INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE with Greg Laemmle & Raphael Sbarge

Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche and newly nominated Gotham Award performer Tom Courtenay star in QUEEN AT SEA, a deeply moving and morally complex new film from writer-director Lance Hammer, returning to feature filmmaking 18 years after his acclaimed Sundance-winning debut, BALLAST.

What happens when the person you've spent your life with begins to disappear right in front of you? And when protecting someone you love means making decisions for them, how do you know what is right?

Binoche plays Amanda, a woman who returns to London to be near her mother, Leslie (Anna Calder-Marshall), who is living with advanced dementia. There, she finds herself in a painful conflict with her stepfather, Martin (Courtenay), over questions of love, consent, and responsibility.

Courtenay has just received a 2026 Gotham Film Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance for his role in the film.

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, Raphael Sbarge and Greg Laemmle welcome Lance Hammer for a thoughtful conversation about the personal experiences that inspired the story, the extraordinary cast, and the intensive rehearsal and improvisation process that helped bring the film to life.

Hammer also shares the remarkable story of how Tom Courtenay helped cast Anna Calder-Marshall, why real police and medical professionals became part of the production, and what he discovered about collaboration and creative freedom after nearly two decades away from feature filmmaking.

QUEEN AT SEA is a film that refuses easy answers, inviting audiences to consider the complicated choices families make when love, dignity, and personal freedom come into conflict.

Opening October 30 at the Angelika Film Center in New York, with a nationwide theatrical release to follow.

Distributed by Greenwich Entertainment.

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John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito—and a New York that's disappearing before our eyes.

In THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK, writer-director Noah Segan brings us a funny, suspenseful, and unexpectedly moving story about an aging thief whose particular skills—and the city he once knew—are becoming obsolete.

In this conversation with INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge, Segan shares the remarkable story of how John Turturro came aboard the film, including the moment his longtime friend and producer Rian Johnson insisted he get on a plane to New York to meet the actor.

Segan also discusses the classic crime films that inspired him, returning to the New York neighborhoods of his childhood, working with an extraordinary ensemble, and the wonderfully unexpected dance sequence that began with a video Turturro sent from his home office.

Along the way, he takes us inside his filmmaking process—from using vintage lenses to creating a collaborative environment where, as he puts it, the best idea in the room wins.

Featuring Tatiana Maslany, Will Price, Victoria Moroles, and Jamie Lee Curtis, THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK is both a love letter to an earlier New York and a celebration of the wonderfully imperfect people who inhabit it.

Produced by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman's T-Street and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

In New York and Los Angeles theaters October 23, nationwide October 30.

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE — The people, films, and ideas keeping independent cinema alive.

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What happens when a thirteen-year-old Jewish boy preparing for his bar mitzvah decides he might actually be Catholic?

Actor Joshua Malina (The West Wing, Scandal) joins Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss ETHAN BLOOM, a warm, funny, and unexpectedly moving coming-of-age film about religion, grief, first love, and the complicated relationship between fathers and sons.

Malina plays Gary, a widowed father trying to understand his son, Ethan, whose search for spiritual comfort leads him from his Jewish upbringing toward the Catholic Church.

Directed by Herschel Faber, the film approaches some of life's biggest questions with humor, compassion, and a welcome sense of curiosity.

A conversation about acting, family, faith, and the beautiful messiness of growing up.

Find the film and screenings: https://www.menemshafilms.com/ethan-bloom

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge, celebrating the filmmakers and films at the heart of independent cinema.

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What does it mean to spend your working life entering strangers’ homes, photographing their private spaces — and then moving on?

Writer-director Paula González-Nasser joins Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss THE SCOUT, her acclaimed feature debut starring Mimi Davila as a New York location scout whose unusual job offers fleeting glimpses into the lives of strangers.

Drawing from González-Nasser’s own years scouting productions including Russian Doll, Search Party, High Maintenance and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the film becomes something much larger: a funny, quietly moving exploration of creative work, loneliness, urban life, and the people whose labor makes movies possible.

Paula talks about finding a movie inside an invisible job, the influence of filmmakers like Chantal Akerman and Michelangelo Antonioni, learning to trust the film’s slower rhythm, shaping Sofia with Mimi Davila, and the very real anxiety of stepping behind the camera for the first time.

