Film And Television (audio)

Artist and filmmaker Tom Kalin joins moderator Bhaskar Sarkar (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of his 1992 film Swoon. Kalin discusses the historical background of the film (the famous 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case), how he reimagined the case through the lens of queer desire, and how he conducted archival research into the central figures of the murder. Kalin also discusses how his background and training as a visual artist fed into his work in feature-length film making. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40927]

Film producer Liz Yale Marsh and mustang wrangler West Taylor join moderator and co-producer Wendy Eley Jackson to discuss their work on the documentary Facing the Falls, which follows disability rights advocate Cara Elizabeth Yar Khan and her twelve-day expedition through the Grand Canyon. They explore how Yar Khan’s muscle disease provided a unique challenge to navigating the Grand Canyon, as well as how Marsh and Jackson came onto the film in post-production and helped to finish the project. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40926]

Filmmakers Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov join moderator Sasha Razor (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) to discuss their film Captain Volkonogov Escaped. Merkulova and Chupov share how they work as a film making team, how they researched the period of Stalinist purges in the 1930s, and how they sought to make the period of the film feel contemporary. They go on to discuss their experience working with lead actor Yura Borisov, who gained wider recognition for the 2024 film Anora. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40925]

Eric Faden (Bucknell University) discusses his work on the Japanese Paper Film Project, a project that has been preserving paper films made in Japan in the 1930s. Koto player Yoko Reikano Kimura and cellist Hikaru Tamaki (Duo Yumeno) joins Faden and moderator Alex Lilburn (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) to talk about how the preservation work was carried out and their experiences presenting the digitized films with live musical accompaniment. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40924]

Mona Damluji (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) and Elisabeth Weber (German and Slavic Studies, UCSB) join moderator Bishnupriya Ghosh (English and Global Studies, UCSB) to discuss the film project From Ground Zero, an anthology of films made by Palestinian filmmakers since the beginning of the war in Gaza. They discuss how the films present a unique vision of Gaza, showing a vibrant society dealing with the outbreak of war, and how the films urge the audience to become informed viewers. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40923]

Film historian Rebecca Prime joins moderator Ross Melnick (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of the classic Hollywood film The Sound of Fury. Prime outlines the film’s production history and how its political and social commentary was shaped by its director, Cy Endfield, who would go on to be blacklisted due to his association with the Communist Party. They further discuss Endfield’s subsequent work in London and how he struggled with the blacklist for the rest of his career. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40919]

Documentary subject and Chicano activist Jerry Ramirez joins moderator Clint Terrell (English, UCSB) for a discussion of the documentary film American Homeboy. They discuss Ramirez’s involvement with the film, his relationship to his Chicano identity, and how his experience being incarcerated fueled his activism, particularly in relation to Chicano issues. Ramirez and Terrrell reflect on how the film portrays Chicano history, including how Chicana and Chicano identity has been shaped over time. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40921]

Over 20 years since its release, Hedwig and the Angry Inch remains as relevant as ever to the politics of the day. A child of division, Hedwig refuses to be caught between categories, instead evading gender description and embracing herself as lovingly as one can. Writer/director/actor John Cameron Mitchell joins moderator Patrice Petro, Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center, to discuss a post-screening of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40922]

Film curators Michelle Baroody and Maggie Hennefeld join moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of their program “Archives of Anonymous Labor: From Farce to Liberation.” The program juxtaposes five films that about anonymity and labor, from silent films that show the invisible labor of housemaids and film editors to films that highlight the erased labor of decolonial struggle. This program is part of the Carsey-Wolf Center annual conference Anonymous Labor in Film and Media. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40920]

Carol Stabile (Clark Honors College, University of Oregon) joins moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of “CBS and the 1950s Blacklist,” a program that included an episode of the television sitcom The Goldbergs and William N. Robson’s radio broadcast titled “Open Letter on Race Hatred.” They discuss the history of anti-communist activism in the U.S. and how CBS capitulated to the FBI and its blacklisting campaign. Stabile also outlines how the FBI targeted public intellectuals and artists. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40918]

Filmmaker RaMell Ross joins moderator Mireille Miller-Young, UCSB Feminist Studies, for a discussion of Nickel Boys. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40545]

Filmmaker Adamu Chan joins UC Santa Barbara’s Althea Wasow for a powerful conversation about "What These Walls Won’t Hold", a documentary he created while incarcerated at San Quentin during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film, which aired nationally on PBS’s "America ReFramed", captures the resilience and activism of incarcerated people and their communities in the face of crisis. Chan shares how filmmaking became a tool for resistance and healing, offering an inside look at life behind bars. This discussion explores the film’s creative process, its social justice impact, and the importance of centering incarcerated voices. It’s an inspiring program about storytelling, humanity, and the power of community—even in the most challenging circumstances. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40540]

The Carsey-Wolf Center welcomes Jeff Bridges and Amy Brenneman, the award-winning stars of The Old Man, for a conversation with director/writer/producer Brad Silberling. Bridges and Brenneman share their creative perspectives on the series’ treatment of aging and discuss other aspects of their unique collaboration. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40544]

The Moon and Back is the directorial debut of UCSB Film and Media Studies alumnus Leah Bleich. The Carsey-Wolf Center was proud to welcome Leah back to campus for a discussion of her film with UCSB moderator Ross Melnick. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40543]

In collaboration with the Transnational Italian Studies Program, the Carsey-Wolf Center presents a discussion examining the long history of Black African life in Italy with filmmakers Daphne Di Cinto and Medhin Paolos and UCSB moderator Stephanie Malia Hom. They discuss the short films Il Moro and Asmarina. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40541]

Screenwriter and playwright Phyllis Nagy joins moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 classic Strangers on a Train. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, the film follows tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger), who meets the charming but disturbed Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) during a chance encounter on a train. Bruno proposes they “swap” murders—he’ll kill Guy’s wife, and Guy will kill Bruno’s father—eliminating any obvious motive. When Bruno follows through, Guy finds himself caught in a dangerous game of blackmail and suspense. Known for its striking visual style and psychological complexity, Strangers on a Train is celebrated as one of Hitchcock’s most influential thrillers, offering a masterclass in tension and moral ambiguity. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40542]

Nicholas Baer, author of Historical Turns: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism, joins moderator and Carsey-Wolf Center Director Patrice Petro for a discussion of Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40537]

Thirty years after the film’s release, Fresh Kill has been remastered by the Fales Library & Special Collections of New York University. Fresh Kill director/producer Shu Lea Cheang traveled with filmmakers Jean-Paul Jones and Jazz Franklin on a nationwide roadtrip to screen the remastered 35mm print of the film at independent arthouse cinemas across the country, and to engage local communities on issues of environmental racism and activist resistance. Shu Lea Cheang joins moderator Jigna Desai from UCSB's Center for Feminist Futures to discuss the film. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40538]

Filmmaker Madhuja Mukherjee joins moderator Bishnupriya Ghosh of UCSB's English and Global Studies Department to discuss Deep6. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40539]

Director Pamela Yates joines moderator Giovanni Batz of UCSB's Chicana and Chicano Studies Department for discussion of Borderland | The Line Within. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40532]