Film And Television (audio)

Science and humanities professor Colin Milburn (UC Davis) and graduate student Wesley Jacks (UC Santa Barbara) explore the legacy of James Whale’s iconic Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Their talk touches on key similarities and differences between Bride, Whale’s earlier Frankenstein (1931) film, and the original Mary Shelley novel. In addition to exploring the narrative and formal components of each, Milburn and Jacks draw out the ethical conflicts that span and separate each text. Their discussion touches on the legacy of the film within the sci-fi genre, its still-compelling queer components, and the film’s position within the sub-genre of gothic horror. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34292]

In the opening conversation within the Carsey-Wolf Center’s Frankenstein: Afterlives film series, CWC director Patrice Petro and English professor Julie Carlson (UC Santa Barbara) discuss the life of Mary Shelley and the representation of her views and career in director Haifaa Al-Mansour’s new biopic, Mary Shelley. During the discussion, professors Petro and Carlson cover the film’s feminist elements and the historical connections Mary Shelley had with literature, science, and philosophy. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34291]

A conversation with Tamer El Said, Director of In the Last Days of the City (2016), and UCSB Film and Media Studies Professor, Laila Shereen Sakr. Discussion covers El Saids work filming In the Last Days of the City. Shot between 2006 and 2008, the years leading up to the Egyptian Revolution, the film reflects a growing tension in Ciaro. El Siad comments on trying to capture his sense of the city on film in a way that seeks to express the feeling of being on the brink of changeespecially when this change hasn't happened yet. This conversation emphasizes the difficulty of capturing and representing a city on film, and particularly of producing a film that represents a feeling of impending social upheaval. El Said discusses the significance of his film and his experience and influences that shaped the process of producing beforeand editing afterthe events of the Arab Spring. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34289]

In this Q&A conversation Debra Granik, director and co-writer of Leave No Trace (2018), is joined by moderator and Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan. The event is part of the Carsey-Wolf Centers Script to Screen series and covers the development of the film and its adaptation from Mindy Mejias novel of the same name. Granik discusses how characters and story were reworked for the film, the research that she did in preparation, and the ways the film seeks to represent family relationships and post-traumatic stress disorder. The conversation also covers the production process, the significance of the films setting in Oregon, and the actors preparations for their roles. Granik is also the director of Winters Bone (2010) and this Q&A draws comparisons between her work on these two films. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34294]

A Q&A session with Co-Directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen of the documentary RGB (2018). Cohen and West discuss their work researching and producing RBG, which profiles the career of Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The session, moderated by UCSB English Professor Jeannine DeLombard, covers the production and reception of the film, its significance in the current political climate, and Ginsburgs Legacy as a Justice. Betsy West is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker, journalist, and educator, known for her work on Nightline, 60 Minutes, and 48 Hours. She is a professor of journalism at Columbia University. Julie Cohen is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer. She has also worked as a producer for NBC News and is Adjunct Professor of Journalism at Columbia University. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34288]

The initial popularity, enduring legacy, and creative fan cultures surrounding The Sound of Music all arise in this discussion between Carsey-Wolf Center director Patrice Petro and Film and Media Studies professor Caryl Flinn (University of Michigan). Describing the film as about the joy of singing, Prof. Flinn positions The Sound of Music and its songs within the twilight of a golden era of film musicals. When discussing the legacy of the film, Prof. Flinn details the growth of sing-a-long The Sound of Music screening events and reveals her favorite fan revival, a Jewish communitys The Sound of Purim. Also covered in this talk are Christopher Plummers notorious distaste for the film and attacks on the film by cultural elites like Pauline Kael. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34287]

Race, gender, and union-busting violence all arise in this discussion of Debra Kopple’s iconic Harlan County, USA. Documentarian Betsy Taylor and historian Alice O’Connor (UC Santa Barbara) offer expert perspectives into connections between events and figures in Kopple’s film and broader environmental justice and labor struggles unfolding across the US in the early 1970s. In addition, Taylor’s intimate knowledge of this mining area enables her to offer rich detail about the local landscape, corporate land ownership, and crooked politics that form the foundation of this classic documentary. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 34290]

Gwyneth Paltrow, Oscar-, Golden Globe-, and Emmy-winning actress, appeared in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001. After a recent screening at UC Santa Barbara, she discussed the film and more. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33950]

UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan and crew meet Comic-Con 2018 participants in San Diego. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33951]

Novelist, critic and cultural historian Marina Werner and Peter Bloom (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) engage Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) from several angles. They discuss the film’s astounding technical craft, Reiniger’s addition of feminist perspectives to the narrative, and the film’s relation to both the Arabian classic 1001 Nights and the French translation/adaptation of that work. Werner and Bloom discuss Reiniger’s relationship to the source material and provide rich historical details about early-twentieth century relations between Europe and what was then called “the Orient.” Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33756]

Novelist Sinaan Antoon and journalist Leila Fadel join UCSB’s Mona Damluji for a post-screening discussion of Kasim Abid’s 2008 film Life After the Fall. They discuss the difficulties of living and working in U.S.-occupied Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the decline of security and safety, loyalties-of-necessity to one’s particular neighborhood in the power vacuum that ensued, and the complications and sometimes harrowing difficulties of everyday life. At issue in particular is each guest’s struggle to tell stories about Iraq that felt honest, empathetic, and adequate when most narrativization of Iraq at the time tended to feel too superficial (U.S. media coverage), too insular (stories from inside the Green Zone), too nostalgic (for a functional Iraq, if one under dictatorship), or too limited in scale (to the scope of whatever groups, such as families or friends, that were intimate enough to permit trust). Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33760]

Amar Akbar Anthony was a Bollywood blockbuster when it was released in 1977 and has become a classic of Hindi cinema and a touchstone of Indian popular culture. William Elison (Religious Studies, UCSB), Christian Lee Novetzke (International Studies, University of Washington) and Andy Rotman (Religion, Smith College) discuss their co-authored book on the film that offers a sympathetic and layered interpretation of the film’s deeper symbolism, seeing it as a lens for understanding modern India’s experience with secular democracy. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33816]

UC Santa Barbara professors Eloi Grasset (Spanish and Portuguese) and Cristina Venegas (Film and Media Studies) discuss Lucrecia Martel’s adaptation of Antonio Di Benedetto’s iconic Argentine novel about the interconnected decay of the Spanish empire and one of its low-level bureaucrats who is stationed in Paraguay. Grasset and Venegas examine Martel’s approach to the interiority of Di Benedetto’s novel and her expansion of the novel’s critiques of colonialism. They also touch on the film’s innovative use of sound. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33755]

Bambi Haggins (Film and Media Studies, UC Irvine) joins Patrice Petro (Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center) for a conversation about the 2013 documentary "Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley." Haggins, who served as a historical consultant to the film, reflects on the five-decade career of Moms Mabley, the raucous, pioneering African-American vaudeville performer and comedian. Haggins discusses the timelessness of Mabley’s material, her popularity and ability to command an audience, and her influence on contemporary comedy, as well as the broader significance of race, gender, sexuality, and cultural respectability in the reception of comedians and their work during different historical moments. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33753]

Improvisational comedy, women in media, and the unpredictability of cult classic status all arise in this conversation about Drop Dead Gorgeous between actress Mindy Sterling and Carsey-Wolf Director Patrice Petro. The two discuss the importance of female-led and female-targeted comedy, and the powerful sense of place that screenwriter Lona Williams brought to the behind-the-scenes world of Minnesota beauty pageants. In addition, they talk about the surprising journey the film traveled from theatrical-dud to home video classic. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33752]

Based on a true story, I, Tonya (2017) is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding and her role in one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Screenwriter/producer Steven Rogers discussed the film with Matt Ryan before a live audience at UCSB. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33751]

Orson Welles direction and his performance as Shakespeare’s legendary Falstaff are at the center of this conversation about Chimes at Midnight, Welles’ 1965 film masterpiece that was unavailable to the public for decades. Professors Jim Kearney (UC Santa Barbara) and Joseph McBride (San Francisco State University) discuss Welles’ lifelong admiration of the Bard and the film’s complicated production and distribution history. The two professors also explore Welles’ ambitious adaptation of story material from five different Shakespeare plays into this single film. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33498]

Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]

Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948) was adapted and directed by its star. Mark Rose (English, UCSB) and Jim Kearney (English, UCSB) discuss this cinematic treatment of Hamlet and examples of Shakespeare on film. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33503]

Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated composer, Robert Kraft, talks with David Novak (Music, UCSB) about the power and influence of film scores and the unique challenges with the process. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33501]