Cinemafile

Mike Kaspar
  • 5.0 (1)
  • FILM INTERVIEWS

Cinemafile showcases the very best in independent, documentary and foreign films through our conversations with the more than 2,000 filmmakers who made them. Through Cinemafile we will do our best to bring the most interesting and accomplished filmmakers from around the world to your attention.

  1. Jimmy and the Demons - Director Cindy Meehl

    5H AGO

    Jimmy and the Demons - Director Cindy Meehl

    For six decades, Jimmy Grashow's intricate woodcuts and fantastical sculptures have graced museums and galleries, iconic album covers and over a thousand publications. As Jimmy approaches 80, he is given the commission of a lifetime that proves to be both exhilarating and daunting. As he obsessively carves his magnum opus, Jimmy searches for the meaning behind this profound and sacred piece to which he devotes every moment. But life is full of surprises and Jimmy is faced with a difficult decision. Navigating through the unexpected twists and turns with humor and trepidation, he experiences the true agony and ecstasy of being an artist. JIMMY & THE DEMONS is an unforgettable reminder that life can be a chaotic struggle, but the power of love, kindness and courage is undeniable. Award winning director Cindy Meehl (Buck, The Dog Doc) joins us to talk about getting to know Jimmy Glashow and his beautiful circle of friends, family and his amazing array of talented artists he counts on to make his unforgettable vision come together. About the filmmaker - Oscar short-listed filmmaker Cindy Meehl is an award-winning director and executive producer known for her feature film documentary work. She founded Cedar Creek Productions in 2008 and directed Buck, her debut film about renowned horse whisperer Buck Brannaman. Premiering at Sundance in 2011, Buck won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Meehl also directed The Dog Doc (2019), about Dr. Marty Goldstein, a veterinarian known for his unconventional healing practices, that premiered at Tribeca and was released in 2020. Her latest directorial venture Jimmy & The Demons, follows celebrated artist James Grashow’s marvelous adventure of creating his magnum opus. The film premiered at Tribeca in 2025 and won several jury awards in festivals around the country.

    17 min
  2. The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist - Co-directors: Charlie Tyrell (Daniel Roher) & Producer Ted

    1D AGO

    The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist - Co-directors: Charlie Tyrell (Daniel Roher) & Producer Ted

    From the Academy Award-winning filmmakers behind Everything Everywhere All at Once and Navalny; a father-to-be (Daniel Roher) tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a hand-made, eye-opening documentary about the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what's at stake if we get it wrong. Co-director Charlie Tyrell and Producer Ted Tremper join us for a spirited conversation on this inevitable technology that is the most hopeful and most fraught technology in the history of mankind. About the filmmaker - Charlie Tyrell is a Canadian filmmaker whose work has screened at major international festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and the Toronto International Film Festival. His films have been featured by The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vimeo Staff Picks, and the CBC. His debut feature, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, premiered at Sundance in 2026 and received a nationwide theatrical release from Focus Features. Previously, Tyrell directed the Academy Award–shortlisted My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes, winner of both a Canadian Screen Awards and a Cinema Eye Honors award. His follow-up film, Broken Orchestra, also premiered at Sundance. He later served as Director of Visual Segments on Amanda Mustard’s HBO documentary Great Photo, Lovely Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and son and has taken an oath not to eat another hot dog until the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series. About the filmmaker - Ted Tremper is a showrunner, director, and writer whose credits include the sequel to Borat, The Daily Show w/ Trevor Noah, Robert Smigel's FOX puppet show Let's Be Real, and I Love You America! w/ Sarah Silverman. He is also the co-creator of SHRINK on Peacock starring Tim Baltz, (Righteous Gemstones). In his spare time he makes bespoke fountain pens which he sells and donates the profits to far-left liberal charities hellbent on destroying America. - IMDb mini biography by: Ted Tremper

    18 min
  3. Esta Isla (This Island) - Co-directors Cristian Carretero & Lorraine Jones Molina

    MAR 26

    Esta Isla (This Island) - Co-directors Cristian Carretero & Lorraine Jones Molina

