As Cannes wraps up in the South of France, we bring you a dispatch from another festival halfway across the world. An exhausted Wilson joined Ben and Eli in the middle of his festival marathon to dish about the movies he saw at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival, and talk about the experience of officially covering a festival for the podcast for the first time! Includes interviews with top Hong Kong directors Soi Cheang and Ann Hui. Films/Sections Previewed: A City of Sadness (4K Restoration) - dir. Hou Hsiao Hsien Plan 75 - dir. Chie Hayakawa Juzo Itami Retrospective New Blood - dir. Soi Cheang Egoist - dir. Daishi Matsunaga Stars at Noon - dir. Claire Denis Sparta - dir. Ulrich Seidl Our Body - dir. Claire Simon Saint Omer - dir. Alice Diop A Still Small Voice - dir. Luke Lorentzen A Holy Family - dir. Elvis Lu in water - dir. Hong Sang Soo Tótem - dir. Lila Avilés Dust of Angels (4K Restoration) - dir. Hsu Hsiao-ming What festival should we cover next? Let us know in our Discord server!⁠⁠ Keep up with Deep Cut on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠.

Rise. Roar. Revolt. Review. Here it is. Our long awaited Deep Cut Upkeep episode on the S.S. Rajamouli worldwide phenom RRR, and it’s a doozy. Hear the Deep Cut Trio talk about why Rajamouli’s brand of action filmmaking has entranced audiences, and why Ben and Wilson have this film at the top of their 2022 year end lists, while Eli explains why he prefers Rajamouli’s previous outings. Most importantly, they discuss the important and dangerous imagery and narrative co-opting that Rajamouli deploys in this film, and how it is used the fuel the fire of right wing Hindu nationalists in India. Read Ritesh Babu’s writeup on RRR: https://buttondown.email/riteshwriter/archive/6-unpacking-rrr-indian-politics-and-cinema/ Read Wang Bing’s State of Cinema 2022 writeup: https://sabzian.be/text/state-of-cinema-2022-0 Join our ⁠Discord server!⁠ Keep up with Deep Cut on ⁠Instagram⁠, Twitter,%20⁠Facebook⁠, and ⁠Letterboxd⁠.

Another year has wrapped production, and the production assistants are here to clean up! Just in time for the 2023 Oscars, Ben, Wilson, and Eli mop up the mess left by superheroes and conductors, stop motion shells and Na’vi, interdimensional travelers and cannibals, mourners and partiers. By breaking down the year’s big trends–– directors fictionalizing their autobiographies, Marvel sinking slowly, rich filmmakers attempting to pillory wealth inequality–– the Deep Cut trio gets a handle on what made 2022 so weird. The boys get personal, too, talking about the movies and moments from last year that shaped who they are as moviegoers and friends. Finally, each co-host’s coveted top 3 films of the year are revealed…  Dunk on the Oscars with us in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter,%20Facebook, and Letterboxd. Movies discussed on this episode: Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells) Ambulance (dir. Michael Bay) Armageddon Time (dir. James Gray) Autobiography (dir. Makbul Mubarak) Avatar the Way of Water (dir. James Cameron) Babylon (dir. Damien Chazelle) Banshees of Inisherin (dir. Martin McDonagh) Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths (dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu) The Batman (dir. Matt Reeves) Benediction (dir. Terrence Davies) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (dir. Ryan Coogler) Bones and All (dir. Luca Guadagnino) Broker (dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu) - Listen to our Kore-eda episode here. The Cathedral (dir. Ricky D’Ambrose) A Couple (dir. Frederick Wiseman) - Find our episode on this here, and our interview with Wiseman here! Crimes of the Future (dir. David Cronenberg) Decision to Leave (dir. Park Chan-wook) Deep Water (dir. Adrian Lyne) Everything Everywhere All At Once (dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, a.k.a. The Daniels) The Fabelmans (dir. Steven Spielberg) Fire Island (dir. Andrew Ahn) - Find our episode on this here. Girl Picture (dir. Alli Haapasalo) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (dir. Rian Johnson) Hit the Road (dir. Panah Panahi) Il Buco (dir. Michelangelo Frammartino) Joyland (dir. Saim Sadiq) Leila’s Brothers (dir. Saeed Roustayi) Low Tide: A Newly Restored Work by Thomas Wright (dir. George Matthews) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (dir. Dean Fleischer Camp) Memoria (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) The Menu (dir. Mark Mylod) No Bears (dir. Jafar Panahi) Nope (dir. Jordan Peele) The Northman (dir. Robert Eggers) The Novelist’s Film (dir. Hong Sang-soo) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (dir. Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson) Ponniyan Selvan Part 1 (dir. Mani Ratnam) - Find our episode on this here. Return to Sender (dir. Russell Goldman) - Watch Russell's short here! Return to Seoul (dir. Davy Chau) RRR (dir. S. S. Rajamouli) - Our extended coverage on this forthcoming! Small, Slow But Steady (dir. Sho Miyake) Tár (dir. Todd Field) Teenage Emotions (dir. Frédérick Da) The Territory (dir. Alex Pritz) To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self (dir. Mabel Cheung & William Kwok Wai-Lun) Top Gun Maverick (dir. Joseph Kosinski) Trenque Lauquen (dir. Laura Citarella) Triangle of Sadness (dir. Ruben Östland) Under the Fig Trees (dir. Erige Sehiri) The Whale (dir. Darren Aronofsky) When the Waves Are Gone (dir. Lav Diaz) White Noise (dir. Noah Baumbach) The Worst Person in the World (dir. Joachim Trier) 2022 TV Mentions: Better Call Saul (created by Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould) Irma Vep (created by Olivier Assayas) The Rehearsal (created by Nathan Fielder)

