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Talkhouse

Riley Stearns is the writer-director of Faults (2014), The Art of Self-Defense (2019) and his new film Dual, starring Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul, which is available on digital, on demand and AMC+ on May 20. He lives in Los Angeles. You can visit his website <a href="http://www.rileystearns.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Riley Stearns

Film

Riley Stearns (Faults) Talks Noel Marshall’s Roar

From short experimental videos (Third Known Nest) to installations and live performances of music and film (My Silent One) to feature-length narratives (Swoon, Savage Grace), Tom Kalin’s award-winning work has been screened throughout the world. A producer of the films I Shot Andy Warhol and Go Fish, he was also a member of the AIDS activist collective Gran Fury. He is a Columbia University Professor in film, teaching directing.

Tom Kalin

Tom Kalin (Savage Grace) Talks Rupert Goold’s True Story

Josh Safdie was born and raised in New York City, in both Queens and Manhattan. He usually collaborates with his brother Benny. Together they have released films all over the world, premiering at international festivals like Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Toronto, Locarno, New York, etc. His forthcoming film, Heaven Knows What, is set for a summer 2015 U.S. release from RADiUS-TWC.

Josh Safdie

Josh Safdie (Heaven Knows What) Talks Tsai Ming-liang’s Rebels of the Neon God

Terence Nance is an Artist, Musician, and Filmmaker born in Dallas, Texas in what was then referred to as the State-Thomas community. Nance wrote, directed, scored, and starred in his first feature film, <a href="http://ofherbeauty.com">An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,</a> which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2013. In 2014, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow. In the summer of 2018, Terence’s Peabody award-winning television series Random Acts of Flyness debuted on HBO to great critical acclaim, and was renewed for a second season by the network. His latest release as a musician, Vortex+, came out in early 2025.

Terence Nance

Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty) Talks Ryan Gosling’s Lost River

The New York Times called Jennifer Prediger a &#8220;busy indie actress&#8221;. She is also a busy writer, director and producer living in Los Angeles. She made her directorial debut in 2014 with collaborator Jess Weixler with their movie Apartment Troubles, starring Weixler, Prediger, Megan Mullally, Will Forte and Jeffrey Tambor. She has appeared in such movies as Joe Swanberg&#8217;s Uncle Kent, Hannah Fidell&#8217;s A Teacher, Bob Byington&#8217;s Infinity Baby, Madeleine Olnek&#8217;s The Foxy Merkins, Onur Tukel&#8217;s Applesauce and Richard&#8217;s Wedding, Alex Karpovsky&#8217;s Red Flag, and the Gotham Award-winning web series The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes. Find out more at <a href="https://www.luckyprediger.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">luckyprediger.com</a>.

Jennifer Prediger

Jennifer Prediger (Apartment Troubles) Talks Alex Garland’s Ex Machina

Omar Mullick is a director and cinematographer known for his work on the documentary These Birds Walk, which was released by Oscilloscope and named as one of the best films of 2013 by the New Yorker, Indiewire and Sight &amp; Sound. Trained as a photographer, Omar has been published in the New York Times, National Geographic and Time, receiving awards from the Doris Duke Foundation, the Western Knight Center for Journalism, Annenberg and Kodak. In 2009 he had a solo photographic show, Can&#8217;t Take It With You, at the Gallery FCB in New York City. Learn more at <a href="http://www.omarmullick.com/" target="_blank">omarmullick.com</a>.

Omar Mullick

Caveh Zahedi is an autobiographical filmmaker whose body of work attempts to tell the story of his life as it unfolds. His latest film, <a href="https://www.roxycinemanewyork.com/screenings/tripping-with-caveh-getting-stoned-with-will-oldham/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Getting Stoned with Will Oldham</a>, a follow-up to his cult classic Tripping with Caveh, 20 years on, has its world premiere on October 19 at the Roxy Cinema in New York City. His feature-length films include The Sheik and I (2012), I Am A Sex Addict (2005), In The Bathtub of the World (2001), I Don’t Hate Las Vegas Anymore (1994), and A Little Stiff (1991). His short films and other series include Getting Stoned with Caveh, Bob Dylan Hates Me, Tripping with Caveh, and I Was Possessed by God. A box set of his films is available from <a href="http://www.factorytwentyfive.com/caveh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Factory 25</a>.

