Justin Joseph Hall: Marcellus Hall an Artist in New York City, Fog of War

Episode #42 - Justin Joseph Hall is an award-winning, multilingual multimedia director and founder of Fourwind Films and Quatre-Vents. His work has been acquired by major television networks such as HBO and he’s worked as a lead creative on projects that received awards at The Emmys, TriBeCa Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, and more.

Justin Joseph Hall, photo by Laura Davi

Our screening resumed back at Fourwind Films’ headquarters.

For his short, Justin brought his short series, Marcellus Hall an Artist in New York City. The five episode season has won six awards and been nominated for many more around the world. The documentary is of New Yorker Illustrator Marcellus Hall who also wrote the song Life Is Still Sweet that inspired Float On performed by Modest Mouse.

We screened the entire series back to back and served white and yellow cheese with steak in conjunction with the series.

The feature Justin chose inspired his series with a one-on-one interview that endures the entire documentary. It was Errol Morris’ Oscar winning Fog of War where Robert McNamara goes through thought processes of military decisions during major wars of the United States of America. We served a juicy homemade Vietnamese Beef And Lettuce Curry during the screening.

To learn more about Justin Joseph Hall, sign up for Fourwind Films newsletter.

Credits:

Host - Laura Davi

Production & Event Space - Fourwind Films

Post-Production - Quatre-Vents

Editor - Billie Jo Laitinen

Sound Mixer - Hans Bilger

The theme song of Season 7 is New Tires by Silent Partner.

Ellen Goosenberg Kent: Anastasia, Afghan Dreamers

Episode #37 - Ellen Goosenberg Kent is an Oscar winning documentarian who knows how to produce a compelling story first and foremost. She is always interested in the price paid by common people going against difficult odds, often fighting government systems often unintentionally. She is incredible in her long and varied work. We had the pleasure to talk with her at Nitehawk Cinema - Williamsburg in front of a live studio audience while we screened the documentary.

For her short, Ellen brought MTV short Anastasia. Activist Anastasia Shevchenko was accused of being a threat to Russian state. She was kept under house arrest for two years. Sarah McCarthy’s short documentary tells the story of a civil rights advocate and single mother who longs to see her children grow up in a free society in a deeply personal account of her family and the sometimes unseen cost of activism. The movie is a deeply humanizing tale of the price paid by a woman struggling for freedom and her family’s safety and peace of mind.

Host Justin Joseph Hall and Ellen Goosenberg Kent - Photo by Piper Werle

The feature Ellen chose is her latest, Afghan Dreamers also courtesy of MTV. During the screening Nitehawk’s chefs served a mouthwatering combination: Sheer Chai, an Afghani Salad, and Kabuli Palaw.

Through the story of a robotics team in Afghanistan, Afghan Dreamers recounts the advancements of women in the country since the American invasion and the effects of the Taliban taking over after the Americans left. Using various stock footage of government officials, the story of these high school students is a rollercoaster of joy, pain, hard work, and the country’s struggle for women’s rights in a conservative society.

See Afghan Dreamers on Paramount + in 2023.

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Editor - Billie Joe Laitenin

Sound Mixer - Brian Trahan

Sound Mixing Assistant - Hans Bilger

Lead Marketing Agent - Isabel Restrepo

Event Space - Nitehawk Cinema - Williamsburg

Photographer - Piper Werle

Sponsors: Documentarian Emanuele Mengotti & the documentary Stranger at the Gate by Joshua Seftel.

The theme song of Season 6 is Getting It Done by Kevin MacLeod.

Rebecca Stern: Snowy, The Thin Blue Line

Episode #32 - Meet Rebecca Stern, a director and producer of documentary films. She has absolutely soared in her career since one of her first jobs as a Production Coordinator on the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Cartel Land. Her directorial debut Well Groomed is now streaming on HBO. Rebecca, or Becky, is open, humble, and a delight to talk with.

