The Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, for a full day celebrating independent cinema at Eastwood Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, California. Three eras. One celebration of cinema. The Past - films worth rediscovering. The Present - acclaimed new releases and festival favorites. The Future - bold new work from the next generation of filmmakers. Join us for feature films, shorts, and conversations with filmmakers, including an in-person Q&A with Shi...

Yoon Dan-bi discusses her second feature, The World Before, ahead of her premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. We explore her fascination with emotions that resist easy explanation, her search for authenticity in fiction, and an intentionally restrained approach to filmmaking that leaves room for actors, accidents, and imperfections to shape the film. Yoon also reflects on her first feature, Moving On, finding a sense of belonging through cinema, and Yasujiro Ozu’s Good M...

Irene Kaltenborn discusses The Mother Age, her sensory documentary which premiered in CPH:DOX’s NEXT:WAVE competition. Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, which explores a different approach to storytelling that questions our fixation on heroes, conflict, and competition in favor of coexistence, care, and connection. We also discuss Irene’s intuitive filmmaking process, creating the film in the Finnish forest, and the cinema that inspires her, including Robin Pe...

Miles Williams discusses the revival of Glendale's historic Alex Theatre and its return to first-run cinema after more than 35 years, including the installation of 70mm projection and its breakout success with Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. We explore why audiences are returning to theaters, the resurgence of physical media, and what the communal moviegoing experience can offer that streaming can't replicate. We also discuss curation, repertory cinema, getting audiences into seats, and crea...

I Is Another marks Felix Randau's return to the Locarno Film Festival, where the film premieres in competition. Inspired by the true story of Felix Kersten, personal masseur to Heinrich Himmler, we discuss why Randau rejected a conventional hero narrative in favor of a morally ambiguous portrait, exploring the blurred line between truth, history, and the stories we choose to believe. We also discuss antiheroes, historical storytelling, filmmaking in Germany, and the films that shaped Felix's ...

Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel joins Past Present Feature just before his world premiere of The Guest in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Since this recording, The Guest has gone on to win the festival's Special Jury Prize, while Mengel received the Best Director Award. We discuss how the film grew from a simple question into an intimate family drama shaped by years of writing, collaboration, and refinement. Along the way, we explore contained story...

Cara Cusumano, Director of Programming for the Tribeca Festival, joins Past Present Feature as the festival celebrates its 25th year. She pulls back the curtain on how one of the world's premier film festivals selects its films, and how curation, audience, and timing shape every lineup. Along the way, Cara reflects on the films and filmmakers that shaped her own cinematic taste, from F for Fake, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, to the fiction work of David Fincher, Agnès Varda, and Steven Sp...

Daniel Blake Schwartz breaks down how Tribeca Best U.S. Narrative Feature winner Cotton Fever grew out of years spent collecting stories during his own experience with addiction and recovery, ultimately transforming those fragments into a deeply personal debut feature. Drawing inspiration from filmmakers like Andrea Arnold and Hirokazu Kore-eda, Schwartz pursued a style rooted in realism, empathy, and lived experience rather than conventional dramatic structure. The film evolved from a self-f...

Alan D’Escragnolle breaks down how his company Filmhub is rethinking distribution, shifting away from gatekeeping toward flexible, film-specific strategies. Instead of a single path, films are matched with what they actually need, whether that’s AVOD, SVOD, or a more hands-on sales and marketing push. The bigger shift is economic. With hundreds of thousands of titles entering the market each year, access is easier than ever, but monetization is harder. Success now comes down to positioning, a...

Tawfik Sabouni breaks down his Berlinale-bound documentary Other Side of the Sun and how it grew out of lived experience, from filming protests during the Syrian revolution to imprisonment, exile, and ultimately shaping that reality into his first feature. He doesn’t separate fiction and nonfiction, approaching cinema as one language built around truth and urgency. The film follows survivors returning to the prison where they were held, using reenactment to access memory rather than spectacle...

Charlie Tyrell breaks down how The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, this years SXSW Audience Award winner now in theaters from Focus Features, turns an overwhelming, abstract subject into something personal by grounding it in fatherhood. Instead of approaching AI through pure information or fear, the film frames it through the lens of bringing a child into the world, making the stakes immediate, emotional, and human. Co-directed by Daniel Roher, Academy Award winning director of Nav...

Belgian filmmaker Frederike Migom breaks down her Berlinale premiere Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays, a coming-of-age story set almost entirely inside a single home and a young girl’s mind. The film explores identity through a tightly contained structure, blending realism with imagined sequences that bring the character’s inner world to life. She talks through her unconventional path into directing, from acting and production work to navigating Europe’s state-funded film system. A key turning point...

Jeremy Workman discusses Secret Mall Apartment, his Netflix documentary about a group of Rhode Island artists who secretly built and lived in an apartment inside a busy shopping mall, filming the entire four-year experiment themselves. After a strong self-released theatrical run, the film is now streaming on Netflix. Jeremy traces the project back to a chance meeting in Athens, where he connected with the main subject and slowly earned the trust of the full group after years of other filmmake...

Gille Klabin discusses Weekend at the End of the World, his follow-up to The Wave, and the deliberate choice to build a second feature that didn’t require waiting for studio permission. Shot in 12 days on a sub-$300K budget, the film was designed around creative, logistical, and financial control. Gille reflects on the lessons he learned from The Wave’s release, where traditional distribution left him frustrated by opaque marketing spends and limited transparency, and how that experience resh...

Sharon Liese joins the show after premiering Seized at Sundance to unpack the story behind the Marion, Kansas newspaper raid that ignited a national debate around press freedom, abuse of power, and the fragility of the First Amendment. What begins as an egregious police search of a small-town newsroom expands into a layered portrait of community tension, history, ego, and how something unthinkable can happen in a place that looks quiet on the surface. The film moves beyond headlines into char...

Gabby Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman join the show after winning Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize to unpack the ten-year road behind Nuisance Bear, a polar bear’s journey through two connected worlds: tourist-heavy Churchill, Manitoba, and the Inuit community of Arviat, where the stakes are far more complex and far less welcoming. The film becomes a meditation on coexistence, control, and who gets labeled a “nuisance” in a shared landscape. We dig into craft and access: finding the right position fo...

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Stephanie Ahn discusses Bedford Park, (Special Jury Award) her Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition debut about a Korean American woman in her 30s pulled back into her parents’ home after her mother’s car accident, where she meets the man responsible and an unexpected connection begins to form. Ahn shares why she needed to make this film, how growing up Korean American left her hungry for stories that felt real beyond familiar clichés, and why writing Bedford Park meant finally walking straight...

Documentary filmmaker and editor J.M. Harper discusses Soul Patrol (Best Director Winner at Sundance ‘26), his six-year journey telling the story of the first Black special operations unit in Vietnam. What began with reading Eddie Manuel’s book grew into years of weekly conversations, slow trust-building, and eventual access to never-before-seen Super 8 footage and photographs shot by the soldiers themselves. Harper also reflects on how his work editing Jeen‑Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy sharpen...

Sundance feature programmer Ania Trzebiatowska joins the show to talk about curation as craft, responsibility, and intuition. From her roots in Poland to running Krakow’s Off Camera festival, working in acquisitions at Visit Films, and programming U.S. and world documentary features at Sundance, Ania reflects on how taste is formed and why being pleasantly surprised when viewing submissions still matters most. We discuss the realities filmmakers obsess over, including who you know, timing, ma...

Italian documentarian Parsifal Reparato discusses She, his five-year journey inside Vietnam’s electronics manufacturing world, where young migrant women work 12-hour shifts producing devices for the global market. What began as labor-rights research grew into a portrait of fear, capitalism, and survival, earned through slow trust-building with workers afraid to speak openly. We unpack creative influences like Lars Von Trier’s Dogville, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, and the observat...

Taiwanese filmmaker Shih-Ching Tsou traces her path from a strict upbringing in Taipei to directing Left-Handed Girl, Taiwan’s 2025 Oscar submission for Best International Film, and now streaming on Netflix. After years working alongside Sean Baker, the four-time Academy Award winner known for Anora, Tangerine, and The Florida Project, and her creative partner since they co-directed their first feature Take Out, Shih-Ching steps forward with her solo directorial debut. Shih-Ching and Baker wr...

12 films. 3 nights. 1 Collective. The Past Present Feature Film Festival is a curated, three-day showcase of cinematic storytelling across time, highlighting overlooked gems, current festival hits, and future feature films in the making. Sponsored by The Past Present Feature Podcast and Leica Camera, all screenings take place November 19 – 21 in Hollywood, CA, at the Eastwood Performing Arts Center (1089 N OXFORD AVE, 90029) Tickets @ pastpresentfeature.eventive.org 🎟️ ALL ACCESS PASSES Now A...

Janicke Askevold unpacks her journey from shooting Together Alone with friends during COVID to premiering her new feature Solomamma at the Locarno Film Festival. The Norwegian actor-turned-director traces how a one-page pitch led to full Norwegian Film Institute backing and a 25-day Oslo shoot that balanced long summer daylight, short 8-hour workdays, and a five-year-old co-star. Solomamma follows Edith, a journalist and single mother who secretly seeks out her sperm donor - an encounter that...

Mercedes Bryce Morgan unpacks the whirlwind making of Bone Lake, an 18-day Atlanta shoot that battled storms, injuries, and lost gear before completing its night-boat climax on a Los Angeles soundstage. After a Fantastic Fest premiere and Deadline-breaking international sales, the erotic survival thriller heads to U.S. theaters with buzzy audience reactions and a proudly “fun, commercial, popcorn” spirit. Mercedes traces her path from mini DV Star Wars shorts and USC to festival features, des...

Norwegian filmmaker Audun Amundsen, director of Click the Link Below, which premiered at Doc Edge in Auckland, follows online gurus like Akbar Sheikh and Tai Lopez to show how engagement algorithms reward extremes and blur value with hype. Audun traces an unlikely path from renewable energy engineer and backpacker to documentarian, surviving a stroke at 23 before returning to Indonesia that resulted in his previous documentary Newtopia, a 15-year chronicle of a community’s shift from ba...

Nina Knag’s debut feature, Don’t Call Me Mama, which marks her arrival as a bold new voice in cinema, just premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Crystal Globe competition. She tackles the taboo subject of relationships between older women and younger asylum seekers through the lens of complex, unapologetic female anti-heroes. Drawing from personal insight and the influence of trailblazing female filmmakers, Knag crafts a story where the setting becomes an active for...

Thom Powers, a renowned documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), former artistic director of DocNYC, and host of the “Pure Nonfiction” podcast, delves into his journey from filmmaker to influential festival curator. Thom shares behind-the-scenes details about programming films like “The Bibi Files,” directed by Alexis Bloom, and Rebecca Huntt’s “Beba,” highlighting the unique power of documentaries to engage audiences. Thom emphasizes the importance of ...

In this conversation, filmmaker James DeMonaco discusses his journey from writing the comedy “Jack” and working with Francis Ford Coppola and Luc Besson, to creating the successful “Purge” franchise. Up next is his latest, a psychological horror film, “The Home” starring Pete Davidson, which is releasing theatrically July 25th via Roadside Attractions. DeMonaco shares insights on genre forms in screenwriting - and a 30 year career as a Hollywood screenwriter, the challenges of productio...

In this first episode of Season 2, documentarian Madeleine Gavin joins Past Present Feature to discuss the making of "Beyond Utopia", her gripping BAFTA and Emmy-nominated film about North Korean defectors. She reflects on the emotional intensity of telling stories under high-stakes conditions and the delicate trust required between filmmaker and subject. From the invisible hand of editing to the indivisibility of sound and image, Madeleine shares insights into her creative process, drawing i...

Julia Max, director of “The Surrender”, which premiered at SXSW and is now streaming on AMC+, discusses her journey as a filmmaker, with past inspiration coming from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Julia shares insights into the horror genre, the importance of character development, and the challenges of navigating the filmmaking process. She emphasizes the significance of a supportive team, the role of women in film, and the impact of audience reception on future projects. Julia touch...

Co-Directors David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano share their take on the unique blend of horror and comedy in their latest film, “I Don’t Understand You”, now in theaters following SXSW. Past films discussed include Eugene Levy’s 1992 crime-comedy “Once Upon a Crime”. They share their personal experiences working with producing partners Joel and Nash Edgerton, what it’s like to film in Rome, Italy, and the importance of collaboration with an Italian crew. The conversation also touches on nosta...

Indian filmmaker Natesh Hegde discusses his journey in filmmaking, from his early inspirations to the challenges and triumphs of creating his latest film, “Tiger’s Pond,” which just world-premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Past inspo includes Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami's 1990 film “Close Up”. Natesh shares insights on collaborating with family, including casting his father in the lead, the importance of sound design, and the unique experience of shooting on 16mm film. He emp...

This episode explores the journey of filmmaker Vibeke Løkkeberg, who spent 52 years creating her film, “The Long Road to the Director’s Chair,” which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Past cinema discussed includes Italian Neorealism and Andrei Tarkovsky. Vibeke’s film highlights the struggles and achievements of women in the film industry, delving into the ongoing fight for equality in filmmaking, the challenges faced by female directors, and the impact of commercialism on artistic expr...

In this conversation, Yiwen Cao discusses her groundbreaking AI-generated film 'What's Next?’, which premiered at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival. Although past films about AI are discussed, including “Her”, “A.I.”, “Ex Machina”, and “The Matrix”, Yiwen’s favorite movie is Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy/musical “Some Like It Hot”. She shares insights into the creative process, including making the film over six and a half days on no sleep, the themes of the film, and the role of AI in filmmaking, e...

Phil Cox discusses the importance and challenges of navigating the film ecosystem and festival landscape, and the innovative storytelling techniques used in his documentary “Khartoum”, which just screened at the Berlin Film Festival following its Sundance premiere. Past filmmakers discussed include the films of Frederick Wiseman and Joshua Oppenheimer. Phil shares insights on collaboration and community among filmmakers, the challenges of activist filmmaking, which aims to resist traditional ...

Nayibe Tavares-Abel shares her journey from a political science background to becoming a documentary filmmaker. She discusses her film “Colossal”, which just premiered at Berlinale. Past films discussed include “Beyond Utopia” by Madeleine Gavin. Nayibe’s film intertwines her family history with the political landscape of the Dominican Republic, exploring themes of political violence, activism, and the importance of storytelling. She emphasizes the challenges of documentary filmmaking, the si...

Dylan Southern talks about his film “The Thing with Feathers,” based on Max Porter's book and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which delves into themes of loss and family relationships after a mother’s passing. The film made its debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, followed by Berlinale. He also references previous films that inspired him, including Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” Dylan shares his experience of transforming the book into a film, highlighting the need to grasp the emotional he...

Sarah Miro Fischer is the director of “The Good Sister”, which just enjoyed its World premiere in the Panorama section at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Past films discussed include Thomas Vinterburg’s “The Hunt”. Sarah discusses her emotional journey of premiering at Berlin, sharing insights into her filmmaking process which includes a fruitful collaboration with co-writer Agnes Maagaard Petersen, and the challenges of addressing sensitive themes, which require trust and open communicatio...

Ben Hethcoat opens up about his decade-long journey creating the documentary "Coroner To The Stars," which focuses on Dr. Thomas Noguchi, a well-known coroner famous for his work on high-profile celebrity deaths, including those of Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. Ben draws inspiration from documentary legend Errol Morris. He tackles the difficulties of addressing sensitive subjects like death, the personal ties that shaped his filmmaking, and the need to handle public perception and media hy...

In this conversation, Nathaniel Lezra discusses his journey as a documentary filmmaker, focusing on his latest project, “Roads of Fire”, which just won Best Documentary at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Nathaneil’s past inspirations include Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence”. He reflects on the challenges and triumphs of cinematically capturing the humanitarian crisis and the political climate’s impact on filmmaking. He also shares insights int...

Gaby Dellal discusses the journey of creating her latest film “Park Avenue”, which just premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Her past inspirations include “Midnight Cowboy” and “Midnight Express”. She reflects on her transition from acting to directing, the themes of motherhood in her work, and the impact of industry politics on her projects. Gaby also speaks on the intricacies of independent filmmaking, including her experiences working with the now infamous Harvey Wei...

Director Daniel Straub and cinematographer (and brother) Austin Straub discuss their film “Out of Plain Sight”, which just won the Audience Award at Santa Barbara, ahead of their LA premiere with Slamdance. Past influences include Alex Garland’s “Annihilation”. The conversation explores the themes of environmental awareness and the legacy of chemical pollution, the power of documentary filmmaking and the authenticity that comes from capturing real stories, emphasizing the impact a documentary...

Montreal-based Directors Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky delve into the making of their Rotterdam documentary “A Man Imagined”, which focuses on the life of Lloyd, a homeless man with schizophrenia surviving amidst urban detritus and decay. Past inspo includes "Dog Days" by Austrian director Ulrich Seidl. They discuss their unique approach to storytelling, challenges in finding and capturing Lloyd's essence, and their collaborative relationship with him throughout the filming process - emph...

Netherlands-based director Aaron Rookus explores themes of self-acceptance, mortality, and the quest for fulfillment through the lens of filmmaking ahead of his Rotterdam Film Festival premiere of “Idyllic”. Past inspirations include Tom Tykwer’s “Run Lola Run” and the films of Charlie Kaufman. Aaron speaks on the impact of personal experiences, such as illness and loss, on creative expression and the importance of humor in addressing serious topics. The conversation also delves into the dyna...

Colombian filmmaker Gala Del Sol discusses her debut feature film, “Rains Over Babel”, which just screened at this years Sundance and Rotterdam Film Festivals. Careful not to borrow too heavily, her cinema influences include Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, who directed “Black Cat, White Cat”, and her favorite film of all time - “Children of Paradise”, from French director Marcel Carné. Exploring a unique blend of magical realism, punk aesthetics, eclectic score and vibrant sound design, Gal...

Tad Nakamura, the director of Sundance-bound "Third Act," reflects on his latest documentary, which centers on his father Robert Nakamura, a distinguished filmmaker frequently recognized as a trailblazer in Asian American media. Tad drew inspiration from his father’s 1974 short doc “Wataridori: Birds of Passage”. Tad shares the unique experience of growing up in a filmmaking family, the pressures of legacy, and the profound emotional connections that arise from documenting family stories. The...

Co-directors Pasqual Gutierrez & Ben Mullinkosson blur the lines between fiction and non-fiction with their latest film “Serious People”, which just had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Ben discusses his filmmaking journey from Chicago to Shanghai and Pasqual shares the inspiration behind their film, which stemmed from a vivid dream he had, as well as real life - and also from the past works of Roy Andersson (“A Pigeon Sat on a Branch”) and Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sad...

Italian filmmaker Gianluca Matarrese discusses his documentary project “GEN_”, which is premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Past inspo includes the films of Frederick Wiseman. Gianluca delves into the complexities of his filmmaking philosophy, exploring the therapeutic nature of his creative process, and the importance of community and validation in the industry. He reflects on his journey as a filmmaker, the influences that shaped his work, and the significance of finding hu...

Delaney Buffett, recipient of the Golden Key Award at the Key West Film Festival and director of “Adult Best Friends” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, stresses that when creating comedy, the story comes first. Past films discussed include Mike Nichols’ “The Birdcage” and Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids. She shares insights on developing her film with friends, the significance of real-life experiences in crafting relatable narratives, and the importance of emotional depth in storytelling...