A New York Times Critic’s Pick, THE SCOUT is now in theaters from Greenwich Entertainment.

00:00 — THE SCOUT
01:10 — Finding a Film in an Invisible Job
03:40 — Location Scouting After COVID
04:51 — The Films That Shaped THE SCOUT
07:27 — Film Clip: Inside a Stranger’s Home
09:20 — Trusting the Film’s Slow Burn
11:42 — Why Sofia Stays at the Edge of the Frame
12:36 — Editing: When to Enter and Leave a Scene
14:27 — Becoming a Director — and Imposter Syndrome
17:31 — The Voicemails: A Greek Chorus
20:00 — The Real Cost of New York Locations
20:24 — THE SCOUT Trailer
22:31 — Why the Story Is Just a Day in the Life
24:05 — Creating Sofia with Mimi Davila
25:58 — Antonioni, French New Wave & Visual References
27:12 — How Audiences Are Responding
28:59 — Finding Humor in New York Loneliness
30:54 — Closing

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THE LAST FIRST: WINTER K2 | Amir Bar-Lev

There are mountains people climb because they can. And then there is K2.

The second-highest mountain on Earth, and one of its deadliest, had never been climbed in winter. For decades, mountaineers called it the last great first. In 2021, teams from around the world converged on its slopes to claim it.

Amir Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story, My Kid Could Paint That, Happy Valley) joins Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss The Last First: Winter K2, his account of that season and what it revealed: the commercialization of extreme mountaineering, the pressure of cameras and social media, national pride, the economics of expedition climbing, and the long question of who gets credit for the risks taken at altitude.

At the film's center are Icelandic climber John Snorri Sigurjónsson, Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara and his son Sajid, and the Nepali climbers determined to make history on their own terms. Their paths expose fault lines of class, nationality and opportunity running through the traditional hierarchy of Himalayan climbing.

Bar-Lev also talks about building a documentary from competing accounts, archival footage and survivors who don't agree on what happened, and why he chose to preserve that uncertainty rather than resolve it.

What does it mean to be first? Who gets remembered? And when ambition, money, national identity and filmmaking itself enter a place where one decision can mean life or death, who pays the price for glory?

The Last First: Winter K2 premieres October 2 on Apple TV.

Film clips, trailer material and production imagery courtesy of Apple Original Films.

Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge.

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Sundance-winning director Josef Kubota Wladyka joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!, his joyous, deeply personal new film starring Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi.

Kikuchi plays Haru, a woman whose life in Tokyo has revolved around ballroom dancing with her husband, Luis. When tragedy suddenly upends that world, Haru retreats from life — until family, friendship, desire and dance begin pulling her back toward it.

Wladyka talks about the deeply personal inspiration he found in his Japanese mother, and how that connection helped shape a story about grief, resilience, aging, identity and the complicated ways people begin again. He also discusses collaborating with Kikuchi, building a character who is allowed to be messy and contradictory, and using dance as an emotional language when words are no longer enough.

The conversation explores the film's balance of humor, tenderness and magical realism; the challenge of moving between sorrow and joy without sentimentalizing either; and the importance of allowing older characters to retain desire, unpredictability and agency.

Wladyka also reflects on the film's journey to Sundance, where his direction was honored, and on the larger idea at the heart of HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!: that grief and joy are not opposites, and that sometimes the act of moving forward begins quite literally by moving your body.

A warm, funny and surprisingly moving conversation about loss, love, desire — and why we should never stop dancing.

00:00 — Introduction: HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!
01:32 — Meet Director Josef Kubota Wladyka
03:45 — Finding Joy in a Story About Grief
06:25 — The Personal Story Behind the Film
09:15 — Rinko Kikuchi and Creating Haru
12:10 — When Life Gets Messy
15:25 — Dance as an Emotional Language
18:35 — Grief, Desire and Starting Over
21:45 — Humor, Fantasy and Magical Realism
24:45 — Japan, Family and Cultural Identity
27:30 — Sundance and Trusting the Film
30:05 — Why We Should Never Stop Dancing

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is dedicated to the people, films and ideas keeping independent cinema alive. If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, watch the full episode on YouTube, and join us each week for new conversations with the filmmakers behind the movies worth seeing on the big screen.

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THE WEIGHT director Padraic McKinley joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, and the making of his gripping Depression-era wilderness thriller.

Set in Oregon in 1933, THE WEIGHT stars Hawke as Samuel Murphy, a father separated from his daughter and sentenced to a brutal work camp. When Warden Clancy, played by Crowe, offers him early release in exchange for transporting stolen gold across treacherous wilderness, Murphy accepts—but suspicion, betrayal, and desperation soon begin to fracture the group.

McKinley traces the unusual path that led to his feature directorial debut. After years as an editor and television director, he formed a creative partnership with Hawke while making THE GOOD LORD BIRD. That relationship helped transform THE WEIGHT into a deeply personal story about a father determined to return to his daughter.

He also takes us inside the film’s creative DNA, from SORCERER, DELIVERANCE, THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, and SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION to the patient, character-driven American filmmaking of the 1970s. McKinley explains how editing shaped his approach to directing and how vintage lenses, restrained coverage, long takes, and an episodic structure created the film’s distinctive rhythm.

The director also recounts the punishing production in the Bavarian forest—including freezing water, unforgiving terrain, heavy packs, ticks, temperamental period automobiles, and an injury sustained by Hawke. Finally, he shares what it was like directing Hawke and Crowe together—and why, when two actors of that caliber sit across from one another, sometimes the director’s most important job is simply to make sure the camera is running.

THE WEIGHT also stars Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Alec Newman, and Sam Hazeldine. The film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, and opens in U.S. theaters September 18 from Vertical.

Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge.

Please follow INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE and share the episode with someone who loves independent cinema. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

00:00 Directing Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe

00:22 Introducing THE WEIGHT

01:51 Director Padraic McKinley joins the show

02:12 From editing to directing

04:43 Meeting Ethan Hawke

08:02 The origins of THE WEIGHT

10:19 Rebuilding the screenplay

12:35 THE WEIGHT trailer

14:51 The classic films that inspired THE WEIGHT

18:42 Returning to patient, character-driven storytelling

21:27 Creating the look of a 1970s thriller

22:55 Filmmaking in an age of shrinking attention spans

27:10 The emotional meaning of the teddy bear

28:25 Surviving the Bavarian forest

31:19 Shooting in unforgiving terrain

33:15 Working with Ethan Hawke

34:48 Directing Russell Crowe

37:24 Two great actors face one another

40:14 Why THE WEIGHT belongs in theaters

41:26 Closing

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The people, films, and ideas keeping independent cinema alive.

#TheWeight #EthanHawke #RussellCrowe #PadraicMcKinley #IndependentFilm

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Academy Award-winning filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss THE CYCLE OF LOVE, the extraordinary true story of PK Mahanandia and his nearly 6,000-mile bicycle journey from India to Sweden for love.

In 1977, PK, a young street artist from Delhi born into a poor Dalit family, set out on a secondhand bicycle with a handful of paintbrushes and almost no money. His destination was Sweden, where he hoped to reunite with Lotta, the woman he loved and believed fate had promised him.

Von Einsiedel discusses discovering PK and Lotta’s story through their children and the six-year journey required to bring it to the screen. He explains how limited archival footage led the filmmakers to combine personal archives, dramatic reconstruction, vérité documentary, and unscripted encounters with people along PK’s original route.

The conversation also explores the caste discrimination that shaped PK’s childhood, his struggle to believe himself worthy of love, and the strangers whose kindness transformed his understanding of himself.

THE CYCLE OF LOVE is an inventive, deeply moving, and unabashedly hopeful reminder that love can cross borders, challenge the divisions society creates, and change the stories we believe about ourselves.

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INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE celebrates two years of filmmaker conversations with Jim Jarmusch, Mark Cousins, Embeth Davidtz, Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni, and Alexandre O. Philippe.

What began with the hope that someone might watch has grown into more than 100 episodes, nearly half a million subscribers, and over four million views. To mark our second anniversary, we’re returning to five of the conversations you watched—and shared—the most.

