Episode #23 - Welcome to a totally COVID kind of Feature & a short. Fourwind Films has decided to dedicate a podcast to talking about the best of the contagion films seen by our accountant Laura Davi, and your host, Justin Joseph Hall who has been called a movie encyclopedia. We redirect our documenting of our small film events to bring you our second film list episode!

The definition of an epidemic an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population. We are doing this episode because our lives have been stagnant and we’re looking for ways to cope. Films are a quick way for humans to process other people’s minds. So what will this list do for you? If you watch these films, you may help understand the conditions of contagions in society through the medium of film. These are the films we think are the best at communicating what life might be like during the time of a contagion.

First we discuss the BEST SHORT and FEATURE FILMS since STAY AT HOME ORDERS March 22nd in New York

Tusalava

This animation film appears all over YouTube. A great few minutes to take a step back and reflect.

The Shawshank Redemption

Frank Darabont watched Goodfellas (1990) every Sunday while shooting this film and drew inspiration from it, on using voice-over narration and showing the passage of time.

Place Beyond the Pines

Compelling two part story about family and mystery with hunky lead actors, Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

We loved this film so much we actually watched another film from Céline Sciamma’s earlier work as she’s been making films over the past two decades. The real similarities I noted in her style is her use of music. The absence of a score until the music is so utterly embedded in the moment or feeling of the film. The silence let’s the music drive emotion more when it is present and Céline has mastered this art in Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Also, best title ever.

BEST CONTAGION FILMS - Movies that teach us about possible scenarios of human spread contagion

Fast Spreading Contagion Films list

Philadelphia

TriStar the studio actually felt there was a need for this film, not so much about the disease, but to have Jonathan Demme have a homosexual main character was essential in the director and studio’s eyes.

Dallas Buyers Club

This is one of those “based on a true story” that isn’t quite accurate but is more of a conglomeration to express the mood of the times. Based off of the man Ron Woodroof, but the film budget was incredibly low and they shot the film on twenty-five shoot days.

High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell

Everyone knows the crack epidemic. Wordlwide 585,000 people died as a result of drug use in 2017. COVID-19 is 232,180 at the moment. This story is visceral, not only is my favorite film by Episode 21 guest, Jon Alpert who was a producer and cinematographer on the film. Jon and the team with Downtown Community Television captured Christian Bale’s character Dicky Eklund. It’s only an hour and packs an unbelieveable wallop

Thriller

The death count of zombies is unknown and presumed to be zero. But this metaphor for disease and/or stupidity is a favorite in the film genres. This film is my short, very closely followed by One Cut of the Dead that Thomas introduced me to in our 2010’s Fresh Air Award Episode. Director of Blue’s Brother’s SNL spinoffs, John Landis spent half-a-million dollars in the 1980’s making this 13 minute film.

Requiem for a Dream

Based on a book written by Hubert Selby, Jr. in 1978. Greeks, Egyptians, Sumarians, Chinese, Americans, Germans all have encountered this seemingly endless contagion in our society. Darren Aronovsfy makes this disease live through music and compression of time. He orchestrates everything you may notice in drug use, especially heroin use.

These are our top Contagion films, please write us at info@fourwindfilms.com or shout out to us on social media for the films we overlooked @fourwindfilms

Credits for podcast:

Produced by Fourwind Films

Host: Justin Joseph Hall

Contributor: Laura Davi

Brian Trahan - Sound Mixer

Theme song of Season 4 is Loopster by Kevin MacLeod.

Episode #21 - This episode features Jon Alpert, Oscar-nominated and Emmy-award winning documentary journalist. Prestigious award ceremonies aside, Alpert has been making films for over forty years and has stories for DAYS. Highlights include the story of how he was chosen as the director for the first Sundance film by Robert Redford, and another dives into how he and his partner Keiko Tsuno managed to get breaking footage in Vietnam during the war. As a co-founder of DCTV he shares how the Chinatown documentary incubator offered film equipment to anyone who wanted to tell stories about the community. Alpert’s career was birthed out of supporting his community, and he continues to prioritize doing so to this day.

The films he curated for the episode are both extremely personal. The short film by Jasmine Barclay is called, “When Life Hands You Lemons.” It tells the story of how she was houseless for all of high school without most people in her life having any idea. For the feature, Jon chooses his most personal documentary, “Papa.” Jon also shares how this film got made by working with documentary legend Sheila Nevins

Jasmine was part of the DCTV program “ProTV.” The free school teaches underprivileged high schoolers how to make film. Link to donate.

Credits:
Photography - Justin Joseph Hall, Piper Werle, Laura Davi

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Location - Downtown Community Television Center

Production Assistant - Laura Davi

Production Company - Fourwind Films