Caveh Zahedi

Omar Mullick (These Birds Walk) Talks Caveh Zahedi’s Digging My Own Grave: The Films of Caveh Zahedi

A former World Kickboxing Champion and United States Marine Corps combat instructor, German-born filmmaker Lexi Alexander worked her way up from stunt woman to Oscar-nominated director with her live action short film Johnny Flynton, a drama about a boxer. She has helmed feature films including the SXSW Jury &amp; Audience Award-winning drama Green Street Hooligans, Marvel&#8217;s Punisher: War Zone and the acclaimed military drama Lifted. Her latest feature, the martial arts movie <a href="https://www.giant.pictures/absolutedominion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Absolute Dominion</a> starring Désiré Mia, Alex Winter, Andy Allo, Olunike Adeliyi and Patton Oswalt, is now in theaters through Giant Pictures.

Lexi Alexander

Richard Raymond is a British-born filmmaker known for producing the feature film Heartless (2009) as well as shorts “The Bridge” (2005) and “The First Day” (1998).  His directorial debut, Desert Dancer (2013), had its North American premiere at the 30th Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Richard Raymond

Lexi Alexander (Punisher: War Zone) Talks Richard Raymond’s Desert Dancer

Negin Farsad is a writer, filmmaker and comedian. She directed the documentaries The Muslims are Coming, about Muslim-American standup comedy, and Nerdcore Rising, on geeky hip-hop. On the small screen, she co-wrote and developed the MTV series Detox, wrote for the animated shows 1001 Nights and Class Parents, and produced, directed, wrote and performed in Comedy Central&#8217;s The Watch List. A 2013 TED Fellow and the inaugural YouTube Visionary Award winner, she was named one of the 50 Funniest Women by the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/09/52-female-comedians_n_833214.html#s250822&amp;title=Negin_Farsad">Huffington Post</a>. Read more at <a href="http://www.neginfarsad.com/">http://www.neginfarsad.com</a>.

Negin Farsad

Negin Farsad (The Muslims are Coming!) Talks Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly

Bruce LaBruce is a filmmaker, writer, photographer and artist based in Toronto, Canada. Recently there have been retrospectives of his films at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto and at MoMA in New York City. His latest feature, The Misandrists, will be released in 2018.

Bruce LaBruce

Bruce LaBruce (Gerontophilia) Talks Frédéric Tcheng’s Dior and I

Kris Rey began her film career studying documentary film production at Southern Illinois University. Using naturalistic techniques and often working with non-actors, she went on to focus her career in narrative film. Her first feature, It was great, but I was ready to come home, played in competition at SXSW in 2009, was followed by Empire Builder (2012) and the short film Baby Mary (2014). Her third feature, Unexpected, starring Cobie Smulders and Anders Holm, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and will be distributed later this year by the Film Arcade.

Kris Rey

Kris Swanberg (Unexpected) Talks Victor Levin’s 5 to 7

Yung Chang is the multi-award-winning director of Up the Yangtze《沿江而上》(2007), China Heavyweight《千錘百鍊》(2012), The Fruit Hunters (2013) and Gatekeeper (2016). In 2015, Chang was a Fellow at the prestigious Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs, where he worked on his first dramatic feature, Eggplant.. Chang’s films have screened at international film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, TIFF, and IDFA, and have played theatrically in cinemas around the world. His latest feature documentary, <a href="https://www.kimstim.com/film/this-is-not-a-movie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This Is Not a Movie</a>, which follows the controversial Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, is now screening virtually and at select theaters around the country. (Photo by Richmond Lam.)

Yung Chang

Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze) Talks Josef Kubota Wladyka’s Manos Sucias

Brandon Colvin is a filmmaker, scholar and educator. He has written, directed and produced two features, Frames (2012) and Sabbatical (2014), and served as a producer on Tears of God (2015). He is currently a PhD candidate in Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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