Director and film historian Mark Cousins explores the mind and movies of Alfred Hitchcock through MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK.

Actor and filmmaker Embeth Davidtz discusses her deeply personal directorial debut, DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, adapted from Alexandra Fuller’s memoir about a childhood shaped by family, memory, and the final years of colonial Rhodesia.

Jim Jarmusch reflects on his creative life, his distinctive approach to filmmaking, and FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER.

Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni take us inside CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, their extraordinary documentary about Sara Shahverdi, the first elected councilwoman in her rural Iranian village—and her fight to create a different future for its girls.

Director Alexandre O. Philippe discusses CHAINED REACTIONS, his documentary exploring the lasting cultural and artistic impact of Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.

These films could hardly be more different, but each reflects what brought us here in the first place: a belief that movies matter—and that thoughtful conversations with the people who make them can deepen the way we see their work.

Thank you to every filmmaker who has joined us, and to everyone who has watched, listened, subscribed, commented, and shared over these first two years. We truly could not have done it without you.

Chapters

00:00 Two years of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE
01:19 Mark Cousins on MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK
07:48 Embeth Davidtz on DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT
13:14 Jim Jarmusch on FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER
19:01 Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni on CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS
24:41 Alexandre O. Philippe on CHAINED REACTIONS

Watch INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE on YouTube and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the filmmakers shaping independent, international, and arthouse cinema:

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HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR director Andrius Blaževičius joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss Lithuania’s official Oscar submission and his Sundance-winning drama about marriage, Ukraine, propaganda and moral compromise.

Marija tells her husband Vytas that she wants a divorce on February 23, 2022. The next morning, Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Blaževičius uses the fracture of one family to reflect a larger crisis: a Europe divided by fear, political polarization and the temptation to choose personal comfort over collective responsibility.

In this extended conversation, he discusses the atmosphere in Lithuania during the first months of the invasion, political divisions within families, changing gender roles and the challenge of finding bittersweet humor in people attempting to behave honorably—and failing their own ideals.

He also takes Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge inside the film’s remarkably natural performances and explains why the couple’s young daughter becomes its quiet witness, seeing far more than her parents understand.

HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and is Lithuania’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.

00:00 A Marriage and a Continent in Crisis
00:08 Introducing HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR
01:00 INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE
01:30 The Conversation Begins
02:04 Building a Story Around Divorce and War
04:03 Lithuania’s Fear: “We’re Next”
05:37 When Political Division Enters the Family
07:31 Comfort vs. Collective Responsibility
09:40 HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR Official Trailer
11:40 Making the Political Personal
14:29 Weak Men, Strong Women and Changing Roles
17:41 Performances That Feel Like a Documentary
21:31 Finding Humor in Difficult Times
24:41 Characters Who Fail Their Own Ideals
28:50 Dovilė: The Child Who Sees Everything
31:32 Why the Film’s World Looks So Gray
34:42 Choosing Comfort Over Truth
37:12 Sundance, the Oscars and the Film’s U.S. Release
38:40 Closing

The film is now playing in U.S. theaters.

Tickets, theaters and more information:
https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/how-to-divorce-during-the-war

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There is no straight line through the life of Franz Kafka.

FRANZ director and three-time Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE for an extended conversation about Kafka and her bold, unconventional new film, a TIFF 2025 Official Selection.

Rather than trying to solve the mystery of Kafka, Holland enters it—moving through dreams, letters, loves, fears and contradictions to find the fragile, funny and fiercely determined man obscured by a century of mythology.

Past and present collide as Prague remembers Kafka, reinvents him and transforms a once-suppressed writer into a modern cultural brand. At the center is Idan Weiss, whose quietly affecting performance lets us glimpse the living man behind the literary icon.

Holland reflects on discovering The Trial as a teenager and coming to regard Kafka as an "admired brother"—someone she wanted, in her words, to bring out of the shadows and into color and light.

She also takes us inside the making of FRANZ: its restless, fragmented structure; the creative freedom that allowed her to approach the film like "quantum physics"; finding Idan Weiss; and the challenge of bringing Kafka's terrifying "In the Penal Colony" to the screen.

Along the way, Holland speaks candidly about Hollywood, the disappearance of ambitious middle-scale cinema and the artistic fearlessness she has found at this stage of her career.

What emerges is both a portrait of Kafka and a conversation about the elusive act of filmmaking itself—how we search for someone across time, how stories resist explanation and how mystery can sometimes bring us closer to the truth.

Join Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge for an intimate conversation with Agnieszka Holland about FRANZ.

FRANZ opens in U.S. theaters Friday, August 21, 2026.

Tickets, theaters and more information:

https://cohenmedia.net/product/franz

CHAPTERS

00:00 Agnieszka Holland on Kafka's Contradictions

00:24 Introducing FRANZ

01:51 The Conversation Begins

02:34 Kafka as Holland's "Admired Brother"

05:48 Searching for the Man Behind the Myth

08:56 Making a Film Like "Quantum Physics"

12:16 Creative Freedom and Filmmaking Without Fear

15:40 Hollywood and the Disappearing "Cinema of the Middle"

19:37 Why Kafka Is Frighteningly Relevant Again

19:47 Prague: From Banned Writer to Cultural Brand

21:22 Finding Idan Weiss

25:34 The Terror of "In the Penal Colony"

28:39 FRANZ Official Trailer

30:49 A Life Told Through Fragments and Puzzles

33:06 Creating an Epic Period Film in 40 Days

33:55 Building the Visual World of FRANZ

36:09 Did Making the Film Solve the Mystery of Kafka?

37:19 Remembering Andrzej Wajda

39:29 Where to See FRANZ

40:14 Closing

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Why would a woman pretend to be pregnant for nine months — and how do you tell her story without reducing her to either a victim or a villain?

Two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Maite Alberdi joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss A CHILD OF MY OWN, her provocative new Netflix documentary about Alejandra, a woman whose desperate desire to become a mother leads her to construct an elaborate lie — and ultimately cross an irreversible line.

Alberdi takes us inside the film's striking creative process, including its blend of documentary testimony, casting sessions, stylized dramatic reconstruction, and conflicting accounts of what actually happened. She discusses the enormous social pressure placed on women to become mothers, the difficulty of separating truth from self-created narrative, and her determination to understand Alejandra without excusing her actions.

The conversation also explores the ethical responsibility of documentary filmmakers, the relationship between performance and reality, and why Alberdi wants audiences to question their own judgments as the story unfolds.

CHAPTERS 00:00 A Story That Defies Belief 01:18 INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE 02:05 Maite Alberdi Joins the Conversation 06:15 Entering Alejandra's Elaborate Lie 08:09 The Pressure to Become a Mother 11:15 Understanding Without Excusing 13:30 Where Documentary Meets Fiction 17:20 Contradictory Stories and Elusive Truth 20:06 Listening to Everyone Who Lived It 22:02 Casting, Performance and Reconstruction 24:27 The Filmmaker's Ethical Responsibility 27:04 Challenging the Audience's Judgment 29:49 Finding Humanity Inside a Dark Story 31:16 Final Thoughts

Join us for a thoughtful and revealing conversation with one of contemporary documentary cinema's most distinctive filmmakers.

Follow: @laemmle, @OfficialRaphaelSbarge, @Netflix #AChildOfMyOwn #MaiteAlberdi #InsideTheArthouse

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What happens when recognition arrives decades after you’ve stopped waiting for it?

Director Kent Jones joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss LATE FAME, starring Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee, and Edmund Donovan.

Dafoe plays Ed Saxberger, a forgotten New York poet who abandoned his literary ambitions for a steady job at the post office. When an enthusiastic young admirer appears at his door, Ed is welcomed into a circle of twenty-something artists who proclaim him a rediscovered genius.

Suddenly celebrated again—and drawn to Gloria, a magnetic but precariously situated actress and singer played by Greta Lee—Ed begins to wonder whether this unexpected second act might be real.

Directed by Jones from a screenplay by Oscar-nominated MAY DECEMBER writer Samy Burch, LATE FAME is funny, tender, and quietly piercing: a film about artistic ambition, flattery, belonging, lost time, and the elusive question of what makes a life in art authentic.

Jones discusses adapting Arthur Schnitzler’s novella for contemporary New York, Willem Dafoe’s deeply lived-in performance, Greta Lee’s transformation into the flamboyant and vulnerable Gloria, and the film’s unforgettable use of the Brecht-Weill song “Surabaya Johnny.”

He also reflects on capturing present-day New York while allowing the ghosts of its artistic past to remain visible beneath the surface—a city of poets, performers, dreamers, and would-be geniuses searching for a place to belong.

Kent Jones is the director of DIANE and HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT, as well as A LETTER TO ELIA, which he co-directed with Martin Scorsese. A celebrated film critic and former director of the New York Film Festival, Jones brings a lifetime of thinking about cinema to this deeply humane portrait of artists and their illusions.

Episode timestamps:

00:00 What Happens When Fame Comes Too Late?
01:40 Introducing LATE FAME and Kent Jones
02:30 How Samy Burch’s Screenplay Reached Kent Jones
04:50 New York’s Past Living Inside the Present
09:00 Fame, Flattery and the Need to Belong
12:10 LATE FAME Trailer
14:30 Willem Dafoe as Forgotten Poet Ed Saxberger
17:00 Greta Lee’s Transformation into Gloria
18:50 Authenticity, Ambition and Living a Life in Art
22:20 Why Poetry Matters in LATE FAME
25:40 Capturing the Ghosts of Downtown New York
28:00 From Film Critic to Filmmaker
31:00 Kent Jones on Directing Actors
34:20 Art, Illusion and the Search for Recognition
38:20 What Kent Jones Hopes Audiences Take Away
40:20 Closing

LATE FAME is distributed by Magnolia Pictures.

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Ten states, 10,825 miles, and 123 theaters. Director Rustin Thompson joins Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss THE LAST PICTURE SHOWS and the people keeping America’s small-town cinemas alive.

Independent movie theaters, small-town cinemas, and the fight to preserve theatrical moviegoing are at the heart of THE LAST PICTURE SHOWS, a new documentary from filmmaker Rustin Thompson.

Ten states. 10,825 miles. 123 theaters.

Thompson traveled across the American West searching for what remained of a once-essential center of small-town life: the local movie theater. He encountered abandoned cinemas, theaters struggling to survive, and devoted owners working against extraordinary odds to keep their screens—and their communities—alive.

What began as an elegy for a disappearing American institution became something more hopeful: a story of resilience, connection, and the people who still believe that gathering together to watch a movie matters.

The documentary draws inspiration from Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 classic THE LAST PICTURE SHOW—singular—while THE LAST PICTURE SHOWS—plural—turns its attention to the real movie houses confronting streaming, consolidation, changing audience habits, and the lingering effects of the pandemic.

Join Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge for a conversation with director Rustin Thompson about his 10,825-mile journey, the future of independent movie theaters, and the people determined to keep the lights on.

CHAPTERS

00:00 What Happens When the Last Theater Goes Dark?
01:30 THE LAST PICTURE SHOWS
02:00 Meet Director Rustin Thompson
05:30 Journeying Through America’s Cinema Deserts
09:25 The People Keeping Theaters Alive
12:55 From an Elegy to a Story of Hope
16:25 Finding 123 Small-Town Movie Theaters
19:55 Why These Theaters Matter to Their Communities
26:20 The Struggle to Keep the Lights On
29:20 Abandoned Theaters and Vanishing History
33:20 Streaming and the Future of Moviegoing
35:00 Ten States, 10,825 Miles, 123 Theaters
36:35 Why the Big-Screen Experience Still Matters
39:05 Closing Thoughts

Follow @laemmle and @OfficialRaphaelSbarge.

Subscribe to INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE for more conversations with the filmmakers, artists, and exhibitors keeping independent cinema alive. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

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Luis Valdez, LA BAMBA, ZOOT SUIT, Chicano cinema, and El Teatro Campesino take center stage in AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ, director David Alvarado's documentary about a groundbreaking American artist.

From performing on flatbed trucks for farmworkers with El Teatro Campesino to bringing ZOOT SUIT to Broadway and directing LA BAMBA, Luis Valdez transformed American theater and cinema — creating space for Chicano stories, history, humor, and identity.

