Doc Talk: A Deadline and Nō Studios Podcast

Filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani discusses her Oscar-contending documentary Rehearsals for a Revolution, winner of the L'Oeil d'or prize at Cannes. Her film explores the modern history of Iran, from the Islamic Revolution of 1979 until today, through the bitter experience of family members and mentors whose hopes for freedom have been crushed by the country's theocratic regime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ken Jacobson, head of the institute that puts on the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, joins us to discuss the 35th edition of the event in central Arkansas, the oldest nonfiction film festival in North America. We talk about the HSDFF lineup highlighted by 'NAZA' and more Oscar contenders, the state of awards season, and the festival's Forum, which was held as documentary filmmakers in public media dealt with the shuttering of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nuisance Bear, set in Churchill, Manitoba where polar bears regularly cross paths with locals and eco-tourists, has emerged as one of the most lauded films of the year. We speak with directors Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman about how they upended nature film tropes, telling the story from the bears' POV. They also share how they got engaged at Sundance and married on the spot, shortly before winning the festival's Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deadline partners with the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas to bring you HSDFF's inaugural round table, featuring four of the top documentaries in Academy Awards contention this year: American Doctor, represented by director Poh Si Teng; Closure, represented by director Michał Marczak; To Hold a Mountain, represented by co-director Biljana Tutorov, and Once Upon a Time in Harlem, represented by producer Liani Greaves. The conversation ranges from the biggest challenges the filmmakers faced to get their projects made, to what they like best — and least — about the race for Oscar recognition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Time in Harlem, a documentary more than 50 years in the making, has emerged as a strong contender for Oscar recognition. Director David Greaves and producer Liani Greaves join us to discuss their film about an extraordinary 1972 reunion of surviving figures from the Harlem Renaissance. The reunion and the documentary project was conceived by filmmaker William Greaves, David's father and Liani's grandfather. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Documentary producer and executive producer James Costa of Bird Street Productions has been central to many of the best nonfiction films of recent years. He joins the show to talk about his work as well as an annual endeavor: choosing the films for Deadline's For the Love of Docs fall series. Costa also talks about the Oscar race this year and the controversy over NAZA, and the vilification of directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor by Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doc Talk hits the road to report from the Toronto International Film Festival and the Camden International Film Festival in Maine. We bring you interviews with two-time Oscar winning director Barbara Kopple (Union Town), the director and protagonists of Black Sunflowers, the filmmaking team behind Edward Said: Between Worlds, and the leaders of the Camden festival — Points North executive director Elise McCave and PNI's artistic director, Sean Flynn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Sam Green joins us to discuss his new documentary The Oldest Person in the World, the result of a 10-year exploration into fascination with the person who, at any given time, is deemed to be the oldest living individual on the planet. It's a leaping off point to consider questions of mortality, impermanence and fate, told with generosity and humor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Maya Annik Bedward discusses her incisive documentary Black Zombie, an exploration of the popularity of zombie films and television series and how Hollywood appropriated Haitian religious traditions to create the horror subgenre. The film from Kino Lorber enjoys a 100 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning filmmaker Ross McElwee discusses his deeply personal documentary Remake, the story of his relationship with his son, Adrian, who was a presence in many of the director's earlier films. Adrian possessed talent and an original way of thinking, but drug addiction would claim his life. Remake, which McElwee says may be his final film, has emerged as a strong Oscar contender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices