A weekly film podcast that helps you have a more rewarding experience watching movies by connecting you to the best under-the-radar films from around the world so that you don’t have to watch all the movies to watch good movies that expand your cinematic horizons — both in content and form.
This is a podcast about those films, the joys and challenges of finding and watching those films, how filmmaking choices affect our experience of them, and the people and places we discover through looking outside the mainstream and beyond the English language.
Our mission is to upend the canon to be more inclusive by spotlighting and diving deep into international and independent films by and about women, Indigenous People, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. Find multiple episodes on the films of Kelly Reichardt, Céline Sciamma, Andrew Haigh, and Joachim Trier.
Become a member to access the full (200+ episode) podcast archive and get early access to new episodes: http://seventh-row.com/join
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TIFF 24 #2: Palestinian films: No Other Land, To a Land Unknown, Happy Holidays, and From Ground Zero
Season 4 · Episode 2
Friday, September 6, 2024 • Duration 18:55
In this episode of the TIFF 2024 season, Alex discusses the four Palestinian films at this year's festival.
These films are:
No Other Land (Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor) - Norway/Palestine
To a Land Unknown (Mehdi Fleifel) - Germany, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Netherlands, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Happy Holidays (Scandar Copti) - Germany, France, Italy, Palestine, Qatar
From Ground Zero (22 directors), France, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar
About the TIFF 2024 season:
In the TIFF 2024 season, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney will discuss some of the best under-the-radar gems at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival through themed episodes.
This is for you if:
You're attending TIFF and look for recommendations;
You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world are exploring similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.
The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).
Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tiff24
These tips are tailored to TIFF but will work for any other film festival.
Sign up here: http://email.seventh-row.com/tiff24
TIFF24 1: Why this season is for you, even if you aren't attending the festival
Season 4 · Episode 1
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 • Duration 11:14
The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) kicks off on Thursday, September 5, and Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney will cover it with a series of podcast episodes.
In this episode, Alex introduces the podcast season and explains why this season is for you and whether or not you're attending TIFF this year.
I'll explain what to expect from this podcast season and why TIFF and our coverage are relevant to you if you're interested in exploring world cinema.
About the TIFF 2024 season:
In the TIFF 2024 season, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney will discuss some of the best under-the-radar gems at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival through themed episodes.
This is for you if:
You're attending TIFF and look for recommendations;
You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world are exploring similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.
The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).
These tips are tailored to TIFF but will work for any other film festival.
Promising Young Woman + The Assistant: Rape culture on film in 2020 (Redux)
Episode 135
Wednesday, November 22, 2023 • Duration 01:44:52
Emerald Fennell's new film, Saltburn, comes out today, so we're re-releasing our 2021 episode about two very different depictions of rape culture from 2020: Fennell's revenge thriller Promising Young Woman and Kitty Green's The Assistant, a portrait of a young woman working in a misogynistic office environment. This is a landmark episode of the podcast, which kickstarted a series of episodes on rape culture on film.
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, and special guest Lindsay Pugh.
Want to support the podcast? Become a member today, and access our entire archive of 150+ episodes. It helps us pay our expenses to keep the podcast going and continue to improve the podcast.
Creative Nonfiction #5: Penny Lane on Confessions of a Good Samaritan and making a self-portrait
Season 3 · Episode 5
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 • Duration 01:01:00
In the fifth and final episode of our Creative Nonfiction Film podcast season, Alex Heeney talks to Penny Lane about her experimentations with documentary form in Confessions of a Good Samaritan. The film is a trip inside Penny’s brain as she goes through the stressful process of anonymously donating her kidney and investigates why kidney donations are necessary. Lane weaves almost all of the techniques from her previous films (and a few more!) into Confessions of a Good Samaritan, offering a thoughtful, educational, and funny look at the complicated feelings that come with doing good in the world at some personal expense.
Alex Heeney talks to Sam Green about 32 Sounds and his work exploring the possibilities of his work that he describes as "live documentaries". These are part locked footage, part live performance, usually including a live band on stage performing the film's music.
On this episode, we give some background on Sam Green's work in live documentary, talk about how A Thousand Thoughts (2018), co-directed with Joe Bini, felt like a turning point for his work in the form, and discuss what makes 32 Sounds such a wonderful and innovative film. Finally, Alex talks to Sam Green about making 32 Sounds, and more broadly about how he thinks about live documentary and why this is a space he likes working in.
The episode features a conversation between Alex Heeney and Orla Smith about 32 Sounds and live documentary, recorded in January 2022 right after the world premiere of 32 Sounds. The interview with Sam Green was conducted via Zoom in January 2022 the day after 32 Sounds had its world (virtual) premiere at Sundance. This is an edited version of the complete conversation; the complete conversation is available on our website here.
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Creative Nonfiction #3: Philippe Falardeau on Lac-Mégantic: This Is Not An Accident and rethinking the true crime doc
Season 3 · Episode 3
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • Duration 01:00:03
In the third episode of our Creative Nonfiction Film podcast season, Philippe Falardeau discusses Lac-Mégantic: This is Not An Accident is a four-part documentary series about the catastrophic 2013 trainwreck in Lac-Mégantic, its inevitability, the aftermath, and the government failure to change safety requirements to avoid another "accident" in future. Lac-Mégantic had its world premiere at the HotDocs Film Festival where all four episodes were screened back-to-back.
The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster was the fourth-deadliest rail accident in Canadian history (47 people died) and the deadliest involving a non-passenger train. The documentary Lac-Mégantic not only chronicles the disaster and its devastating effects on the town Lac-Mégantic, but also how blame was handled and how similar disasters continue to happen.
The series reclaims the history of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster by showing how systemic problems lead to a disaster that has been blamed on individuals. The series also reveals how appropriate safety measures have not been taken in the intervening years to prevent a similar disaster from happening (and other, smaller disasters have indeed continued to happen).
At the beginning of the episode, Alex Heeney introduces the series Lac-Mégantic, and why she thinks it's worthy of discussion. Next, we play your Alex's interview with Falardeau about the film. Finally, we wrap up with how the film fits into the framework for creative nonfiction that we at Seventh Row created in our ebook Subjective realities, and offer some suggestions for what to watch and listen to next.
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Creative Nonfiction #2: Sophie Fiennes on Four Quartets and documenting live theatre
Season 3 · Episode 2
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 • Duration 01:24:30
In the second episode of our Creative Nonfiction Film podcast season, Sophie Fiennes discusses The Four Quartets and how she approaches documenting live performance on screen. In The Four Quartets, she captures the stage play of the same name, directed by and starring her brother, actor Ralph Fiennes. For the production, Ralph Fiennes adapted the T.S. Eliot poem for the stage — which was never originally intended to be performed that way — and then toured this production around the UK in 2021.
Sophie Fiennes’s film of The Four Quartets is neither live capture nor a full adaptation of the play. Instead, Fiennes remarkably documents the theatre production on screen, maintaining all the original lighting and blocking. Her choices of framing and camera movement really puts us in the black box theatre with Ralph Fiennes. Unlike most recorded theatre, where there is a constant sense of information loss, Sophie Fiennes gives us a sense of the theatrical space so we get a better sense of what we’re missing when we’re missing it. It’s built into Sophie Fiennes’s direction.
Sophie Fiennes discusses Ralph Fiennes’s production, the challenges of documenting the play on screen, and how working with Declan Donnellan of Cheek by Jowl just before she shot The Four Quartets changed how she thinks about acting and theatre.
More on creative nonfiction Become a Member Related Episodes on creative nonfiction Credits
Creative Nonfiction #1: An introduction
Season 3 · Episode 1
Monday, May 29, 2023 • Duration 22:13
In the first episode of our Creative Nonfiction Film podcast season, Alex Heeney previews what to expect in this five-episode season and discusses what is creative nonfiction film.
All of our episodes that are over 6 months old are available to members only.
We also regularly record members only episodes.
To get full access to the podcast, including episodes from past Sundance Film Festivals and past Sundance films, become a member.
As a member, you will also be supporting what we do, and helping us cover the (expensive) costs of hosting, running a website, podcast equipment, and more. This helps to ensure we can continue producing the podcast.
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134: Justine Triet's Women on the Verge: In Bed With Victoria and Sibyl
Episode 134
Saturday, May 27, 2023 • Duration 01:42:52
In honour of Justine Triet's historic Palme d'Or win, we are republishing our in-depth discussion of her two most recent films for free.
This episode was originally released on September 8, 2020 as episode 56.
This week on the podcast we look at two of Justine Triet's feature films, In Bed With Victoria (2016) and Sibyl (2019). Both films are non-judgemental character studies of career women in their thirties who are falling apart in various ways. We discuss how Triet's blending of multiple genres emphasizes the multiple facets of a character's life, and more.
In Bed With Victoria (2016) had its world premiere in the Critics' Week section at Cannes. Sibyl (2019) had its world premiere in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Justine Triet is now the third woman director to receive the Palme d'Or, and the second woman director to not share the prize with a man.
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, Editor at Large Mary Angela Rowe, and special guest Lindsay Pugh.
133: Berlinale 2023: Here, Delegation, The Teachers' Lounge, Le Paradis, and more
Episode 133
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 • Duration 42:06
On this episode, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney talks about several highlights of the 2023 Berlinale from the festival's sidebars.
0:00 Intro to the Berlinale & the episode
4:12 Here (Belgium, dir. Bas Devos)
12:20 The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany, dir. İlker Çatak)
16:59 The Quiet Migration / Stille Liv (Denmark, dir. Malene Choi)
23:17 Intro to the Generation sidebar
25:30 Delegation (Israel/Poland/Germany, dir. Asaf Savan)
30:15 Le Paradis / The Lost Boys (Belgium/France, dir. Zeno Gratan)
37:20 Wrap up
First, Alex discusses the best film of the festival she saw, Here (dir. Bas Devos), which screened in the Encounters section where it won the top prize. Next, Alex discusses two films from the Panorama sidebar (the not quite prestigious enough for competition sidebar): award winner The Teachers' Lounge and the low key Danish film The Quiet Migration. Finally, Alex discusses two films from the Generation sidebar, a sidebar of Young Adult films for Young Adults: Delegation and Le Paradis. Finally,
Become a Member
All of our episodes that are over 6 months old are available to members only.
We also regularly record members only episodes.
To get full access to the podcast, including episodes from past Sundance Film Festivals and past Sundance films, become a member.
As a member, you will also be supporting what we do, and helping us cover the (expensive) costs of hosting, running a website, podcast equipment, and more. This helps to ensure we can continue producing the podcast.
In this six-episode season, we discuss how socially progressive depictions of abortion on film have changed and developed since the 1950s. We’re putting the finishing touches on the season now, and hoping to have it out in about a month’s time.
Members get early access to the Abortion on Film season! Once the season starts, we’ll be releasing new episodes every two weeks, but members will get the first three episodes immediately, and early access to the remaining episodes. Become a member.
Listen to the podcast on the ebook Subjective realities: The art of creative nonfiction film
Members receive early access to all new episodes of our season.
Members can also access the entire podcast archive of 150+ episodes. Our recent episodes from our seasons and regular episodes from the last six months are free to all for a limited time.
To get full access to the podcast, including episodes from past Sundance Film Festivals and past Sundance films, become a member.
As a member, you will also be supporting what we do, and helping us cover the (expensive) costs of hosting, running a website, podcast equipment, and more. This helps to ensure we can continue producing the podcast.
Ep. 40: Dead Mothers (Members' Exclusive): We discuss Joachim Trier's Louder Than Bombs, a film that expertly gets inside the head of its thoughtful characters. We also compare it to Mouthpiece and Stories We Tell.
Listen to the podcast on the ebook Subjective realities: The art of creative nonfiction film
All of our episodes that are over 6 months old are available to members only.
We also regularly record members only episodes.
To get full access to the podcast, including episodes from past Sundance Film Festivals and past Sundance films, become a member.
As a member, you will also be supporting what we do, and helping us cover the (expensive) costs of hosting, running a website, podcast equipment, and more. This helps to ensure we can continue producing the podcast.
All of our episodes that are over 6 months old are available to members only.
We also regularly record members only episodes.
To get full access to the podcast, including episodes from past Sundance Film Festivals and past Sundance films, become a member.
As a member, you will also be supporting what we do, and helping us cover the (expensive) costs of hosting, running a website, podcast equipment, and more. This helps to ensure we can continue producing the podcast.
All of our episodes that are over 6 months old are available to members only.
We also regularly record members only episodes.
To get full access to the podcast, including episodes from past Sundance Film Festivals and past Sundance films, become a member.
As a member, you will also be supporting what we do, and helping us cover the (expensive) costs of hosting, running a website, podcast equipment, and more. This helps to ensure we can continue producing the podcast.
Listen to our podcast on My Small Land, which screened in the Generation sidebar at Berlinale 2022. Like this year's The Quiet Migration, My Small Land also tackled the story of a young immigrant in a country where they grew up not looking like the majority of the population.
When you purchase your membership, you wil be given a personal podcast feed link, which you can then open in your favourite podcatcher. After that, the Premium Seventh Row Podcast (MEMBERS ONLY), will update in your podcatcher with new episodes just like every free podcast you listen to.
All of our podcasts that are more than six months old are only available to members. We also regularly release members only bonus episodes. Many of the episodes listed here are now only available to members (Members Only).
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney
You can find Alex on Twitter @bwestcineaste, Instagram @bwestcineaste, and Letterboxd @bwestcineaste.
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