Past Present Feature with Marcus Mizelle

The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, for a full day celebrating independent cinema at Eastwood Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, California. Three eras. One celebration of cinema. The Past - films worth rediscovering. The Present - acclaimed new releases and festival favorites. The Future - bold new work from the next generation of filmmakers. Join us for feature films, shorts, and conversations with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Admission is free, with suggested donations of $10–$20. Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. Learn more at https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ What Movies Are You Watching? Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Yoon Dan-bi discusses her second feature, The World Before , ahead of her premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. We explore her fascination with emotions that resist easy explanation, her search for authenticity in fiction, and an intentionally restrained approach to filmmaking that leaves room for actors, accidents, and imperfections to shape the film. Yoon also reflects on her first feature, Moving On , finding a sense of belonging through cinema, and Yasujiro Ozu’s Good Morning , the film that first showed her that seemingly ordinary life could be worthy of the screen. We discuss shooting chronologically, avoiding unnecessary coverage, letting actors abandon dialogue when it doesn’t feel true, and why limitations can ultimately make a film stronger. At its core, our conversation is about trusting what feels right and true rather than what feels perfect, and learning that you don’t have to hide the imperfect parts of yourself to make something worth loving. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Irene Kaltenborn discusses The Mother Age , her sensory documentary which premiered in CPH:DOX’s NEXT:WAVE competition. Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction , which explores a different approach to storytelling that questions our fixation on heroes, conflict, and competition in favor of coexistence, care, and connection. We also discuss Irene’s intuitive filmmaking process, creating the film in the Finnish forest, and the cinema that inspires her, including Robin Petré’s Only on Earth . At its core, our conversation asks what might change if we begin questioning the stories we’ve inherited and stop seeing life as something that has to be won. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Miles Williams discusses the revival of Glendale's historic Alex Theatre and its return to first-run cinema after more than 35 years, including the installation of 70mm projection and its breakout success with Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey . We explore why audiences are returning to theaters, the resurgence of physical media, and what the communal moviegoing experience can offer that streaming can't replicate. We also discuss curation, repertory cinema, getting audiences into seats, and creating space for independent filmmakers alongside major studio releases. Miles reflects on nearly three decades working in historic theaters and some of the films that shaped his relationship with cinema, including Spartacus , Tenebrae , Star Wars , Raiders of the Lost Ark , and Ben-Hur . At its core, our conversation is about rebuilding a culture around cinema, preserving the places where that culture lives, and giving people a reason to experience movies together again. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

I Is Another marks Felix Randau's return to the Locarno Film Festival, where the film premieres in competition. Inspired by the true story of Felix Kersten, personal masseur to Heinrich Himmler, we discuss why Randau rejected a conventional hero narrative in favor of a morally ambiguous portrait, exploring the blurred line between truth, history, and the stories we choose to believe. We also discuss antiheroes, historical storytelling, filmmaking in Germany, and the films that shaped Felix's love of cinema, including The African Queen , Heat , The Third Man , and the work of John Huston, Michael Mann, François Truffaut, and Fritz Lang. At its core, our conversation is about resisting simple answers, embracing moral complexity, and recognizing that history is often shaped as much by storytelling as it is by fact. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel joins Past Present Feature just before his world premiere of The Guest in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Since this recording, The Guest has gone on to win the festival's Special Jury Prize, while Mengel received the Best Director Award. We discuss how the film grew from a simple question into an intimate family drama shaped by years of writing, collaboration, and refinement. Along the way, we explore contained storytelling, the Danish filmmaking model, building a visual language around performance rather than coverage, and why practical limitations often lead to stronger creative decisions. Mads also reflects on the films and filmmakers that shaped his love of cinema, including Magnolia , Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , The Lord of the Rings , 12 Angry Men , and The Conversation . At its core, our conversation is about making more with less, trusting the people around you, and discovering that limitations often become your greatest creative advantage. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Cara Cusumano, Director of Programming for the Tribeca Festival, joins Past Present Feature as the festival celebrates its 25th year. She pulls back the curtain on how one of the world's premier film festivals selects its films, and how curation, audience, and timing shape every lineup. Along the way, Cara reflects on the films and filmmakers that shaped her own cinematic taste, from F for Fake , Jiro Dreams of Sushi , to the fiction work of David Fincher, Agnès Varda, and Steven Spielberg. The conversation also explores Tribeca's origins following 9/11, the future of film festivals in the streaming era, why filmmakers shouldn't let deadlines dictate their creative process, and why the stories that resonate most are often the ones that keep moving, staying one step ahead of their audience, and continuing to surprise us. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Daniel Blake Schwartz breaks down how Tribeca Best U.S. Narrative Feature winner Cotton Fever grew out of years spent collecting stories during his own experience with addiction and recovery, ultimately transforming those fragments into a deeply personal debut feature. Drawing inspiration from filmmakers like Andrea Arnold and Hirokazu Kore-eda, Schwartz pursued a style rooted in realism, empathy, and lived experience rather than conventional dramatic structure. The film evolved from a self-funded short into an award-winning feature through grassroots fundraising, community support, a first-time filmmaker grant from Panavision, and the eventual attachment of actors Kyle Gallner and Sosie Bacon. Along the way, Schwartz navigated the uncertainty of first-time feature directing, discovering that some of the film's strongest moments emerged from vulnerability, collaboration, and instincts that couldn't always be explained on the page. At its core, Cotton Fever is a reminder that the most powerful stories often come from the experiences we're most hesitant to revisit. The challenge isn't always finding something meaningful to say. It's having the courage to tell the story that's already closest to you. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Alan D’Escragnolle breaks down how his company Filmhub is rethinking distribution, shifting away from gatekeeping toward flexible, film-specific strategies. Instead of a single path, films are matched with what they actually need, whether that’s AVOD, SVOD, or a more hands-on sales and marketing push. The bigger shift is economic. With hundreds of thousands of titles entering the market each year, access is easier than ever, but monetization is harder. Success now comes down to positioning, artwork, and understanding where a film fits in an oversaturated landscape. At its core, the model has flipped. Distributors can get your film out, but they won’t build your audience. The takeaway is simple: know who your film is for, think long-term, and treat distribution as part of the process, not the finish line. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Tawfik Sabouni breaks down his Berlinale-bound documentary Other Side of the Sun and how it grew out of lived experience, from filming protests during the Syrian revolution to imprisonment, exile, and ultimately shaping that reality into his first feature. He doesn’t separate fiction and nonfiction, approaching cinema as one language built around truth and urgency. The film follows survivors returning to the prison where they were held, using reenactment to access memory rather than spectacle. Built around faces instead of events, it focuses on the human imprint of trauma, with the process itself forcing Sabouni to confront experiences he nearly walked away from. Drawing from filmmakers like Rithy Panh ( The Missing Picture ) and Joshua Oppenheimer ( The Act of Killing ), the film blends personal testimony with cinematic form. The takeaway is clear: tell the stories that matter, especially the ones others would rather ignore. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Charlie Tyrell breaks down how The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist , this years SXSW Audience Award winner now in theaters from Focus Features, turns an overwhelming, abstract subject into something personal by grounding it in fatherhood. Instead of approaching AI through pure information or fear, the film frames it through the lens of bringing a child into the world, making the stakes immediate, emotional, and human. Co-directed by Daniel Roher, Academy Award winning director of Navalny , and produced by Daniel Kwan, Academy Award winning director of Everything Everywhere All At Once , the filmmaking process was massive and chaotic, built from dozens of interviews, extensive transcripts, and layered animation. The challenge was finding clarity inside that volume while keeping the film engaging and cinematic, reflecting a lineage of documentaries that blend personal narrative with larger ideas. Charlie’s past inspirations include Stories We Tell by Sarah Polley and recent films Weapons and 28 Years Later . At its core, AI is already here, already shaping everything, and the real question is who chooses to engage with it. Don’t assume someone else will shape the future for you. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Belgian filmmaker Frederike Migom breaks down her Berlinale premiere Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays , a coming-of-age story set almost entirely inside a single home and a young girl’s mind. The film explores identity through a tightly contained structure, blending realism with imagined sequences that bring the character’s inner world to life. She talks through her unconventional path into directing, from acting and production work to navigating Europe’s state-funded film system. A key turning point came not from making films, but from receiving funding, the moment she says she finally felt “allowed” to call herself a director. The conversation digs into adapting a novel, working within creative limitations, and why fear is an unavoidable part of the process. Migom cites films like Boy , Arizona Dream , the work of Céline Sciamma and Andrea Arnold, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as touchstones for balancing realism with subjectivity. She also shares a simple philosophy that carried her through: feel the fear, do it anyway - and trust that the process will lead you where you need to go. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Jeremy Workman discusses Secret Mall Apartment , his Netflix documentary about a group of Rhode Island artists who secretly built and lived in an apartment inside a busy shopping mall, filming the entire four-year experiment themselves. After a strong self-released theatrical run, the film is now streaming on Netflix. Jeremy traces the project back to a chance meeting in Athens, where he connected with the main subject and slowly earned the trust of the full group after years of other filmmakers being turned away. He also reflects on his path into nonfiction, growing up around editing through his father, Chuck Workman, and building a career through independently financed documentaries. He cites films like American Movie (Chris Smith), Man on Wire (James Marsh), The Raft (Marcus Lindeen), and The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer) as inspirations for playful, form-bending nonfiction. The conversation also explores self-distribution, theatrical strategy, and why filmmakers should stop waiting for perfect conditions and just go make the thing. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Gille Klabin discusses Weekend at the End of the World , his follow-up to The Wave , and the deliberate choice to build a second feature that didn’t require waiting for studio permission. Shot in 12 days on a sub-$300K budget, the film was designed around creative, logistical, and financial control. Gille reflects on the lessons he learned from The Wave ’s release, where traditional distribution left him frustrated by opaque marketing spends and limited transparency, and how that experience reshaped his approach to ownership, equity, and rollout strategy the second time around. Gille discusses the current indie landscape not as a lament, but as a tactical puzzle, and breaks down the realities of aggregators versus distributors, the economics of digital-first releases, and why he chose to prioritize transparency and direct recoupment over a conventional deal. Drawing comparisons to films like Shaun of the Dead , Tucker & Dale vs. Evil , and The Cabin in the Woods , he discusses the balance of tone, heart, and genre - and how surprise and emotional whiplash can be a strategic storytelling tool. He also outlines a 50/50 equity split between investors and cast/crew, a flat-rate pay structure on set, and a belief that if independent filmmakers want a more just system, they have to build it at their own scale first. The conversation closes on preparation, resilience, and the long game: make the movie you can actually control, learn the business as deeply as the craft, and let your specific weirdness become the thing that carries you forward. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Sharon Liese joins the show after premiering Seized at Sundance to unpack the story behind the Marion, Kansas newspaper raid that ignited a national debate around press freedom, abuse of power, and the fragility of the First Amendment. What begins as an egregious police search of a small-town newsroom expands into a layered portrait of community tension, history, ego, and how something unthinkable can happen in a place that looks quiet on the surface. The film moves beyond headlines into character, contradiction, and the uncomfortable gray areas that fueled the raid. We dig into craft and access: how Liese drove two hours the moment she heard the news on NPR, earned trust without a formal agreement for months, and built a film out of surveillance footage, body cams, courtroom material, and intimate interviews. She talks about structuring the story around a one-year time jump, using a young reporter as an audience surrogate, shaping tone so viewers can register the absurdity without losing the stakes, and making the call to abandon fourth-wall devices in favor of a cleaner, more immersive approach. She shares the films that informed her thinking during the edit, including All the President’s Men and the investigative restraint of Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour and Cover Up . Sharon reflects on what it meant to launch the film at Sundance amid both celebration and uncertainty in the documentary market. Advice to filmmakers: there are no shortcuts. Put in the hours, earn trust slowly, and keep showing up until the experience begins to live inside the work. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Gabby Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman join the show after winning Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize to unpack the ten-year road behind Nuisance Bear, a polar bear’s journey through two connected worlds: tourist-heavy Churchill, Manitoba, and the Inuit community of Arviat, where the stakes are far more complex and far less welcoming. The film becomes a meditation on coexistence, control, and who gets labeled a “nuisance” in a shared landscape. We dig into craft and access: finding the right position for the camera so the story can reveal itself, structuring the feature in two halves, and how a dialogue-free short film born partly out of COVID constraints became the proof of concept that unlocked TIFF, The New Yorker, and eventually A24. They also talk candidly about what the audience never sees: rough living conditions, long hours waiting, the specific agony of “the best thing happened, and we missed it,” and the slow but important work of earning trust, where listening comes before filming. They share influences that shaped them, including Miyazaki’s sense of nature and modernity, Gus Van Sant’s bravery with form, and John Cassavetes’ belief in the energy of a set. The conversation closes on what it meant to experience Sundance as both a career peak and a personal milestone, getting engaged and then married during the festival. Advice to filmmakers: be tenacious when you know you need to tell a story, protect trust like it is part of the craft, and do not turn on each other when the pressure spikes. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Proud to welcome BEASTGRIP as a new sponsor of the Past Present Feature Podcast 🎙️ Head over to Beastgrip.com and use code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10% off When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you’re ready to level up your mobile workflow, head to Beastgrip.com and use code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10% off. What Movies Are You Watching? Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Stephanie Ahn discusses Bedford Park , (Special Jury Award) her Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition debut about a Korean American woman in her 30s pulled back into her parents’ home after her mother’s car accident, where she meets the man responsible and an unexpected connection begins to form. Ahn shares why she needed to make this film, how growing up Korean American left her hungry for stories that felt real beyond familiar clichés, and why writing Bedford Park meant finally walking straight into something deeply autobiographical she avoided for years. She talks about choosing uncertainty over comfort and taking the scary road on purpose, stepping away from a stable editing career to pursue a story that wouldn’t let go. Ahn reflects on journaling as a way into the script, years of rejection, and learning to be ruthless with her own material as the film evolved from a family drama into a more intimate relationship story. Rather than starting with a message, she describes how the film’s themes revealed themselves over time, ultimately centering on human connection, being truly seen, and how that clarity reshapes self-understanding. Ahn walks through the long, practical build: seven years of persistence, financing that finally unlocked through relationships and Korean backing, and an unusually deep rehearsal process with actors that stretched across years before shooting in New Jersey. She reflects on editing as a brutal but clarifying search for truth alongside a trusted co-editor, and on the films she kept returning to for structure and inspiration, including A Separation, Secret Sunshine, Rust and Bone, Heat, and The Insider . What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Documentary filmmaker and editor J.M. Harper discusses Soul Patrol (Best Director Winner at Sundance ‘26), his six-year journey telling the story of the first Black special operations unit in Vietnam. What began with reading Eddie Manuel’s book grew into years of weekly conversations, slow trust-building, and eventual access to never-before-seen Super 8 footage and photographs shot by the soldiers themselves. Harper also reflects on how his work editing Jeen‑Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy sharpened his instincts around character, structure, and letting footage reveal meaning over time. We talk about point of view and theme as the engine of a film, not ideas layered on afterward. Harper frames Soul Patrol around a central question: whether speaking openly about acts committed in war, long buried and rarely acknowledged, can offer any form of healing. Drawing on Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan , he discusses how cinema can confront violence without glamorizing it, and the ethical tension of rendering horrific experiences with clarity, restraint, and intention. He reflects on editing as discovery, assembling a team of editors with different strengths, and shaping a film that moves between memory, present-day reckoning, and historical record. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Sundance feature programmer Ania Trzebiatowska joins the show to talk about curation as craft, responsibility, and intuition. From her roots in Poland to running Krakow’s Off Camera festival, working in acquisitions at Visit Films, and programming U.S. and world documentary features at Sundance, Ania reflects on how taste is formed and why being pleasantly surprised when viewing submissions still matters most. We discuss the realities filmmakers obsess over, including who you know, timing, marketplace “success,” and why Vimeo analytics do not tell the full story. Ania breaks down what actually happens behind the scenes at Sundance, how programmers balance limited slots with thousands of film submissions, and why being the right fit matters more than trends or agendas. She shares why festivals need balance between urgent, heavy films and work that is entertaining, humane, and emotionally alive. Drawing from examples like André Is an Idiot and Gleason , Ania explains how character-driven storytelling can carry even the most difficult subjects. Advice to filmmakers: do your research, be clear about what you are making, and remember that programmers are rooting for you, even when the answer might still be no. What Movies Are You Watching? The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Eastwood Revival in Hollywood, California. Join us for features, shorts, and convos with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shih-Ching Tsou following a screening of her acclaimed film Left-Handed Girl . Festival lineup, schedule, and reservations coming soon. https://pastpresentfeature.com/film-festival/ Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more. Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip . When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. Support the show The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 21, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature