Episode 35 - Laura van Halsema - “Chelas City”
Photo Credit: Caroline Westdijk
[Image Description: Laura, a white woman with short blond hair, is pictured from the torso up. She wears a dark-colored button-down shirt and hoop earrings. She has a slight smile on her face.]
In this episode, we continue our celebration of the 2021 edition of IDFA as I chat with the Senior Programmer of the festival, Laura van Halsema. We talk about how she got into docs, her nearly 20 years with IDFA, and take a deep dive into the unConscious Bias Focus program at the festival this year. The song for this episode is from the film Chelas Nha Kha which is part of the unConscious Bias strand and is entitled “Chelas City,” music by Bataclan 1950 and lyrics by Baguera, Islu, and Gohu. The film is a collaboration between Bagabaga Studios and Batalan 1950 is about the people and kids growing up in Chelas which is a neighborhood in Lisbon. During our conversation, we spoke about the anthropologist Clifford Geertz’s concept of the “webs of influence.” Laura thought of this film and about the filmmakers who live in that area as they learn to define for themselves their own realities. The first love of Bataclan 1950 is making music which is prominently featured in the film. Here is our conversation which was recorded in November 2021.
Episode 29 - Ann Kaneko & Jin Yoo-Kim - “We Are the Children”
Photo Credit: Todd Gray
[Image Description: Ann is pictured from the chest up. She wears a black, long-sleeved top and a gold necklace. Her black hair is cut into a short bob and her head is titled slightly to the side. She looks to the camera as she stands against a beige and white blurred background.]
Photo Credit: Jin Yoo-Kim
[Image Description: Jin is pictured from the chest up. She wears bright red lipstick and has shoulder lengthed black hair. She wears a graphic print shirt that has a black background with swirly, multi-colored shapes. She stands against a white background in front of some foliage.]
In this episode, I speak with director, producer, and writer Ann Kaneko and producer Jin Yoo-Kim about their latest project, Manzanar: Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust. We chat about Ann’s very impressive matchmaking skills, their work on K-Town ‘92 and their reflections of the 1992 Rebellion, and how they successfully weaved the stories of environmentalism, the Indigenous, and Japanese-Americans into a beautiful tapestry. This episode’s song is classic, “We are the Children” by Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto, and "Charlie" Chin. The song was one of the first bits of artistry that defined the Asian-American identity. And the chorus is a call for all of us to unapologetically embrace every aspect of our beings. It reads, Sing a song for ourselves, What have we got to lose, Sing a song for ourselves We’ve got the right to choose.”
Episode 15 - Lillian Benson, A.C.E. - “Wanting Memories”
Photo Credit: William Stetz
[Image Description: Lillian is pictured from the torso up. She wears a dark brown button down shirt, red lipstick, hoop earrings, and a beaded necklace with a metal amulet. She sits in an empty theater with red chairs. She smiles at the camera.]
In the final episode of 2020, I speak with the director and editor, Lillian Benson. In our conversation, we talk about when she met the Civil Rights icon, Congressman John Lewis at the Academy Awards, the film she edited about his life, Get in the Way: The Journey of John Lewis, her documentary editing career, and her transition to the narrative world. Lillian’s commitment to integrity in her work and the telling Black stories is rooted in her keen sense of responsibility - a responsibility of truth-telling and of the reclamation buried and denied of histories. Because in all her work, she strives to help all of us remember who we truly are, this episode’s song is Ysaye M Barnwell’s “Wanting Memories.”