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The 1930's Fresh Air Award

Episode #44 - Welcome to the fifth Fresh Air Award! Four cinephiles continue a Fourwind Films tradition of awarding a film that pushed cinema forward the most as an artform during a particular decade. To be nominated, a motion picture has to have advanced cinema in some way and made a lasting impression on how movies are made. This episode delves into the decade that saw the first full decade with sound becoming mainstream in film and the introduction the Technicolor three color process, 1930-1939.

To start the episode, our host, Justin Joseph Hall goes through a quick history lesson on what was happening in cinema business and technology in the decade.

The four cinephiles who select the nominees in this panel are cinephiles Elizabeth Chatelain, Justin Joseph Hall, John Robert Hammerer and Kevin Hinman. Any moving images that came out in the appropriate decade is eligible for nomination. Nominations spanned documentaries, shorts, animated films, and feature films. They featured cinema with thoughtful use of sound design, the first feature animation, films with the Technicolor three color process, the template for romantic comedies, and maybe the most famous film of all-time.

Here is the link to all the nominations: 1930’s Fresh Air Award Nominees - Letterboxd list

There were several overlaps, but here are the main nominations made by each panelist:

Elizabeth Chatelain nominees

Rules of the Game (1939)

M (1931)

Colour Box (1935)

Sisters of the Gion (1936)

It Happened One Night (1934)


Justin Joseph Hall nominees

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)

Land Without Bread (1933)

Lampião, o Rei do Cangaço (1937)


John Robert Hammerer nominees

Duck Soup (1933 )

Freaks (1932)

Porky in Wackyland (1938)

Rules of the Game (1939)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)




Kevin Hinman nominees

M (1931)

Flowers and Trees (1932)

King Kong (1933)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)



To find the 1930’s Fresh Air Award winner click on this link!

We hope you enjoy this episode! Share with us your own lists, comments, arguments, and films that we left out via social media @fourwindfilms. We’re on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

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The 1930's Fresh Air Award Fourwind Films

Thanks for listening, Season 8 to come shortly!

Thank you to our cinephiles who did joined this out of their passion. To hear more from them, visit links below:

Elizabeth Chatelain

Quatre-Vents Post-Production

Movie Directing & Writing


Justin Joseph Hall

Quatre-Vents Post-Production

Fourwind Films


John Robert Hammerer

Director's site

Kevin Hinman

Magnum Opus

Spesh to Death

Credits for podcast:

Production Company - Fourwind Films

Fresh Air Award Contributors for 1900s Decade - Elizabeth Chatelain, Tracey Goessel, Justin Joseph Hall, & Kevin Hinman

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Editor - Billie Jo Laitinen

Sound Mixer - Hans Bilger

The theme song of Season 6 is New Tires by Silent Partner.

Additional Music - The Beat Goes On by Backyard Wrestling & As the Stars Turn by Pandelion.