Our appointed contributors for Feature & a short are asked to choose one short and one feature, and they have to have been involved with one of them but not the other. Rebecca brings the sleeper success Snowy. This documentary short about a pet turtle named Snowy whose owner embarks on a journey to find what would make him happy got into Sundance after a cold submission. We discuss what it’s like to get into Sundance, funding short films, and what Rebeca thinks needs to evolve in that process.

The feature is The Thin Blue Line, a film Becky had never seen — though she has worked on films about the legal system and incarceration in the US.

Learn more about Rebecca Stern and her work on her website.

And keep an eye on a Fourwind Films short-form documentary series coming soon: Marcellus Hall: An Artist in New York City.

Appointed contributor, Rebecca Stern.

Credits for podcast:

Production Company - Fourwind Films

Appointed Contributor - Rebecca Stern

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Sound Mixer & Additional Music - Brian Trahan

Line Producer - Laura Davi

The theme song of Season 5 is This Monster by Sun Nectar

Jon Alpert: When Life Hands You Lemons, Papa

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

Jay Giampietro: the thing that kills me the most!, Private Practices: The Story of a Sex Surrogate

Episode #18 - Jay Giampietro is a director and editor who is a huge fan of films and sports. He is super easy to talk to and it seems always maintains a positive vibe towards anything unique. His unique lens really focuses on New York awkward single males and we think it’s safe to call him a true auteur. He is prolific and makes a short film at least once a year. We’ve shown Hernia at our annual Holiday Mixer several years ago.

This time for the short Jay presented his most recent film the thing that kills me the most! Sticking to odd New York area male characters. It is a very pretty experimental film that uses light in a unique way and takes documentary audio and montages it for new experience in motion picture.

Private Practices: The Story of a Sex Surrogate is a very 1980’s documentary with minimal soundtrack and tons of intrigue. Jay being a student of film history and the odd that is out there in the world chose to bring this film that captures one’s attention watching nervous men have sex with a young sex therapist for money.

Check out more of Jay’s work through is production company Magic Square Films.

Episode hosted by Justin Joseph Hall.

Jay Giampietro - Director/Editor

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Sound Mix & Additional Music - Brian Trahan

Theme song of Season 4 is Johnny's Tune In Waltz by Salitros’ Ridin’ Rainbow.

Inga Moren: Luz Marina, I'm So Excited!

Episode #15 - Inga Moren is a joy to have in the edit studio. She’s a vibrant character who knows how to articulate her thoughts and feelings on any subject. She works as an editor, writes, and directs experimental film. She’s also worked on camera crews, post-production processing, and so much more. Originally from Colombia, she currently makes money from Universal Studios.

Inga brought her new film Luz Marina an experimental short that explores the cults of modern day and the popularity of reality television that we have lived with since the turn of the century. The film moves through spaces and ideas rapidly presenting scenes that bridge the audience from idea to idea, almost like a dream in fast-forward.

Afterwards we were pleasured with the viewing experience of a Pedro Aldomovar film, I’m So Excited! A silly, colorful, and melodramatic film. It recounts several characters on a plane voyage. The story jumps in-between from pilots in the cabin, to the stewards, and the passengers. The film is filled with drinking and bold characters.

Inga’s knowledge of film history and unique vision on what the medium can be helped make this episode especially introspective, not only on the films she presented, but also of the possibilities of using film as a storytelling device itself.

Episode hosted by Justin Joseph Hall.

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Production Company & Location - Fourwind Films

Olga Loginova: Volte, Sacred Leaves

Episode #14 - Olga Loginova is an incredible collaborator  and artist who speaks poetically and with no filter. She is a director, producer, and cinematographer who recently graduated from Columbia where she learned to make scientific documentaries. Originally from Belarus with Russian roots, she has chiseled her vision of a storyteller through rigorous training in Germany, China, and the U.S.A., as well as by traveling and reporting across continents.