    Winner of Best New Narrative Directors and Best Cinematography in a Narrative Film at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, Esta Isla (This Island) follows Bebo, a teenager from a coastal Puerto Rican town, living with his brother in a public housing complex. They fish for a living, but their growing desperation drives them to illegal dealings that promise easy money. When a job goes wrong and blood is spilled, Bebo flees with Lola, a wealthy girl seeking to escape her troubled reality. As they navigate the labyrinthine mountains, they encounter remnants of a fading way of life, contrasting with the violence that follows them. As hitmen close in, Bebo must confront his choices and decide if redemption is possible, or if the sea will be their final escape. About the filmmaker - Raising awareness about issues pertaining to women, sexuality, and spirituality within the Caribbean, Lorraine Jones Molina is a Puerto Rican filmmaker who strives to use the medium as a tool for activism and healing. Winner of two Suncoast EMMY awards for a documentary feature film and a science television show, she has also produced several award winning short films throughout the Caribbean and New York. Lorraine is the Co- Founder of the art film production company Experimento Lúdico. About the filmmaker - Cristian Carretero, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, earned his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and studied film at FAMU before obtaining an MFA from New York University in 2015. His films, primarily social dramas, explore contemporary issues in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, focusing on social and environmental challenges. His works have been featured and awarded internationally at venues such as BAM Cinematek, Anthology Film Archives, and the Montreal Film Festival. Co-founder of Experimento Lúdico, Carretero collaborates with clients like National Geographic and The Intercept, and teaches workshops at the University of Puerto Rico.

    18 min
  4. TOW - Director Stephanie Laing

    MAR 26

    TOW - Director Stephanie Laing

    TOW is based on the shockingly true underdog story of Amanda Ogle, a homeless woman who one day wakes up to find that the 1991 Toyota Camry she’d been sleeping in has been towed, along with all her worldly possessions. ll due to a belligerent tug of war over a car valued at less than a grand. Think - a more modern-day ERIN BROCKOVICH. Along the way, she creates a heartwarming support network of struggling women like herself (Octavia Spencer, Demi Lovato, Ariana DeBose) and teams up with a burgeoning young lawyer, played by Dominic Sessa (THE HOLDOVERS), to fight the powers that be. The film is a heartwarming and hilarious story of justice, scrappiness, and a shining testament to never giving up. We're joined by director Stephanie Laing

    18 min
  5. Ghost Elephants - Subject Steve Boyes (Director Werner Herzog)

    MAR 25

    Ghost Elephants - Subject Steve Boyes (Director Werner Herzog)

    For over a decade, Dr. Steve Boyes, conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer, has been in search of a mysterious, elusive herd of Ghost Elephants in the highlands of Angola, deep within its forests. From acclaimed director Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man”), GHOST ELEPHANTS follows Boyes on an epic journey as he sets out with some of the best master trackers in the world, in pursuit of an animal long believed to be a myth. GHOST ELEPHANTS is a lyrical tale of survival, reconnection and the enduring power of ancient knowledge in the face of modern loss. Complementing the film is the coffee table book “Okavango and the Source of Life” by Steve Boyes, releasing March 3 in tandem with the documentary. About the filmmaker - (Director / Writer / Narrator / Producer) Born in Munich in 1942, Werner Herzog grew up as a child in a remote valley in the Bavarian mountains. Until age 11, he did not even know of the existence of cinema. He started to develop film projects from age 15 on, and since no one was willing to finance them, he worked the night shift as a welder in a steel factory during the last years of high school. He also started to travel on foot. He made his first phone call at age 17 and his first film at 19. He dropped out of college where he studied history and literature. Since then, he has written, produced, and directed some 80 films, has published books of prose staged about a dozen operas, acted in films, and founded his own Rogue Film School. For more info, visit www.ghostelephants.com.

    18 min
  6. *Oscar Shortlisted - Late Shift - Director Petra Volpe

    MAR 24

    *Oscar Shortlisted - Late Shift - Director Petra Volpe

    Director Petra Volpe’s LATE SHIFT had its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2025. It went on to become Switzerland’s entry for the 2026 Best International Feature Academy Award® and was short-listed for that nomination. It won the Golden Eye Award from the Zurich Film Festival, The German Camera Award for Judith Kaufmann’s Cinematography, and Leonie Benesch was nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards. LATE SHIFT, follows a dedicated nurse Floria (Leonie Benesch, “The Teachers’ Lounge”, “September 5”) as she navigates the relentless pace of her hospital’s understaffed surgical ward with humanity and warmth. As her overnight shift intensifies, she is pushed to the brink in a race against time. Every second counts, and every interruption could mean the difference between life and death. Our guest, Director and writer Petra Volpe (“The Divine Order”) skillfully uses real-time tension to examine the emotional cost of frontline care work and the quiet, unglamorous triumph of keeping people alive in a pitiless system. LATE SHIFT is a portrait of everyday courage, both an homage to nurses and a rousing call to address the global staffing shortage in the industry. About the filmmaker - Screenwriter and director Petra Volpe studied at the Konrad Wolf Film University in Potsdam‑Babelsberg. Her feature film debut, Dreamland (Traumland, 2014), was nominated for four Swiss Film Awards. In 2017 Volpe gained worldwide attention with her film The Divine Order (Die göttliche Ordnung). The film became a major box office success in Switzerland. It was sold to over 30 countries and represented Switzerland in the Oscar race. Petra Volpe also wrote the screenplay for the film Heidi, the successful SRF series Labyrinth of Peace and Golden Years (Die goldenen Jahre), which became the most successful Swiss feature film of 2022 in German‑speaking Switzerland and was sold internationally, including in the USA. In addition to her Swiss projects, Volpe works as a screenwriter and director in the United States. She is currently working on her fourth feature film, Frank & Louis. Petra Volpe lives and works in Berlin and New York. In Germany she is represented by DIE AGENTEN and in the US by Range Media Partners.