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge speak with David Alvarado about making AMERICAN PACHUCO, tracing Valdez's extraordinary career, and examining the cultural movement that grew alongside his work.

It is more than the story of one pioneering artist. It is the story of who gets to be seen, who gets to belong, and whose experiences become part of the American canon.

Find screenings and learn more about AMERICAN PACHUCO: https://www.americanpachuco.com/

CHAPTERS
00:00 From Farmworkers to American Cinema
01:09 INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE Introduction
02:13 Meet Director David Alvarado
05:18 Discovering the Story of Luis Valdez
09:02 El Teatro Campesino and the Farmworker Movement
13:07 Bringing ZOOT SUIT to Broadway
17:12 The Story Behind LA BAMBA
21:04 Chicano Identity and American Culture
25:02 Preserving Luis Valdez's History
28:17 The Legacy of a Cultural Pioneer
30:17 Closing Thoughts

Follow the film and filmmakers on Instagram:
AMERICAN PACHUCO: @luisvaldezdoc
Insignia Films: @insigniafilms
El Teatro Campesino: @elteatrocampesino

Hosts: @laemmle and @OfficialRaphaelSbarge

Please subscribe to INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE for more in-depth conversations with the filmmakers shaping independent, international, and documentary cinema. Like, comment, and share — and find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

#AmericanPachuco #LuisValdez #ChicanoCinema

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Celebrate Bastille Day with highlights from four filmmaker conversations featuring Rebecca Zlotowski, François Ozon, Louise Courvoisier, and Laura Piani—and the films A Private Life, The Stranger, Holy Cow, and Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.

To mark Bastille Day, we’re revisiting four conversations from the INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE archive—highlights from interviews with the filmmakers behind some of the most compelling contemporary French films.

Director Rebecca Zlotowski discusses family, memory, identity, and the mysteries hidden within our closest relationships in A Private Life, starring Jodie Foster.

Director François Ozon reflects on reimagining Albert Camus’ L’Étranger for a new generation in The Stranger.

Director Louise Courvoisier explores the warmth, humor, and lived-in authenticity of rural France in Holy Cow.

Director Laura Piani discusses love, literature, creative ambition, and writing a heroine whose aspirations matter as much as her romances in Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.

Four films. Four distinctive voices. One enduring tradition: French cinema’s appetite for stories that are bold, intimate, provocative, and deeply human.

Celebrate Bastille Day with this special selection from the INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE library of filmmaker conversations.

Follow INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and please leave us a rating and review. It helps other film lovers discover the show.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Celebrating Contemporary French Cinema
01:24 A Private Life — Director Rebecca Zlotowski on Memory, Mystery & Identity
10:14 The Stranger — Director François Ozon Reimagines Albert Camus
19:10 Holy Cow — Director Louise Courvoisier on Rural France, Family & Authenticity
24:28 Jane Austen Wrecked My Life — Director Laura Piani on Love, Literature & Self-Discovery

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David Wain joins us to talk about his new comedy, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass — a Sundance 2026 Official Selection starring Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, and John Slattery, from Sony Pictures Classics.

The premise is deliberately, gloriously absurd: a Midwestern bride-to-be discovers her fiancé has used his "celebrity pass" to cheat — and sets off for Los Angeles to even the score with her own pass, Jon Hamm. What follows is a full-tilt Hollywood comedy that never apologizes for being exactly what it is.

We talk with Wain about writing the film with longtime collaborator Ken Marino, assembling a cast that spans three generations of comedy, shooting an original comedy entirely on location in Los Angeles, and why comedy for comedy's sake has become an increasingly rare thing to see on screen.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is directed by David Wain, written by Ken Marino & David Wain, and releases in theaters July 10, 2026, from Sony Pictures Classics.

