Docs & More

Hello Listeners!

I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to the second series of the Docs & More podcast, where you’ve been able to hear from award-winning and Oscar nominated directors!!

Including Deepti Gupta, Mart Bira, Asad Faruqi, Barry Avrich, Siji Awoyinka, Erika Cohn, Diana Nielle and Richard Poplak,  Joel Bakan, Maia Lekow, Mia Donavan, Mina Keshavarz, Sharron Ward and Tamara Dawit.

Their stories have covered a vast geographical area from Ethiopia and Kenya to Canada and the US, from Mongolia to Nigeria and from Pakistan and India to Hong Kong and Iran.

Born in Iran, my guest this week has worked as a journalist, co-founding a documentary magazine, “From Tehran”.  For the past 18 years Mina Keshavarz  has also been working as a documentary maker, making films such as "Braving the Waves" and "Unwelcome in Tehran". Her latest film, “The Art of Living in Danger” came out this year and has won critical acclaim.  

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

Joining me this week is a musician who was born in the UK in the 1970s. The eldest of nine boys and two girls, the family moved back to Lagos, Nigeria when he was five years old. Now living the States, musician Siji Awoyinka, has turned documentary maker, with his debut feature documentary film, Elder’s Corner - chronicling the stories of Nigeria’s forgotten musical heroes!

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week I’m joined by the multi-award winning Canadian film maker, Barry Avrich. He has a style that focuses on powerful personalities and past subjects of his films include Lew Wasserman  a titan of Universal Studios and the Rolling Stones promoter Michael Cohl. This year, his latest documentary, Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art, has been released and is currently screening at documentary festivals and is coming to you on a streaming service very soon!

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week I’m joined by a Kenyan musician from Nairobi who has now turned documentary maker. As well as being the front woman of the explosive band Maia & The Big Sky, Maia Lekow's first feature documentary, The Letter, has come out this year. The film, which explores how and why families turn against their elders, is co-directed and produced with her husband Christopher King.  It's also just been officially selected by Kenya to be their entry for the Oscars!

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we’re joined by Sharron Ward, a filmmaker, born in Gisborne, NZ,  the home of  “Middle Earth,” from The Lord of The Rings.  Sharron took a more unusual path before making documentaries, working as an  Art Director, Stylist and Props Buyer for fiction films and commercials. She later moved into documentaries and is an Emmy award and Royal Television Society Award winner.

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we're joined by Asad Faruqi, an Emmy Award nominated cinematographer and filmmaker. Over the past six years he has shot a number of award-winning films, including “Saving Face.”  “Pakistan’s Taliban Generation,” “Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret” and was also the co-director of “Armed With Faith”, a documentary about a civilian bomb detection squad in Pakistan.

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we're joined by Tamara Dawit a producer/director based in Canada and Ethiopia. As well as working in documentaries she also produces music and dramas. Tamara is a founding member of the REMC (The Racial Equity Media Collective) in Canada and has been an advisor to various bodies on how to support the film industry in both Canada and East Africa. Her feature documentary, Finding Sally, was released earlier this year and is screening at film festivals winning wide praise and has won Tamara the Ladiha Award for best documentary by an African woman. 

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we're joined by Deepti Gupta, a talented director of photography, who after working in Bollywood has just finished directing her debut feature documentary, Shut Up Sona.  Her film journey has included working with Asif Kapadia as well as other working in a whole host of genres. Shut Up Sona is currently premiering at film festivals around the world and this week is being screened at DocNYC!

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we're joined by Joe Bullman a documentary writer and director. His documentaries include The Crime Scene Cleaner and the award-winning The Man Who Bought Mustique. He also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Director for his documentary The Seven Sins of England. 

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we’re joined by James Jones, a multi award-winning British director, making documentary films in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous places. His films include On the President's Orders, Unarmed Black Male, Children of the Gaza War and The Secret State of North Korea: Life Inside the Secret State. 

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week we’re joined by Ruhi Hamid, a British filmmaker born in Tanzania of Pakistani heritage. She has made numerous award-winning documentaries for the broadcasters - British, European and also American. Her subjects range from women and poverty to human rights and war.   Her films have covered international stories around the globe as well as some very British concerns. 

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

In this week's episode we hear from Ashok Prasad who’s won a number of awards for their documentary films including an international Emmy and been nominated for a few RTS awards. He speaks to Lovejit Dhaliwal about what it's like to work as one of the few Asian documentary film directors in British television and also about the breadth of his work - from The Blair Years to Rhythms of India. 

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

In this week's episode we hear from Jane Ray, consultant artistic director, The Whickers. She speaks to Lovejit Dhaliwal about working with Alan Whicker, his legacy and the funding opportunities for independent documentaries - both for film and audio.  

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Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week, Docs & More speak to multi-award winning director, John Edginton.   He has made films for virtually every documentary strand on British TV as well as for the US channels HBO, A&E and the the Sundance Channel His notable investigative documentaries have included "Mumia Abu Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?" for HBO (now available on itunes) and music documentaries include "The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story" for the BBC  and more recently "Joe Cocker: Mad Dog With Soul".  Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This week, Docs & More speak to independent documentary maker, Nick Hamer. His second documentary feature is called, Outside the City, and follows the contemplative Roman Catholic Cistercian monastic community in the heart of rural Leicestershire. The monks of Mt St Bernard Abbey,  a community of 25 men with many over 80 years old, are opening the first Trappist brewery in the UK. For their historic, counter cultural lifestyle to survive the venture must succeed. Nick talks to us about filming the monks, spirituality and turning your back on consumerism. Listen to this episode. Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This episode is brought to you by Bertha Dochouse

Sofia Olins moved into documentaries after starting off in television working on programmes like The Royle Family, The Peep Show and The IT Crowd.  This, though, wasn't enough and Sofia yearned to move into documentaries. Her debut feature documentary, Lost in Vagueness,  was snapped up by Sky.  Docs & More caught up with her to find out more about her success. Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This episode is brought to you by Bertha Dochouse

This week, Docs & More are lucky enough to speak to Elhum Shakerifar, a BAFTA nominated producer and recent recipient of the BFI Vision Award. Documentary films she has produced include A Syrian Love Story, Even When I Fall, Almost Heaven, The Reluctant Revolutionary, A Northern Soul and many more. Want to know how to be a successful film producer? Listen to this episode. Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This episode is brought to you by Bertha Dochouse

In this episode, Lovejit speaks to Lucy Parker, director of Solidarity and Dave Smith who features in the film. With sold out screenings, the documentary, Solidarity, looks at blacklisting in the British construction industry and the alarming links with undercover policing.  Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

This episode is brought to you by Bertha Dochouse

In this episode, Lovejit speaks to Geoff Small, the man behind the documentaries Black Power Salute,  Black Flash, Rivers of Blood 50 Years On and When Malcolm X Met Tariq Ali.  Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

n this episode, Lovejit speaks to two of the people behind the searing documentary, On the Ground at Grenfell, which was screened at Sheffield DocFest 18. The film tells the story of nine people - survivors and local residents who have been affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.  Don't forget to subscribe to Docs & More!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

In this episode, Lovejit speaks to the legendary director Sean McAllister on his film about in work poverty, A Northern Soul and we also hear from Steve the star of the documentary with his beat bus.  Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

In this week's episode we hear from Charlie Phillips, the Head of Documentaries at the British newspaper, The Guardian. He spoke to Lovejit Dhaliwal, telling her about funding and what The Guardian is looking for when it comes to documentaries.

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)

In this week's episode we hear from emerging documentary maker, Ayo Akingbade. She spoke to Lovejit Dhaliwal, about her latest film Street 66 which was screened at Sheffield DocFest and looks at the themes of housing and gentrification.  Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Music by Mixolydian Studios Sydney (Michiya Nagai and Benjamin Samuels)