Episode 38 - Jacquil Constant - “That’s How I Knew”
Photo Credit: Jerome Thomas
[Image Description: Jacquil is pictured from the chest up. He wears a beige Kangol cap and a yellow and white patterned shirt over a white t-shirt. He smiles. His head is turned slightly to the side.]
In this episode, I speak with a friend, filmmaker, and professor, Jacquil Constant. During our conversation, we chat about our time working on Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race, BADWest, and his documentary short, Haiti is a Nation of Artists. We also talk about his Haitian heritage and the festival he founded which is now in its seventh year, the Haiti International Film Festival - how he started it and how it has grown even during the past few pandemic years. Starting a film festival from scratch is no small feat and Jacquil is truly a man with a vision, that’s why this episode’s song is Nipsey Hussell’s “That’s How I Knew.” Our conversation was recorded in January 2022.
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.”