0:00 Intro: David Wain on Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
0:52 Clip: The Hollywood Journey Begins
1:45 Meet David Wain
2:25 Why Make a Pure Comedy Now?
5:10 The Celebrity Pass Premise
8:42 Clip: The Joke Gets Complicated
9:28 Casting Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm & John Slattery
12:40 From The State to Wet Hot American Summer
16:05 Why This Comedy Refuses to Apologize
20:15 Shooting an Original Comedy in Los Angeles
23:30 Building Ensemble Chaos
26:40 Clip Breakdown: Absurdity and Emotion
27:50 Why Comedy Belongs in Theaters
31:05 Audience Reactions and Festival Buzz
34:30 What David Wain Hopes Viewers Feel
36:50 Closing Thoughts

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is an in-depth conversation series with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres.

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Documentary filmmaking, indie films, and arthouse movies take center stage in this special Fourth of July episode of Inside the Arthouse — a film podcast dedicated to independent film, indie cinema, and the voices that define American storytelling.

While much of the industry turns to reboots, sequels, franchises, and superheroes, we're turning to a different kind of American story — films driven by voice, risk, authenticity, and the courage to see the world differently.

In this special edition, we revisit a curated selection from our library of more than 100 filmmaker interviews — five films that remind us why independent film remains essential to American film culture.

These are the films that don't just entertain us. They ask us to look closer, feel more deeply, and think beyond the familiar. From arthouse movies rooted in character and place to indie films powered by pure creative vision, this is the American cinema that matters.

As America marks its 250th birthday, we celebrate the documentary and independent storytellers who prove that American cinema is at its best when it dares to be independent.

Join us for this special Fourth of July edition of Inside the Arthouse: American Independents.

0:00 Introduction: American Independence in Cinema
1:17 Eephus — Carson Lund on Baseball, Mortality & Cannes
7:37 Sponsor: Carsey-Wolf Center
8:51 Northern Lights — Rob Nilsson on Prairie Populism & Independent Film
15:57 La Cocina — Alonso Ruizpalacios on New York & Immigrant Stories
19:49 If You See Something — Oday Rasheed on Asylum, Belonging & America
27:04 The American Southwest — Ben Masters on the Colorado River & Conservation

Inside the Arthouse is a digital series featuring in-depth conversations with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres, the series explores film distribution, the creative process, and the evolving landscape of cinema.

Find Inside the Arthouse on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

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Carla Simón’s new film ROMERÍA follows Marina, a young woman who travels to Galicia in search of the truth about the parents she never really knew. What begins as a practical errand becomes something harder to name — an excavation of memory, silence, and the stories families carry across generations.

In this conversation, Simón reflects on the autobiographical roots of the film, the challenge of transforming private history into cinema, working with young performers, and the delicate balance between grief, imagination, and discovery.

Following the international success of SUMMER 1993 and ALCARRÀS, ROMERÍA may be her most personal film yet.

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres. New episodes every week — follow wherever you listen.

Episode Guide:

0:00 Introduction: The Inspiration Behind ROMERÍA
2:17 Exploring Personal Grief and Memory
5:51 Historical Memory and the Heroin Crisis in Spain
7:09 Connecting with Biological Roots
8:34 Clip: Investigating the Past
11:34 The Mystery of Memory and Family Secrets
14:01 Using Personal Letters as Narrative Tools
15:51 The Casting Process: Mixing Non-Actors and Professionals
18:01 The Benefit of Three-Month Rehearsals
26:01 Trailer Analysis and Cinematic Approach
30:05 Defining the Title: ROMERÍA as Pilgrimage and Celebration
33:04 Cinema as Personal Therapy
34:03 Audience Reception and Future Projects

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From the directors of Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song comes a new portrait of a man who was somehow at the center of everything — and never quite in the frame.

Peter Asher was one half of Peter & Gordon, swept into the British Invasion on songs written by Paul McCartney. He signed and produced James Taylor at Apple Records. He spent the next three decades guiding Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and many more — quietly shaping some of the most beloved records in American music.

PETER ASHER: EVERYWHERE MAN is the film that finally puts him in frame. Blending documentary, live musical memoir, and a remarkable archive of songs and stories, it's a portrait of what it actually takes to help great artists find their truest voice — and a reminder that the people who shape culture aren't always the ones standing center stage.

We sat down with Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine to talk about how this film got made, what it takes to earn the trust of legends, and why Peter Asher's story has never been told quite like this before.

From Hallelujah to Everywhere Man — Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine on Peter Asher

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