Movie Interviews

Arts

'This Is About Lifting Culture,' Says History-Making Producer Charles D. King

6:07am April 07, 2021

by Mandalit del Barco

Judas and the Black Messiah has made Oscar history as the first Best Picture nominee with an all-Black producing team. And it's not the first time producer Charles D. King has made Hollywood history.

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New Documentary Examines Ernest Hemingway's Complicated Life

6:07am April 05, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick about their new PBS documentary Hemingway. Actor Jeff Daniels reads from Hemingway's private letters and other writings.

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'Tina' Directors On Walking A Fine Line In New Tina Turner Documentary

6:03pm March 28, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with directors Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin about the life of Tina Turner captured in the new HBO documentary.

A Conversation With The Director Of Oscar-Nominated Documentary 'Time'

5:00pm March 27, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with director Garrett Bradley about her new film, which follows a woman campaigning for the release of her husband who's serving a 60-year prison sentence.

Eddie Izzard co-wrote the script for Six Minutes to Midnight, and stars as half German, half British teacher Thomas Miller.

Arts

Eddie Izzard: 'Hopefully Hitler Is Revolving In Some Trench'

7:59am March 27, 2021

by Scott Simon

Izzard is the co-writer and director of a new movie, Six Minutes to Midnight, based on the real story of a 1930s British finishing school for the daughters of high-ranking Nazis.

Arts

MC And Actor Riz Ahmed Embraces A New Kind Of Role In 'Sound Of Metal'

1:53pm March 26, 2021

by Terry Gross

Ahmed is nominated for an Oscar for his role as a drummer who loses his hearing in Sound of Metal. To prepare for the part, he immersed himself in deaf culture. Originally broadcast Dec. 15, 2020.

Sacha Baron Cohen, front right, plays Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Arts

For Actor-Activist Sacha Baron Cohen, Being Called A 'Bouffon' Is A Good Thing

6:11am March 24, 2021

by Elizabeth Blair

Up for Oscars for two different movies — The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm -- Cohen says he was influenced by Peter Sellers, Monty Python and French clown Philippe Gaulier.

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The Oscar-nominated Disney/Pixar film Soul centers on Joe (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a middle school band teacher who longs to be a jazz musician.

Arts

'Soul' Creators On Passion, Purpose And Realizing You're 'Enough'

12:01pm March 23, 2021

by Terry Gross

The Oscar-nominated film imagines a place where souls are matched with unique passions. Pete Docter and Kemp Powers say their movie is meant to challenge conventional notions of success and failure.

Education

New Netflix Documentary Shows How Money Can Buy Admission To A Top U.S. University

4:20pm March 18, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Chris Smith, director of the Netflix documentary Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal.

Sports

Writer And Director Eddie Huang Challenges The Model Minority Myth In 'Boogie'

4:15pm March 11, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Eddie Huang about his new movie, Boogie, about a Taiwanese-American high schooler who has big dreams of playing professional basketball.