Actor Lucas Hedges shares how he got to star in Kenneth Lonergan’s film Manchester By The Sea. He auditioned for his role 5 times and was very nervous if he’d bag the role he shares. Lonergan wrote and directed the film that stars Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler and Lucas Hedges. We have a… Continue Reading
Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berg share on how they came to write the screenplay for Trolls. One of the interesting things about trolls is that there was no backstory or a universe available for them. Aibel and Berger got an opportunity to architect and create a whole new world and backstory for these happy-go-lucky trolls. Their… Continue Reading
Damien Chazelle’s beautifully crafted film La La Land hits theatres in December 2016. I saw the film a couple of months ago and instantly fell in love with it. The film pays homage to dreamers, Los Angeles, Hollywood musicals and to French filmmaker Jacques Demy. We have an interview coming up with Chazelle and Justin… Continue Reading
Director Mike Mitchell and co-director Walt Dohrn talk about their relentlessly happy film Trolls. Mitchell and Dorn have known each other since their time as students at Cal Institute of Arts and later on in Shrek and other films. Both are big fans of Walt Disney and HayooMiyazaki and talk about them as well as Alfred Hitchcock. How… Continue Reading
3rd i’s San Francisco International South Asian Films Festival is back this year in two locations: San Francisco and Cupertino in Silicon Valley. The San Francisco leg of the festival is a 4 day event that runs from November 10th-13th, 2016. And the Silicon Valley leg of the festival in Cupertino is a one day event… Continue Reading
We sat down with Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger to talk about how they wrote the screenplay for Trolls. Happiness is the central theme of this 3D animated film. How did they write the screenplay and create a universe for trolls? Tune in to find out. A long time ago in a far away city where… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Barry Jenkins Moonlight is an elegant and brilliantly evocative film about coming-of-age and love.This is one of the best films I have seen so far this year. There is an aura of quiet grace about Moonlight that makes you think long after the end credits have rolled. You go away wondering what is that little… Continue Reading
Like films, food and wine? Then the 6th Annual Napa Film Festival (NVFF) is the place to be from November 9-13, 2016. For 5 days you get to see feature films, shorts and documentaries and listen to panel discussions on food. And a big bonus of attendig a film festival in the wine country means you… Continue Reading
Mike Mitchell and Walt Drohn are the directors of Trolls, a new 3D animation film from Dreamworks. Relentlessly happy is the phrase that comes to mind when I watched the film a few days ago. I wondered if the directors themselves were relentlessly happy folks. Tune into to find out. Happiness is the central theme… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Ewan McGregor makes his directorial debut with American Pastoral that is based on a Philip Roth novel by the same name. Roth won a Pulitzer prize for his novel. American Pastoral stars McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakokta Fanning, David Strathairn, Uzo Aduba, Rupert Evans and Valorie Curry. We caught up with McGregor in San Francisco to talk about the making… Continue Reading
The annual United National Association Film Festival (UNAFF) is back this year with an interesting mix of documentaries and shorts from the US, Ethiopia, Spain, India, Canada, Guatemala and other countries. The theme for this year’s festival is Compass For A Better World. “We went through 600 screeners to select the films for this year’s festival,”… Continue Reading
This is a highlight from an upcoming interview with filmmaker Barry Jenkins on the making of his new film Moonlight. The film is based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s novel In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Jenkins explains why he chose to shorten the title to Moonlight. Moonlight is an elegant and emotionally charged film. This… Continue Reading
Ewan McGreogor talks about how he got into acting and how his parents helped him with his decision to become an actor. He also talks about his new film American Pastoral, which marks his debut as a director. American Pastoral is based on Philip Roth’s novel by the same name and stars McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Valorie… Continue Reading
We speak with filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra about his new film Mirzya. “It is a film about love,” shares Mehra. The film is set in two, different time periods he adds. We talk to Mehra on how how the idea for the film was born, the preparation that went into making the film, the music… Continue Reading
We caught up with Zoe Elton, Director of Programming for the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival (Oct 6-16, 2016) to find out what they have in store at this year’s festival. We spoke to her about the film, actors and the new sections they have on Latin America & Culinary Cinema. This is one of… Continue Reading
