Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

Wilson, Ben, and Eli
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Deep Cut: A Film Podcast is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. Each episode we discuss either a director's most popular film or a "Deep Cut Pick": a personal favorite chosen by one of us. We've covered movies from filmmakers like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnes Varda, Éric Rohmer, Kelly Reichardt, Wong Kar-wai, S.S. Rajamouli, Bong Joon-ho, and more. Looking for film recommendations off the beaten path? This is the pod to follow! Links to our Discord and other socials here: https://deepcutpod.com

  1. 121. Hong Sang-soo: On the Beach At Night Alone

    4 DAYS AGO

    121. Hong Sang-soo: On the Beach At Night Alone

    What do Inception, Tim Robinson, Luis Buñuel, Woody Allen, and Chantal Akerman have in common? They all get compared to Hong Sang-soo’s On the Beach at Night Alone in this episode of Deep Cut! Listen on as we unpack the movie that’s loosely about Hong’s and Kim Min-hee’s career-changing relationship, digest more awkward dinner scenes, and discuss the merits of going to the beach in the winter. Links: Scold your friends for being inauthentic at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:31 General reactions 08:00 Context / Hong+Kim relationship 14:32 SG public opinion survey 18:04 Hong Sang-soo's 'Inception' 20:08 Hong Sang-soo / Tim Robinson 21:43 Hong / Buñuel 25:45 Hong not planning era 27:17 Ryan Swen Notarized and dinner scene 33:16 What to do with this movie? 38:13 Hong's Chantal Akerman 41:10 Hong as Woody Allen 😬  43:35 Shape of this film 46:43 Outro

    49 min
  2. 120. Chantal Akerman: The Meetings of Anna

    11 JAN

    120. Chantal Akerman: The Meetings of Anna

    Is traveling through Europe too expensive? Then hop aboard a train with the Deep Cut trio and Chantal Akerman for another sensitive, lightly autobiographical story of a surrogate character experiencing ennui and/or despair. Along the road trip, there’s sex, ‘70s outfits, and… windows. Ultimately, we struggle to decide: how well can we know Akerman through her work (or, for that matter, anyone)? Meet Ben, Wilson, and Eli (kinda) at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 03:46 Summary 04:27 General reactions 11:33 Jeanne Dielman vs The Meetings of Anna 16:39 Mom and Akerman herself 22:37 Plot sequence and Akerman’s subjectivity 30:32 Other Akerman films 34:20 Akerman and loneliness 37:39 Ending 40:12 Sex 43:29 Singing

    53 min
  3. 119. Chantal Akerman: Je Tu Il Elle (featuring Justina Yam)

    28/12/2025

    119. Chantal Akerman: Je Tu Il Elle (featuring Justina Yam)

    We are joined by none other than friend of the pod and the artist behind all of our DC covers, Justina Yam! Justina comes on the podcast to take us back to the works of Chantal Akerman, with her first feature Je Tu Il Elle. Justina talks about her personal connection to Akerman’s films, and discusses how she continues to play with time in her filmography. Wilson and Eli talk about expressions through body language and narration, and Ben has a theory about Je Tu Il Elle being a non-linear film.  Do you want DC merch? Tell us on the Discord! Links: Justina’s Instagram Justina’s recent photojournalism project: 風流 (Feng Liu) Ira Sachs on Je Tu Il Elle Eat sugar at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:44 Introducing Justina Yam 00:07:09 Je tu il elle introduction 00:08:04 General thoughts on Je Tu Il Elle from Justina and Wilson 00:13:21 General context of the film 00:15:27 General reactions from Ben and Eli 00:18:09 Sugar? Long Takes? 00:20:56 Feminism and Akerman  00:23:30 The three act structure 00:27:44 Blocking and the body 00:34:06 Long takes 00:36:42 Sex scenes 00:41:43 Autobiographical nature of the film 00:47:16 Temporality  00:53:49 The ending and career context 00:58:49 Discomfort within Akerman’s cinema  01:04:03 Outro

    1h 12m
  4. 118. SGIFF36: A Useful Ghost (2025) - Interview with Director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

    23/12/2025

    118. SGIFF36: A Useful Ghost (2025) - Interview with Director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

    Ben got a chance to interview director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke for his film A Useful Ghost (2025) that played at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival, where it also won the Special Mention Prize for the Asian Feature Film Competition.  Learn about Boonbunchachoke’s creative process, how he developed the story, and his approach to filmmaking as a whole that tends towards artificiality, deadpan humour and an engagement with history. Special thanks to the SGIFF team for helping us with securing an interview time/location, and to Momo Film Co, the film’s Singapore co-production team for helping to coordinate the interview.  Suck less at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:47 Reception 04:00 Queer readings 07:39 Developing story and themes 12:02 Political / historical references 13:24 History, memory, surveillance 18:19 Artificiality, worldbuilding, craft 25:36 Spoilers: Frame story 27:25 Spoilers: Ending 31:43 Other appliance candidates 33:42 Upcoming work 34:35 Outro

    36 min
  5. 117. 36th Singapore International Film Festival (2025) Dispatch (Resurrection, Silent Friend, Two Seasons Two Strangers, Amoeba, and MORE!)

    14/12/2025

    117. 36th Singapore International Film Festival (2025) Dispatch (Resurrection, Silent Friend, Two Seasons Two Strangers, Amoeba, and MORE!)

    Another festival coverage episode? We’re back to back with Asian film festivals and Ben returns to Singapore to cover the hottest films from the festival circuit and the region for the 36th Singapore International Film Festival. Our film coverage spans the most hotly contested tickets (Silent Friend, Girl, Resurrection, Sentimental Value), cinema classics (Matador, Water, Bye Bye Love), and promising first features from the region (Amoeba, A Useful Ghost, Old Man and His Car) This is a spicy and fun episode where Ben reflects honestly about his festival experience and Singapore’s cinema culture, as well as sharing his optimism with the concurrent ground-up efforts (The Daily, FFIGS) reinvigorating that culture. On top of all that, we also find the time to do a very special celebration in the middle of the episode. Links: Correspondence / The Daily ⁠Ben’s piece on the Cinephile Pass FFIGS Deepa Mehta Write-up Luca Guadagnino video on costumes  Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers at MoMA Madame Morible Wicked Witch meme Interview with Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (forthcoming!) Correspond with us at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:15 Festival as a whole  00:08:45 Netflix acquisition of WB 00:11:51 Festival operations 00:20:33 Festival passes 00:24:15 Banned films 00:27:48 SGIFilmFeud 00:28:25 Correspondence / The Daily 00:30:56 FFIGS 00:34:40 Optimism 00:38:14 The films / Bye Bye Love (1974) dir. Fujisawa Isao 00:43:10 How Dare You? (2025) dir. Mipo O 00:46:14 Two Seasons, Two Strangers (2025) dir. Sho Miyake 00:48:29 Audience behaviour 00:51:25 Girl (2025) dir. Shu Qi 00:56:20 Resurrection (2025) dir. Bi Gan 01:02:25 Water (2005) dir. Deepa Mehta 01:07:02 A Celebration 01:09:00 Sentimental Value (2025) dir. Joachim Trier 01:11:25 Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloe Zhao 01:14:25 Late Fame (2025) dir. Kent Jones 01:18:07 Matador (1986) dir. Pedro Almodovar 01:21:20 Silent Friend (2025) dir. Ildikó Enyedi  01:27:00 SEA Shorts Programme 01:31:36 The Old Man and His Car (2025) dir. Michael Kam 01:36:50 Amoeba (2025) dir. Tan Siyou 01:43:10 A Useful Ghost (2025) dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke 01:51:16 Wrapup 01:57:30 Bonus

    1h 58m
  6. 116. TIFF38: Morte Cucina (2025) - Interview with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and Bella Boonsang

    07/12/2025

    116. TIFF38: Morte Cucina (2025) - Interview with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and Bella Boonsang

    While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and lead actress Bella Boonsang for their film Morte Cucina. Morte Cucina follows Sao as she takes an unconventional path toward revenge against a man who has wronged her. Listen in to hear about Ratanaruang’s candid thoughts on his approach to filmmaking, Boonsang’s initial trepidation and determination to tackling this tricky role, and Ratanaruang’s evolving working relationship with the film’s DP, Christopher Doyle (their third feature film collaboration!). Special thanks to the TIFF team for arranging the interview! Get revenge at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:22 Inspiration for the film 04:30 Bella’s reaction to the script 06:23 Casting Bella Boonsang 09:45 Cinematography with Chris Doyle 13:15 The movie is made on set 17:30 What is love? 22:17 Outro

    24 min
  7. 115. 38th Tokyo International Film Festival (2025) Dispatch (Hamnet, Love Massacre, Palestine 36, The Mastermind, and MORE!)

    23/11/2025

    115. 38th Tokyo International Film Festival (2025) Dispatch (Hamnet, Love Massacre, Palestine 36, The Mastermind, and MORE!)

    Armed with a press pass and the Japanese language level of a 3 year old, Ben took to the cinemas of Tokyo during the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival. Ben’s coverage spans a varied 17 films over 10 days of the festival: buzzy and fresh Japanese films (Bring Him Down to a Portable Size; The Last Blossom; All Greens…) international film festival darlings (Lost Land; Palestine 36…), and a handful of exciting restorations (Demon Pond, Love Massacre…).  And if you haven’t listened to Ben’s interviews from during the festival, what are you waiting for? 114. Sato and Sato (2025): Interview with Director Amano Chihiro 116. Morte Cucina (2025): Interview with Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Bella Boonsang Other Links: Chloe Zhao x Hirokazu Koreeda ようこそto our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:23 TIFF38 Press Experience 00:08:55 Demon Pond (1979) dir. Masahiro Shinoda 00:14:28 Pale Flower (1964) dir. Masahiro Shinoda  00:17:55 Floating Clouds (1955) dir. Mikio Naruse 00:23:32 Love Massacre (1981) dir. Patrick Tam 00:29:01 April Story (1998) dir. April Story 00:32:58 3.11 disaster sidebar 00:36:10 Blonde (2025) dir. Yûichirô Sakashita 00:39:35 Sato and Sato (2025) dir. Chihiro Amano 00:43:41 All Greens (2025) dir. Takashi Koyama 00:47:40 The Last Blossom (2025) dir. Baku Kinoshita 00:52:35 Lost Land (2025) dir. Akio Fujimoto 00:58:30 Echoes of the Orient (2025) dir. Yang Liping 01:00:55 Labyrinth (2025) dir. Shoji Kawamori 01:03:46 Bring Him Down to a Portable Size (2025) dir. Ryota Nakano 01:07:18 Morte Cucina (2025) dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang 01:12:45 Palestine 36 (2025) dir. Annemarie Jacir 01:20:16 The Mastermind (2025) dir. Kelly Reichardt 01:24:23 Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloé Zhao 01:32:55 Wrap-up

    1h 38m
  8. 114. TIFF38: Sato and Sato (2025) - Interview with Director Chihiro Amano

    17/11/2025

    114. TIFF38: Sato and Sato (2025) - Interview with Director Chihiro Amano

    While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Chihiro Amano for her film Sato and Sato. Sato and Sato covers the 15 year span of a relationship as it slowly unravels, covering marriage, parenting, and the ways relationships morph over time. In our short interview, we talk about changing gender dynamics as depicted in Amano’s film, how she worked with her cast to create the characters and relationship, and find a little resonance with other Deep Cut director Chantal Akerman.  Special thanks to the festival team for arranging the interview and guiding me around the festival, and to the provided interpreter, Ninomiya Yukako. Get hitched at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:44 Interview: Same last names 03:50 Working with the cast 07:47 Women’s empowerment 09:49 Spoiler 10:40 Male insecurity 12:44 What is love? 13:56 Outro

    15 min
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About

Deep Cut: A Film Podcast is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. Each episode we discuss either a director's most popular film or a "Deep Cut Pick": a personal favorite chosen by one of us. We've covered movies from filmmakers like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnes Varda, Éric Rohmer, Kelly Reichardt, Wong Kar-wai, S.S. Rajamouli, Bong Joon-ho, and more. Looking for film recommendations off the beaten path? This is the pod to follow! Links to our Discord and other socials here: https://deepcutpod.com

Information

  • Creator
    Wilson, Ben, and Eli
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    122
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Wilson, Ben, and Eli
  • Show Website
    Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

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