We conclude our series on Miranda July's filmography with her divisive sophomore feature, The Future. Tune in for a feisty episode where Ben tries desperately to defend his deep cut choice while Eli and Wilson have their limits tested by July's storytelling tendencies. See the future in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. CAST Sophie/Paw-Paw: Miranda July Jason: Hamish Linklater Marshall: David Warshofsky CREW Director/Writer: Miranda July Producers: Sue Bruce-Smith, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul, Gina Kwon Editor: Andrew Bird Cinematography: Nikolai von Graevenitz Production Design: Elliott Hostetter Art Direction: Ruth de Jong Composer: Jon Brion Sound: Lars Ginzel, Rainer Heesch, Dominic Fitzgerald

))> We continue our journey through Miranda July's filmography with her debut feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know. With a large cast of supporting characters, Ben finds the thematic ties across the film's vignettes, Eli praises its winning child performances, and Wilson investigates the film's place within the realm of the "web-of-life" film.   Find connection on our discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd.     Cover art by Justina Yam Director/Writer: Miranda July  Producers: Jonathan Sehring, Caroline Kaplan, Gina Kwon, Holly Becker, Peter Carlton  Editors: Andrew Dickler, Charles Ireland  Cinematography: Chuy Chávez  Production Design: Aran Mann  Art Direction: John Wyatt, Erinn McCormack, Emily Bulfin  Set Decoration: Bryan Venegas, Lauren Rosenbloom, Elizabeth Leister, Andrew O'Melia  Visual Effects: Scott M. Davids, David Sosalla  Composer: Michael Andrews  Sound: Meg Taylor  Costumes: Christie Wittenborn

Deep Cut returns to regularly scheduled programming with the decidedly irregular films of American independent director/writer/actor/multi-hyphenate Miranda July. You might even call them quirky.  We begin our series by learning about her long list of artistic endeavours and discuss the connotations of "quirk" in the context of July's films before diving in to her most recent and most critically acclaimed work yet: Kajillionaire. Ben highlights Evan Rachel Wood's physically specific performance as "Old Dolio", Wilson celebrates Emile Mossieri's emotionally vibrant soundtrack to July's little "heist of the heart," while Eli tries his best to understand what makes the movie so special to his fellow co-hosts.  Get riled up in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd.  CAST:   Old Dolio: Evan Rachel-Wood  Robert: Richard Jenkins  Theresa: Debra Winger  Melanie: Gina Rodriguez  CREW:  Director/Writer: Miranda July  Producers: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Megan Ellison, Youree Henley, Sarah Esberg, Jillian Longnecker, Evelyn Fredrich  Editor: Jennifer Vecchiarello  Cinematography: Sebastian Winterø  Production Design: Sam Lisenco  Art Direction: Jessica Shorten  Composer: Emile Mosseri  Sound: Kent Sparling, Bjorn Ole Schroeder, Doug Winningham, Tony Villaflor  Costumes: Jennifer Johnson Make-Up: Kathleen Karridene, Jeremy Bramer