Here are 3 more picks from me for this year’s 39th Mill Valley Film Festival that runs from Oct 6-16,2016.. These 3 films take you on a culinary and mediation journey across the world. In case you missed it, here are my first 3 selections of films from this year’s film festival. The Last Dalai… Continue Reading
Movie lovers are in for a 4-day treat of Vienna And The Movies at the historic Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto. The silent film series is curated by film historian David Thomson. One of the joys of watching silent films at the Stanford Theater is the opportunity to listen to the Wurlitzer organ. Dennis James will play… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Matt Johnson’s Operation Avalanche is set against the space race between US and the USSR during the Cold War period. The film is about the fake landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. The film was part of Johnson’s Masters project at York University in Canada. Johnson directs, acts and co-wrote the film with Josh… Continue Reading
The 39th Mill Valley Film Festival (Oct 6-26,2016) is packed with so many wonderful films that it is going to be a challenge to figure out which ones to watch. For the next couple of weeks I will share a few of the films that caught my eyes. Here are my first 3 films that had me… Continue Reading
The annual Mill Valley Film Festival, which is one of the last film festivals in California before the Oscar season starts is back this year with a fantastic mix of films. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the festival that started the same year the first Star Wars film was released. The 39th Mill Valley… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Jason Cohen’s Silicon Cowboys traces the rise and fall of Compaq, the personal computer (PC) company. Compaq was the company that challenged IBM and changed the PC landscape in the 1980s. Compaq was founded by Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto in Houston, TX. The founders were partially inspired by Silicon Valley’s culture. At one point Compaq was the… Continue Reading
Tula Goenka teaches film production and multimedia storytelling at Syracuse University, NY. A few years ago Goenka started a first-of-its-kind Bollywood internship program for under graduate students. As part of the internship program students spent time in Bombay or Mumbai, the entertainment capital of India and home to Bollywood film industry. Some students went on… Continue Reading
Justin Tipping directed and co-wrote Kicks, a coming-of-age film set in the San Francisco Bay area. The film revolves around a young teenager Brandon (Jahking Guillory), who dreams of owning a trendy pair of sneakers or kicks. He owns an old and frayed pair of sneakers, while all his friends sport brand new, funky shoes. And… Continue Reading
Morris From America is a coming-of-age film about a young American teen in Germany. The movie is told from a 13-year old boy’s perspective and how he tries to fit in with his German school mates and falls in love with an older teenager. The film screened at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival… Continue Reading
Meera Menon’s new film Equity is billed as the first female driven Wall Street picture. It is not often we get to see women investment bankers in films. Neither do we see women bankers admit they love power and money. Such dialogs are usually reserved for male characters. Manon previously wrote and directed Farah Goes… Continue Reading
That is a picture of the Gleason family consisting of Michel Varisco, her husband Steve Gleason and their son Rivers Gleason. In 2011 Gleason, a former NFL player for the New Orleans Saints was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A couple of months later they discovered that Varisco was pregnant. Those two developments changed the course… Continue Reading
Matt Ross is a filmmaker, writer and actor, who is well-known for his role as Gavin Belson, CEO of Hooli in HBO’s Silicon Valley. We sat down with Ross to speak about Captain Fantastic that he wrote and directed. We wondered about the title of the film. How did he come up with Captain Fantastic?… Continue Reading
Former NFL player Scott Fujita is one of the producers of Gleason, a documentary on Steve Gleason, who has myotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Fujita and Gleason became good friends when they played for the New Orleans Saints. Fujita shares how one of his uncles lost his life to ALS and was aware of the challenges the… Continue Reading
Dr. James Schamus is a filmmaker, award-winning writer and a teacher at Columbia University. After writing, producing and distributing films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Dallas Cowboys Club, Milk and Lost in Translation, Dr. Schamus makes his debut in feature films with Indignation. He wrote and directed the film that is based on… Continue Reading
A wonderful mix of films will feature at the annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF). This year marks the 36th year of the festival that starts tomorrow – July 21 and will continue through August 7, 2016. Some of the guests expected to attend the festival include filmmakers and writers like Daniel Burman, Norman… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 