    21 min
  7. *Cinemafile favorite - White with Fear - Director Andrew Goldberg

    MAR 21

    *Cinemafile favorite - White with Fear - Director Andrew Goldberg

    Emmy Award-winning director Andrew Goldberg's latest documentary WHITE WITH FEAR sheds light on the decades-long strategy of politicians and media outlets to amplify racial divisions and white victimization narratives for power and profit. Told by the operatives in the rooms where it happened, WHITE WITH FEAR is an explosive deep dive into the decades-long quest by America’s conservative political machine to amass power by exploiting racial fault lines and stoking narratives of White victimization. WHITE WITH FEAR is a potent journalistic undertaking that unearths the hidden political playbook and key operatives behind these efforts. With revealing first-person access to figures like Hillary Clinton, Steve Bannon, Rep. Jamie Raskin, former Fox News reporter Carl Cameron, The Lincoln Project co-founder Stuart Stevens, and other leading experts, WHITE WITH FEAR offers an urgent and eye-opening look at how racial bigotry is weaponized to undermine democracy. Award winning director and producer Andrew Goldberg joins us for a conversation on the state of the American “experiment” in democracy, and how we might find a way to forge a more “perfect union”. About the filmmaker - An Emmy-Award-winning investigative producer, Andrew Goldberg has directed 14 prime-time documentary specials for PBS/public television, and both long and short-form segments for outlets like CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC News, Live From Lincoln Center, and National Public Radio. His work includes The Armenian Genocide, Jerusalem: Center of the World, They Came to America, Proud To Serve: The Men and Women of the US Army, In addition to many other national PBS films including A Yiddish World Remembered (2002, Emmy Award Winner), Out in America (2010), The Iranian Americans (2012) and others, Goldberg has written and produced for Good Morning America, NOW With David Brancaccio, and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered with Robert Siegel. He was previously a regular contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning’s Nature segment, and Live From Lincoln Center

    28 min
  8. *Cinemafile favorite - Tatami - Co-directors Guy Nattiv & Zar Amir

    MAR 20

    *Cinemafile favorite - Tatami - Co-directors Guy Nattiv & Zar Amir

    Anchored by two trenchant performances, this exquisitely well made film from co-directors Guy Nattiv & Zar Amir about the politics of modern day Iran, TATAMI follows Iranian female judoka Leila (Arienne Mandi) and her coach Maryam (Zar Amir), who travel to the World Judo Championships, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Championships, they receive a chilling ultimatum from the Islamic Republic. Co-directed by Guy Nattiv (Academy Award-Winner for Skin) and Zar Amir (Cannes Film Festival Best Actress-Winner for Holy Spider), join us to talk about their collaboration behind and in front of the camera, ratcheting up the razor-edge relationship between the Leila and Maryam and finding pulling together all the elements of a compelling sports drama with dire international consequences hanging over their families. About the filmmaker - Co-director, Co-writer Guy Nattiv is best known for directing, co-writing and producing SKIN, where he won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. Guy went on to write and direct the feature version, also titled SKIN, which starred Jamie Bell and won the Fipresci Critics Prize at the Toronto Film Festival in 2019. The film was acquired by A24. Most recently he co-directed and co-wrote TATAMI, a historic collaboration between Israeli and Iranian filmmakers, which had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2023 to significant acclaim. The film won two prizes at the Tokyo Film Festival, Best Film at the Munich Festival, and two prizes at Camerimage in Poland. About the filmmaker - Co-director, and co-lead actor (Maryam Ghanbari) Zar Amir is an Iranian-French actress, producer, and director. She rose to international prominence for her performance as journalist Arezoo Rahimi in the crime thriller HOLY SPIDER (2022), for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and Robert Award for Best Actress, among other honors. In 2023, she starred in SHAYDA, which won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Amir also stars in READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN (2025), which won both the Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize at the Rome International Film Festival.

    18 min
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About

Cinemafile showcases the very best in independent, documentary and foreign films through our conversations with the more than 2,000 filmmakers who made them. Through Cinemafile we will do our best to bring the most interesting and accomplished filmmakers from around the world to your attention.

Information

  • Creator
    Mike Kaspar
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    171
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Mike Kaspar
  • Show Website
    Cinemafile

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