Wilson, Ben, and Eli are once again joined by director and friend of the podcast Russell Goldman to talk about his experience and the best movies he saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival! We get a chance to preview this year in independent American and international cinema, talk about the state of Sundance in its first in person year, and dig into some Letterboxd discourse. You can check out Russell’s work at: https://www.russellgoldman.com/    Films Previewed:   Birth/Rebirth - dir. Laura Moss  Bad Behaviour - dir. Alice Englert   Passages - dir. Ira Sachs  Infinity Pool - dir. Brandon Cronenberg  A Little Prayer - dir. Angus MacLachlan  Drift - dir. Anthony Chen  Fremont - dir. Babak Jalali  Shortcomings - dir. Randall Park   Did you catch any Sundance films this year? Let us know on the DC Discord. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd.    Check out the letterboxd video we talked about here: https://twitter.com/wilstuf/status/1618710341038522368

Listen up Wiseman-heads, oh do we have a treat for you! The Deep Cut trio are joined by the man himself, Frederick Wiseman, to talk about his new film A Couple (2022) and his expansive documentary filmography. The discussion topics include Nathalie Boutefeu’s arresting performance as Sophia Tolstoy, the secret meaning behind filming in a garden, and Fred’s views on life and death. It was an honor for us to speak with the revered filmmaker, and we would like to thank everyone at Zipporah Films for helping to make this happen. Check out our most recent episode on A Couple, and our introduction to Wiseman’s filmography with our older episode on Titicut Follies (1967), In Jackson Heights (2015), and City Hall (2020). What question would you ask Wiseman? Tell us on the DC Discord. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd.

Can you say "Deep Cut Upkeep A Couple" ten times fast?? Legendary, prolific American documentarian Frederick Wiseman has returned with one of only 3 fiction films  in his 55 year career. A Couple finds Nathalie Boutefeu performing monologues from the letters of Sophia Tolstoy in the beautiful Brittany coast.  The DC Three admit defeat to the literary gods for not having read a Tolstoy novel, but instead reflect on the nuanced simplicity of Wiseman’s stylistic techniques, along with the multi-layered performance Wiseman and his star / co-writer balance.  Check out our previous episode on Wiseman here. What is your dream Wiseman doc (Podcast, anyone??)? Tell us on the discord. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. A Couple Crew DIRECTOR Frederick Wiseman WRITERS Nathalie Boutefeu, Frederick Wiseman EDITOR Frederick Wiseman CINEMATOGRAPHY John Davey COMPOSER Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy SOUND Jean-Paul Mugel A Couple Cast Nathalie Boutefeu as Sophia Tolstoy

In a long-awaited bonus set of episodes, Ben, Wilson, and Eli go over their 2022 movie-watching summers, where each of our co-hosts maintained an audio diary of all the films we saw over the summer. Come along on our summer movie adventure, as we cover watching highlights from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, to Jurassic World Dominion. List of films (and TV) discussed in this roundup: Ben: Donkey Skin (Demy), We Are Lady Parts (TV), Cure (Kurosawa), The Last Days of Disco (Stillman), Jurassic World Dominion (Trevorrow), Heat (Mann), Poetry (Lee) Wilson: Mass (Kranz), Fast & Feel Love (Thamrongrattanarit), Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai), The Adventures of Rosette (Rosette, Rohmer), Keep Rolling (Man), Katatsumori (Kawase), Love Massacre (Tam) Eli: Pulse (Kurosawa), Fast & Feel Love (Thamrongrattanarit), Memoria (Weerasethakul), O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (Szulkin), Court (Tamhane), Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park) What did you watch this summer? Tell us on our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd.

Welcome to Eli's summer film watching audio diary!  Over the summer of 2022 each of us recorded little audio snippets reviewing every film that we watched, and these are Eli's! You can listen to our combined discussion of our summer movie watching in our roundup episode. We recommend you start there!   Wanna tell us about the films you're watching? Come join our Discord server! Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. (2:50) - Hamlet (2018, dir. Rhodri Huw, Robert Icke) (6:47) - Kairo (Pulse) (2001, dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) (9:50) Videodrome (1983, dir. David Cronenberg) (11:21) - Memoria (2021, dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) (13:23) - Crimes of the Future (2022, dir. David Cronenberg) (15:11) - O-Bi, O-Ba, The End of Civilization (1985, dir. Piotr Szulkin) (20:27) - Lost Highway (1997, dir. David Lynch) (23:05) - Mad God (2021, dir. Phil Tippett) (27:20) - Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022, dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp) (29:41) - The Poseidon Adventure (1972, dir. Ronald Neame) (30:21) - Court (2014, dir. Chaitanya Tamhane) (32:17) - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005, dir. Park Chan-wook) (35:38) - The Fly (1986, dir. David Cronenberg) (37:21) - Resurrection (2022, dir. Andrew Semans) (38:55) - Ishtar (1987, dir. Elaine May)

Welcome to Ben's summer film watching audio diary! Over the summer of 2022 each of us recorded little audio snippets reviewing every film that we watched, and these are Ben's! You can listen to our combined discussion of our summer movie watching in our roundup episode. We recommend you start there! Wanna tell us about the films you're watching? Come join our Discord server! Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. Timestamps: (01:33) Donkey Skin (03:20) What's Up Doc? (06:04) Sanjuro (07:59) The Long Day Closes (10:11) The Northman (13:22) Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick (18:02) The Virgin Suicides (20:15) Vikram (23:31) We Are Lady Parts (26:44) Band of Outsiders (28:18) Cure (30:54) Last Days of Disco (33:11) The Wonders (36:32) Repulsion (37:49) Jurassic World: Dominion (40:04) Collateral (42:31) The Marquise of O... (45:32) The Beautiful Troublemaker (49:16) Eat Drink Man Woman (50:27) Manhunter (52:30) Heat (54:03) Poetry (56:40) Basic Instinct (58:53) Broker (1:01:42) Pulse (1:02:51) Thor: Love and Thunder (1:04:37) Decision to Leave (1:06:07) RRR (1:06:34) Dual (1:07:28) The Innocents (1:08:30) Picnic at Hanging Rock (1:09:48) Irma Vep (2022 TV series) (1:12:53) Happening (1:16:12) Tokyo Sonata (1:17:55) Red Rocket (1:20:32) Nope (1:22:50) Prey

Welcome to Wilson's summer film watching audio diary! Over the summer of 2022 each of us recorded little audio snippets  reviewing every film that we watched, and these are Wilson's! You can  listen to our combined discussion of our summer movie watching in our  roundup episode. We recommend you start there! Wanna tell us about the films you're watching? Come join our Discord server! Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. List of Films Discussed: 3/6 Pompo the Cinephile3/6 Notting Hill3/6 Escape Room: Tournament of Champions1/7 You’ve Got Mail1/7 Mass1/7 Top Gun: Maverick4/7 Elvis5/7 RRR7/7 Lost Highway10/7 Project A: Part II10/7 Ritual11/7 Marcel the Shell with Shoes On13/7 Sanjuro14/7 Mad God14/7 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie15/7 Fast & Feel Love18/7 The Lost City19/7 Goodbye, Dragon Inn20/7 Fire of Love21/7 Miami Vice22/7 Nope30/7 The Big Sleep30/7 Full Alert30/7 Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar14/8 Good Luck to You, Leo Grande19/8 In Another Country22/8 The Adventures of Rosette22/8 Keep Rolling23/8 The Weaving of a Dream: Johnnie To’s Vision and Craft23/8 Katatsumori24/8 Broker27/8 The Actress and the Poet29/8 Funny Pages30/8 Moments in a Stolen Dream30/8 All About Love30/8 Love Massacre

After a brief summer hiatus, the gang (and special guest Thanmye Lagudu) are back to discuss India’s biggest box office draw of the season, and the first part of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus: Ponniyin Selvan: I. Our first Mani Ratnam Deep Cut Upkeep episode gets heated, and battle lines are drawn between hosts. Is this movie Ratnam’s bold execution of a timeless historical epic, or did Ratnam buckle under the weight of a massive budget, and a source material that seems to resist being adapted to the big screen? Find out in the episode!   Join the Church of Ratnam in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. Follow Thanmye on Letterboxd and Twitter. CAST: Vikram - Aditha Karikalan Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - Nandini Karthi - Vanthiyathevan Jayam Ravi - Arulmozhi Varman aka Ponniyin Selvan Trisha Krishnan - Princess Kundavai Sobhita Dhulipala - Vanathi Aishwarya Lekshmi - Poonguzhali Prakash Raj - King Sundara Chola R. Sarathkumar - Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar R. Parthiban - Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar Jayaram - Alwarkadiyan Nambi Rashin Rahman - Madurantaka Chola CREW: DIRECTOR Mani Ratnam PRODUCERS Mani Ratnam Subaskaran Allirajah Sivakumar Ananth WRITERS Mani Ratnam Jeyamohan Elango Kumaravel Original Novel: Kalki Krishnamurthy EDITOR Sreekar Prasad CINEMATOGRAPHY Ravi Varman PRODUCTION DESIGN Thotta Tharani VISUAL EFFECTS Sanjiv Anand Naik COMPOSER A. R. Rahman MAKE-UP Vikram Gaikwad

How does the king of beeg cinema go small? Trick question, he don’t! Small in scope but still big on imagination, we’re (mostly) abuzz with praise for Wilson’s Deep Cut pick for Rajamouli, 2012’s Eega. Eli praises the positively fly performance of Sudeep, a villain you love to hate, Thanmye highlights Rajamouli’s overlooked talents as a director of comedy, and Wilson celebrates Rajamouli's maximalist imagination as well as his mastery of telling stories regarding fate/destiny. Ben assumes the villain mantle and questions if the film successfully blends violence, comedy and revenge: does it go too far or is Ben just bugging out? Spread your wings in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. Follow Thanmye on Twitter and Letterboxd. Cast: Nani: Nani Sudeep: Sudeep Bindhu: Samantha Ruth Prabhu Crew: Director: S. S. Rajamouli Co-Director: J.V.V. Sathyanarayana Producers: Daggubati Suresh Babu Sai Korrapati Writers: S. S. Rajamouli Vijayendra Prasad Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao Cinematography: K.K. Senthil Kumar Art Direction: Raveendar Composer: M.M. Keeravaani Sound: Akula Bhaskar Costumes: Rama Rajamouli

Long live Deep Cut! The DC Trio welcomes back distinguished guest and friend Thanmye Lagudu to launch a discussion on the legendary Masala blockbuster director S. S. Rajamouli (of this year’s international hit, RRR). There’s no better a popular pick than the renowned historical fantasy duology, Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion, based on the Sanskrit epic poem Mahabharata. In their epic conversation, Thanmye shares his deep connection to the movies of Rajamouli, Wilson breaks down what makes the action so spectacular, Ben notes the benefits of non-photorealistic CGI, and Eli explains how Rajamouli writes truly smart characters. Ultimately, Thanmye hopes for a new path forward in cinephilia that fully respects the depth and goals of Indian popular cinema. Fight alongside your best friends in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. The Baahubali Duology Crew: Director: S.S. Rajamouli Producers: Prasad Devineni, Shobu Yarlagadda, Iliya Sotirov, K Raghavendra Rao Writers: S.S. Rajamouli, Vijayendra Prasad, Rahul Koda Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao Cinematography: K.K. Senthil Kumar Production Design: Sabu Cyril Art Direction: Manu Jagadh, Sagar Mali Visual Effects: V. Srinivas Mohan Composer: M.M. Keeravaani Sound: Justin Jose, P. M. Satheesh, Manoj M. Goswami Costumes: Rama Rajamouli, Prashanti Tipirneni The Baahubali Duology Cast: Prabhas: Shivudu / Amarendra Baahubali / Mahendra Baahubali Rana Daggubati:  Bhallaladeva Anushka Shetty: Devasena Tamannaah Bhatia: Avanthika Sathyaraj: Kattappa Ramya Krishnan: Sivagami Nassar: Bijjaladeva Sudeep: Aslaam Khan Prabhakar: Kalakeya War Lord Inkoshi Rajsekhar Aningi: Bhalladeva Samantha Raju Tanikella Bharani:  Swamiji John Kokken: Kalki Brothers Rohini: Sanga Adivi Sesh: Bhadra Preity Üpala: Tapsi Awhan Subbaraju: Kumara Varma Meka Rama Krishna: King of Kunthala

Deep Cut rounds out its study of Malian/Mauritanian master director Abderrahmane Sissako with his first two fiction features: Life on Earth (1998) and Waiting for Happiness (2002). The documentary-fiction hybrids provide an illuminating keystone in understanding Sissako’s later, more complex works. Wilson prefers the deep well of sadness in Waiting for Happiness, but Eli adores the celebratory simplicity of Life on Earth. Meanwhile, Ben reconsiders his approach to the wholly unique, unplaceable films of Sissako. Wait for a Life of Happiness on Earth in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd.

Abderrahmane Sissako sets his late father’s backyard as a courtroom for the injustices of economic neocolonialism in his 2006 drama Bamako, our second of three forays into the work of the Malian/Mauritanian master director. In a work that inextricably binds the political and the personal, Wilson notes how Sissako creates a sense of place that makes an intellectual argument emotional and Eli suggests that the movie can be viewed as a testimonial. Meanwhile, Ben asks if a fiction narrative is the most cogent mode for Sissako’s argument. Tell it to the judge in our Discourt server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. CREW: Director & Writer: Abderrahmane Sissako Producers: Danny Glover, Denis Freyd, Abderrahmane Sissako, Joslyn Barnes, Arnaud Louvet, Maji-da Abdi, François Sauvagnargues Editors: Nadia ben Rachid, Pauline Casalis Cinematography: Jacques Besse Production Design: Mahamadou Kouyaté Costumes: Maji-da Abdi CAST: Melé: Aïssa Maïga Chaka: Tiécoura Traoré Saramba: Maimouna Hélène Diarra Falaï: Balla Habib Dembélé Chaka’s Sister: Djénéba Koné Journalist: Hamadoun Kassogué Civil Party Lawyer: William Bourdon Defence Lawyer: Mamadou Kanouté Prosecutor: Gabriel Magma Konate Témoin 2: Aminata Traoré Cow-boy: Danny Glover Cow-boy: Elia Suleiman Cow-boy: Jean-Henri Roger Cow-boy: Zeka Laplaine

Deep Cut begins a special three-episode run on Malian/Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako with his poetic, vibrant tragedy Timbuktu (2014). Wilson contextualizes Sissako’s most well-known work within Sissako’s varied and inventive filmography, Ben considers the humanizing characterization of the film’s jihadist characters, and Eli breaks down one of his favorite shots in cinema history. Sissako is the first filmmaker born in Africa covered on the podcast, but tune in to find out why both Sissako and the DC Trio reject the notion of a singular “African Film” culture. Help shepherd the cattle in our Discord server. Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. CREW: Director: Abderrahmane Sissako Producers: Sylvie Pialat, Frédérique Dumas-Zajdela, Étienne Comar Writers: Abderrahmane Sissako, Kessen Tall Editor: Nadia ben Rachid Cinematography: Sofian El Fani Production Design: Sébastien Birchler Visual Effects: Matthias Weber, Stéphane Bidault, Mathieu Jussreandot Composer: Amine Bouhafa Sound: Roman Dymny, Thierry Delors Costumes: Ami Sow CAST: Kidane: Ibrahim Ahmed Abdelkerim: Abel Jafri Satima: Toulou Kiki Toya: Layla Walet Mohamed Issan: Mehdi A.G. Mohamed Zabou: Kettly Noël Imam: Adel Mahmoud Cherif

Stock up on some rosé and lose the shirt because we're going to FIRE ISLAND, baby! We are so delighted and honored to have director Andrew Ahn (SPA NIGHT, DRIVEWAYS) back on the podcast to preview his upcoming feature FIRE ISLAND. Coming to Hulu on June 3. Andrew shares with us his experience directing a studio rom-com, fighting to keep the film’s gayness, collaborating with Joel Kim Booster (STAR and screenwriter), and MUNA’s cover of an iconic Britney song. SPOILERS incoming, so watch the film before taking a listen. Also, Andrew selects a FIRE ISLAND adjacent Deep Cut pick, Alice Wu’s brilliant SAVING FACE, another wonderful queer AsAm romantic comedy to chat about alongside his film. There's your perfect Pride month double bill. Andrew Ahn's Instagram, Twitter. (@andrewahnfilms) Fire Island Socials (@fireislandmovie): Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Take a trip to our very own Pines (the Deep Cut Discord server) to talk more Fire Island! Keep up with Deep Cut on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. CREW: Director: Andrew Ahn Producers: John Hodges, Tony Hernandez, Brooke Posch, Joel Kim Booster Writer: Joel Kim Booster Editor: Brian A. Kates Cinematography: Felipe Vara de Rey Production Design: Katie Hickman Art Direction: Patrice Andrew Davidson Set Decoration: Nisa Schoonhoven Composer: Jay Wadley Costumes: David Tabbert CAST: Noah: Joel Kim Booster Howie: Bowen Yang Will: Conrad Ricamora Erin: Margaret Cho Charlie: James Scully Luke: Matt Rogers Keegan: Tomás Matos Max: Torian Miller Cooper: Nick Adams Dex: Zane Phillips Rhys: Michael Graceffa Braden: Aidan Wharton Moses: Peter Smith Johnny: Bradley Gibson