STORY (2024)

Director: Boris Lojkine

Writer: Boris Lojkine; Delphine Agut

Cast: Abou Sangare; Alpha Oumar Sow; Nina Meurisse

SYNOPSIS

Souleymane, an asylum-seeking cyclist who delivers meals in Paris, has only two days to prepare for a crucial interview. This interview will determine his residence permit status.

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Filmmaker Jeffrey Roth has never shied away from intriguing topics, looking to find the humanity behind some of the world's most influential stories: the Apollo astronauts, vice presidents of the United States, or a famed Egyptologist like he does in THE MAN WITH THE HAT (2026). He brings an eye for the story, not the politics, and that's what makes him an amazing filmmaker .

In this episode, Jeffrey and I discuss:

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: TO THE WONDER (2012)

Director: Terrence Malick

Writer: Terrence Malick

Cast: Ben Affleck; Olga Kurylenko; Javier Bardem

SYNOPSIS

After falling in love in Paris, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church's Spanish-born pastor struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood.

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My guest today, director Robert Ham, has lived a life of service -- to his country, to art, to his family -- and it moved me deeply to host him for the podcast. We talk about his military service in the Army as a combat cameraman; losing his wife to cancer and making a documentary about her beautiful life, of honoring a 9/11 family with his latest film, ZZASLOW K-427, which is screening in New York City on January 18th, 2026.

And if this sounds heavy, that's the duopoly of sometimes difficult service. I can't speak to any other...

Every once in awhile, I talk with someone who completely changes how I view independent filmmaking and those creating the most inventive films. Lately, that was writer/director/dancer Sam Mandich, whose work was influenced by her beginnings in dance. When you watch her films, it all makes sense -- the spare movement and the focused direction -- it comes from her amazingly unique background.

An experimental dance film? A psychological coming of age horror? Sign me up for the next few years of Sam Mandich's work. What an astonishing person and I'm so glad to talk...

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: THE END OF THE TOUR (2015)

Director: James Ponsoldt

Screenplay: Donald Margulies

Cast: Jason Segal; Jesse Eisenberg

SYNOPSIS

David Lipsky, a reporter with the Rolling Stone magazine, interviews acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace for five days, during which they form a unique bond.

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Making a film called G.S.W (2025) (gun shot wound in medical jargon) in a country with very little gun shot wounds is a choice by British director Jonny Durgan, and I'd argue it's an excellent one. The film works for all sorts of reasons -- Jonny's advertising background; a great script; a fantastic acting performance by Genevieve O'Reilly -- or ten other ones. We explore all the reasons in the pod.

In this episode, Jonny and I discuss:

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It's hard for me to conjure up another word for Joecar Hanna's award-winning short films, DELIVER ME (2003) and TALK ME (2025), other than: masterpiece. They push the boundaries of cost, intimacy, and what the medium itself can deliver. If you're able to see them -- maybe reach out to Joecar on social media and be nice, it might work -- do so. Near the end of the episode, he gets to an important point: intimacy content still hasn't been taken over by AI.

What a unique filmmaker here today for the...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: BUNNY (2025)

Director: Ben Jacobson

Writers: Mo Stark; Ben Jacobson; Stefan Marolachakis

Cast: Mo Stark; Ben Jacobson; Liza Colby

SYNOPSIS

Over one wild summer day and night in their East Village tenement, streetwise hustler Bunny and his friend Dino scheme with a crew of eccentric neighbors to cover up a dead body. Chaos reigns as the clock ticks and the...

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Considering most of the episodes now from the previous three seasons are under paywall, the first episode of the New Year simply has to be excellent. It's what listeners throughout the year probably will listen to first, and thankfully, I found a guest that absolutely exceeds any expectation a listener might have when they click play: director Robert Kolodny of THE FEATHERWEIGHT (2023).

If you google Criterion Collection, Robert's name, and Reddit, you'll get the comment I reference here about how he's going to be a "GOAT filmmaker in a couple...

Happy New Year! The perfect way to end the year is with director John-Michael, or JM, Powell, and his genre thriller, VIOLENT ENDS (2025). In this episode, JM and I discuss the astonishingly moody cinematography -- the deer scene and a shootout will stay with you way after the film; his journey through film school and a grant that made this film possible, and his steady and sure approach to indie filmmaking.

And let me add: VIOLENT ENDS is a perfect New Year's Eve film. Let the shootouts remain on the screen, grab a bottle of Champagne, and...

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: GRAND TOUR (2024)

Director: Miguel Gomes

Writers: Telmo Churro; Maureen Fazendeiro; Miguel Gomes

Cast: Gonçalo Waddington; Crista Alfaiate; Cláudio da Silva

SYNOPSIS

Edward, civil servant, flees fiancée Molly on their wedding day in Rangoon, 1917. His travels replace panic with melancholy. Molly, set on marriage, amused by his escape, trails him across Asia.

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Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the new classic (if that's a thing) CHRISTMAS, AGAIN (2014) and director Charles Poekel. He's hosting screenings ten years on for the film, saying it's found a new audience, and it's easy to see why. The film captures Christmas in New York City -- or at least what it looks like in reality versus postcards -- and starred talent that exploded in the indie film scene in the last decade.

It's the perfect time to catch up with its director.

In this episode, Charles and I discuss: