Movie Interviews

Ewan McGregor and Hannah Nordberg play a troubled father and daughter in American Pastoral.

Books
Arts

New 'American Pastoral' Movie Is A '60s Tale Still Relevant Today

7:57am October 15, 2016

by NPR Staff

The new film American Pastoral tells the story of a father in 1960s New Jersey whose comfortable, suburban life falls apart after his daughter becomes radicalized, commits a crime and disappears.

Arts

In 'Desierto,' A Sniper Hunts Mexican Immigrants Along The U.S. Border

4:38pm October 14, 2016

Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal tells NPR's Ari Shapiro what drew him to the role of a border crosser in the new action-horror film, Desierto.

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Taraji P. Henson plays family matriarch Cookie Lyon on Fox's Empire.

Books
Arts

'I Had To Create My Own Lane': How Taraji P. Henson Found Her Place In Hollywood

3:11pm October 14, 2016

by Karen Grigsby Bates

The actress became famous for her role in TV's Empire, but the road to Cookie wasn't easy. In her new memoir, Around the Way Girl, Henson shares stories of pushing her way to the top.

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First-time film actress Madina Nalwanga (left) says she often copied co-star Lupita Nyong'o's warm-up exercises on the set of Queen of Katwe.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Lupita Nyong'o, 'TV: The Book,' 'Take My Wife'

11:20am October 14, 2016

by Linda Holmes

This week in a special episode, we're featuring three conversations with interesting folks from movies, television, and books (about television).

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Toledano on set, being made up for one of his fates.

Arts

A Photographer Gets Old — Over And Over — In 'The Many Sad Fates'

7:30pm October 01, 2016

by NPR Staff

Photographer Phillip Toledano lost both his parents, an aunt and an uncle and began to wonder — what other dark turns did life have in store? He explores the possibilities in a new short film.

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Arts

Filmmaker Andrea Arnold On 'American Honey' And Preserving Mystery In Film

3:04pm September 29, 2016

Arnold's latest film, which won the Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, tells the story of a group of abandoned teenagers who travel together selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door.

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South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee (left) and director Shin Sang-ok (right) made nearly 20 films for their captor, Kim Jong Il.

Acting For Film Or Acting For Life? Doc Tells Story Of Kim Jong Il's Captives

10:53am September 27, 2016

by Neda Ulaby

The North Korean leader was so crazy about movies that he kidnapped a South Korean actress and director and forced them to work for him. The Lovers and the Despot tells their story.

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Arts

'Deepwater Horizon' Director On The BP Oil Spill And The 'Addictive Dance' For Fuel

1:29pm September 26, 2016

Peter Berg discusses his new film, which recreates the final hours of the oil rig that exploded and sank, causing the BP oil spill. Eleven rig workers died trying to prevent the disaster.

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Queen of Katwe was filmed in English, but that isn't Madina Nalwanga's first language. "She worked extremely hard," co-star Lupita Nyong'o says, "and I think her discipline as a dancer came in very handy."

Arts

Ugandan Actress's Journey Mirrors That Of Her 'Queen Of Katwe' Character

7:33pm September 23, 2016

by NPR Staff

Like her chess champion character, first-time film actress Madina Nalwanga grew up in a poor neighborhood in Uganda. She says co-star Lupita Nyong'o has been her guide to the world of moviemaking.

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Arts

'Audrie & Daisy' Explores Social Media Shaming After Sexual Assaults

4:43pm September 23, 2016

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to co-directors and husband and wife duo, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, about their documentary, Audrie & Daisy. The documentary addresses the sexual assault — and ensuing social media shaming — of two high school girls.