She chose the stunning short film Volte, a 10 minute coming of age documentary from Poland. Olga talks about how she resonates with the film because “as a child  I danced, and very soon I became too tall. I was lagging behind because I was too big, too big, too big.” This film is made in the Slavic school of teaching “where every shot is perfect.” Olga describes this film as “the difference between trying to document something and art. This is art.” This eastern European documentary that was picked up by the New York Times Op-Docs.

Olga also brought her feature Sacred Leaves The documentary is about the wonders of the Amazon rainforest and the constant destruction it faces for human profit. Olga talks about how her interest in the Amazon grew from how climate change in Brazil changes people’s lives as it does in her own ancestral lands of Siberia. There are countless adventure stories from her seventeen days of shooting, which she covers in addition to discussing characters who come “once in a century,” and what surprised her most. She shot the film before the wildfires hit, and offers insight into the many sources of deforestation that led to the rainforest’s current state. She plans to return to Brazil in the winter to show the film.

Olga herself is a character who comes once in a lifetime, and we were thrilled to have her international talents. Enjoy the episode.

Episode hosted by Justin Joseph Hall.

Olga Loginova - Director/Cinematographer

Credits:
Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Production Company & Location - Fourwind Films

Mack Williams: Freddie Gibbs - "Michael Jackson's Return to Gary, IN," What About Bob?

Episode #12 - Georgia native Mack Williams makes everyone laugh for hours with his stories and film choices. Mack is a graceful director and animator who makes working feel like play. His versatility in the commercial world as well as on creative content is always a notch above the rest. He works on a creative level with a fine knowledge for quality post-production on lower budgets. On top of that, Mack makes an incredible drinking partner. Even if you disagree with his tastes, you can’t help but want to listen to what he has to say. He graces us with his knowledge of animation workflow as well as stories of creating various cartoons for Cartoon Network, Pitchfork, and Showtime.

Mack chooses a short animated documentary that he directed called “Michael Jackson’s Return to Gary, IN.” It’s based off a true story told by Freddie Gibbs for the series FRAMES. For the feature he presents “What About Bob?” Mack discusses Richard Dreyfuss’ role in the film and why he makes it great. For more info on Mack, check out the Facebook page for his company Pig Apple. Additional music credits to Sun Nectar. Theme music by Salitros’ Riding Rainbow.

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Location & Production Company - Fourwind Films

Mack Williams Director/Animator & Simon

Justin Joseph Hall: Long Distance, The Science of Sleep

Episode #9 - Justin Joseph Hall presents Long Distance, a one-minute short he directed and released in 2016. The short features Isabel Restrepo and himself as a couple in a long distance relationship. He shares his choice behind excluding dialogue (hint: it has to do with him co-starring in it) and the spontaneity of its origins. The feature film is La science des rêves or The Science of Sleep, directed by Michel Gondry. Discussion centers around the use of foreshadowing and dream sequences in the film, as well as Gondry's other work.  

Justin is an independent film director and editor, and the owner of Fourwind Films. He's currently in post-production for his first documentary feature, Frames of Reference, a multi-continental effort that explores localized education across the globe. He is also in post-production for a short narrative, Prologue, and an internet documentary series. Keep up with him and the dogs in his life and other themes on Instagram.

Credits:

Host - Daria Huxley

Location & Production Company - Fourwind Films

Justin Joseph Hall - Director/Editor

Michael Fequiere: Kojo, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father →

Episode #4 - Michael Fequiere, a Brooklyn based filmmaker and photographer presented this month. The first presentation was Kojo: A Short Documentary directed by Michael about the gifted 12-year-old jazz drummer Kojo Odu Roney. The feature presentation was 2008 Documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. Because the feature presentation was a Canadian production, the audience paired the film with shortbread cookies and Canadian beer.

Michael's short films have screened in numerous festivals both domestic (L.E.S. Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival) and worldwide (Toronto International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival: Short Film Corner). To learn more about his work, visit his website at http://www.michaelfequiere.com/. 

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Location & Production Company - Fourwind Films

Michael Fequiere - Director/Editor, photo by Daria Huxley