Episodes

  • 136. HKIFF50: Sleep No More (2026) - Interview with Director Edwin
    Jun 14 2026

    The fourth of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival is with Edwin, director of the fantasy horror Sleep No More. Edwin shares his wide range of influences from Indonesian cinema history and beyond, speaks to his film’s commentary on labor rights, shares his own Deep Cut pick, and… shares a sing-along with Wilson?!

    Take a nap in our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00 Intro

    04:04 Indoneisan horror film history

    07:30 Edwin's influences

    09:00 Indonesian politics and labor

    15:38 Scary scenes

    17:57 Casting

    20:34 Special effects

    23:12 Edwin's future horror

    24:39 Edwin's Deep Cut Pick

    25:57 Sing-along

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    28 mins
  • 135. HKIFF50: Ah Girl (2026) - Interview with Director Ang Geck Geck
    Jun 7 2026

    The third of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the outgoing, reflective Ang Geck Geck, director of the semi-autobiographical childhood drama Ah Girl. Wilson connects with the Singaporean director over the long road to producing Ah Girl, the research with social workers that informed the script, the parts of her own childhood and family that are in the film, and her own Deep Cut Pick.

    Speak in Mandarin, English, or pretty much any other language in our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00 Intro

    02:32 Interview begins

    07:03 Research with social workers

    10:56 Child actors

    15:09 Language

    19:55 Personal history

    26:00 Ending of the film

    27:44 Next film

    28:53 Deep Cut Pick

    30:05 Outro

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    32 mins
  • 134. HKIFF50: Silent Friend (2025) - Interview with Director Ildikó Enyedi & Tony Leung
    May 31 2026

    The second of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the thoughtful, patient Ildikó Enyedi, director of the equally thoughtful and patient Silent Friend. Wilson connects with the Hungarian director over her pensive approach to the natural world, the special place that HKIFF holds in her experience as a filmmaker, and her admiration of star Tony Leung… whose interview with Wilson is also at the end of this episode!

    Befriend a tree in our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00 - Intro

    03:03 - Enyedi interview

    04:16 - Working with Tony Leung

    06:15 - Enyedi's relationship with trees

    07:32 - Academia and science

    09:36 - Intercutting timelines

    12:25 - Dreams, psychedelics, ecology

    15:02 - Production process

    17:08 - Casting a tree

    19:41 - Other Enyedi films

    21:34 - Further explorations

    23:13 - Enyedi's Deep Cut

    25:48 - Tony Leung Interview

    28:13 - Outro

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    30 mins
  • 133. HKIFF50: Palimpsest: The Story of a Name (2026) - Interview with Director Mary Stephen
    May 24 2026

    The first of 7 director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival. Mary Stephen is a legend in world cinema, having worked as an editor for Éric Rohmer and Ann Hui, and being a celebrated film director in her own right. Wilson chats with Mary about her latest film, the personal documentary PALIMPSEST: THE STORY OF A NAME — its twisty narrative structure, its relationship to memory and family, and her deep ties to the city of Hong Kong. They also dig into her remarkable career as an editor, from switching between film and digital, to her creative collaborations with Rohmer, Ann Hui, and Jessey Tsang, and what she carries from that work into her own filmmaking.

    Links:

    Trace your roots in our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00 Introduction

    03:08 Mary presenting her film to Hong Kong audiences

    05:03 Palimpsest's twisty narrative

    07:04 How being an editor influenced her filmmaking

    08:25 Narration and narrative in the film

    10:27 Unused archive footage

    12:27 Mary's relationship with her family

    15:11 Mary’s relationship with Hong Kong

    17:33 Editing: Switching from film to digital

    19:20 Working with Eric Rohmer

    30:13 Collaborations with Ann Hui and Jessey Tsang

    35:41 Working with collaborators as a director herself

    38:43 Closing

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    41 mins
  • 132. Marina de Van: Don’t Look Back
    May 17 2026

    Let’s, uh, frickin LOOK BACK at Marina De Van’s 2009 psychological thriller / body horror flick, Don’t Look Back. Sophie Marceau turns into Monica Bellucci; meanwhile, Eli tries to piece together the puzzle of De Van’s obscure career, Wilson notices the special effects, and Ben makes comparisons to soap operas.

    Links:

    Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Moods by Mariana Alessandri

    Interviews with & articles on Marina de Van:

    • Rotterdam, 2019

    • Screenslate, 2022

    • Dread Central, 2022

    • The French Review, 2010

    • The Guardian, 2004

    • Pinnland Empire, 2012

    Look at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00 Intro

    02:39 Introducing Don't Look Back

    05:21 General reactions

    15:17 Context

    17:55 Comparing with In My Skin

    21:59 What the heck is happening in this movie

    28:06 Performances

    31:34 De Van career arc

    33:52 De Van's filmmaking

    38:51 Wrapping up De Van... for now?

    42:20 Outro

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    44 mins
  • 131. Marina de Van: In My Skin
    May 3 2026

    Not for the faint of heart, Marina de Van’s film In My Skin challenges our stomachs, hearts and minds. While Wilson squirms, Ben gets to the heart of why Eli loves sicko mode movies. Can one of the most underrated New French Extremism films secretly be deeply empathetic?

    Links:

    The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning by Maggie Nelson

    “The Goon Squad” by Daniel Kolitz (Harpers Magazine, 2025)

    Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Moods by Mariana Alessandri

    Interviews with & articles on Marina de Van:

    • Rotterdam, 2019

    • Screenslate, 2022

    • Dread Central, 2022

    • The French Review, 2010

    • The Guardian, 2004

    • Pinnland Empire, 2012

    Get in our skin (ew?) at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00:00 Intro

    00:03:23 Introducing In My Skin

    00:06:13 General reactions

    00:11:29 Body fascination

    00:14:37 Is it horror?

    00:18:34 Eli goes sicko mode

    00:26:04 Director background

    00:32:12 Addiction / self-discovery

    00:40:38 Characters

    00:46:08 Female horror

    00:49:45 Splitscreens and artmaking

    00:55:12 The ending

    01:00:28 g00ning

    01:04:44 Dinner scene

    01:12:16 Additional crew on In My Skin

    01:16:31 Closing ideas

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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • 130. HKIFF50 Dispatch (The Drama, Blue Heron, Silent Friend, We’re Nothing at All, and MORE!)
    Apr 26 2026

    哈囉 from Hong Kong! Wilson recaps a busy edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, including meeting and interviewing the one and only Tony Leung Chiu Wai for SILENT FRIEND. Wilson also chats about the seven(!) soon to come director interviews he conducted for the podcast, and some interesting classic films shown at this year’s edition of HKIFF. The trio also discuss some exciting new releases including new films from Hong Sang-soo, Carla Simon, and Anthony Chen.

    Links:

    Tony Leung Interview

    The Blade Video Essay

    Radu Jude on Hong reel

    Take the MTR to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00:00: Intro

    00:07:34 Meeting Tony Leung

    00:14:23 Silent Friend (2025) dir. Ildiko Enyedi

    00:16:27 Sleep No More (2026) dir. Edwin

    00:20:04 Ah Girl (2026) dir. Ang Geck Geck

    00:23:33 Memory (2025) dir. Vladlena Sandu

    00:30:48 Palimpsest: The Story of a Name (2025) dir. Mary Stephen

    00:36:37 Mare’s Nest (2025) dir. Ben Rivers

    00:39:40 Vive L’amour (1994) dir. Tsai Ming Liang

    00:43:48 Panelstory or Birth of a Community (1981) dir. Věra Chytilová

    00:45:54 Ah Ying (1983) dir. Allen Fong

    00:49:13 The Horse Thief (1986)dir. Tian Zhuangzhuang

    00:51:03 Unknown Pleasures (2002) dir. Jia Zhangke

    00:53:30 Days and Nights in the Forest (1970) dir. Satyajit Ray

    00:54:55 Final Victory (1987) dir. Patrick Tam

    00:59:20 We Are All Strangers (2026) dir. Anthony Chen

    01:06:37 We’re Nothing at All (2026) dir. Herman Yau

    01:10:40 My Father’s Shadow (2025) dir. Akinola Davies Jr.

    01:11:45 The Day She Returns (2026) dir. Hong Sang Soo

    01:18:20 Magellan (2025) dir. Lav Diaz

    01:22:15 Romeria (2025) dir. Carla Simon

    01:24:40 The Voice of Hind Rijab (2025) dir. Kaouther Ben Hania

    01:27:50 Writing Life – Annie Ernaux Through the Eyes of High School Students (2025) dir. Claire Simon

    01:31:00 Blue Heron (2025) dir. Sophy Romvari

    01:36:00 The Drama (2026) dir. Kristoffer Borgli

    01:40:15 Outro

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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • 129. Kelly Reichardt: The Mastermind
    Apr 19 2026

    “[Reichardt] makes you love these dicks.” – Wilson

    How on earth does she do that? Does she have the mind of a master? Join us as we find out how Reichardt’s idiosyncratic style in The Mastermind helps you love this one dick despite all the hairy situations he’s entangled in. We debate the film’s reception during the AMC secret screening debacle, Reichardt's constantly zagging career, and her place in the American cinema landscape amidst dwindling cultural literacy.

    Links:

    Filmstage interviewMind of a master video

    Master your mind at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

    Timestamps:

    00:00 Intro

    05:18 General reactions

    13:55 The ending

    19:28 Reichardt films and public reactions

    28:19 Parts we liked about the movie

    32:24 Josh O’Connor

    36:03 More on the public’s reaction

    44:16 Alana Haim

    49:51 Outro

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    52 mins