Otis Birdy brought his remarkable directorial debut “Jiyan” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020 and and took home a Programmer’s Award for his efforts.  Inspired by a true story that Otis personally experienced, “Jiyan (Life)” recounts the daily life of Nerol, a seventeen year old Syrian Kurd who arrives in Switzerland without his parents and must learn to live and adapt to a new world while his family remains trapped in a country being destroyed by a Civil War.

Thanks to the internet and video chat, I got to meet Otis and do a Q&A with him at FILA 2021 and I always knew that I would want to talk to him in an episode of this podcast.  I’m so glad that it happened.

To learn more about Otis and his work, go to Otisbirdy.com and for his film visit jiyan-film.ch.

Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Website  – DIF Instagram  – DIF Facebook  – DIF Twitter 

Podcast

Source: Discover Film

What are the 4Q’s?

• Name your favorite films of all time (limit 3)
• Name a film you think is underrated
• Name a film you think is overrated
• Name a lesser-known film that you think people should seek out

Nickolas Gilbert brought his film “Nailed” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020 and I was delighted when his film joined the Discover Indie Film TV Series on Amazon Prime Video.  Nickolas is such a busy, productive filmmaker that it took us forever to manage to get this podcast recorded.  (Mainly because we both really liked the idea of recording in person, not on Zoom.)

After the interview Nickolas answered the four questions listed above!

If you want to learn more about Nickolas and his work, go to DistortionField.tv @ nickolasgilbert on Instagram.

Discover Indie Film Links
DIF TV Series – DIF Website  – DIF Instagram  – DIF Facebook  – DIF Twitter 

Podcast

Source: Discover Film

Nickolas Gilbert brought his superbly absurdist film “Nailed” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020 and I knew the first time I saw his film that it would be wonderful to have it join the Discover Indie Film TV Series on Amazon Prime Video.  I was delighted when “Nailed” joined season 4, but Nickolas is such a busy, productive filmmaker that it took us forever to manage to get this podcast recorded.  (Mainly because we both really liked the idea of recording in person, not on Zoom.)

We finally managed to get into the same room and it was great!  Nickolas is a smart, active and inspiring filmmaker.

If you want to learn more about Nickolas and his work, go to DistortionField.tv @ nickolasgilbert on Instagram.

Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Website  – DIF Instagram  – DIF Facebook  – DIF Twitter 

Podcast

Source: Discover Film

What are the 4Q’s?

• Name your favorite films of all time (limit 3)
• Name a film you think is underrated
• Name a film you think is overrated
• Name a lesser-known film that you think people should seek out

Rachel Thomas-Medwid took home the award for Best Screenplay (Unproduced) for “The Lost Opera” at the  Sherman Oaks Film Festivalin 2018.  But she didn’t stop there!  She returned with “The Squirrels in the Attic” at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2020, which took home the Audience Award for Short Film and year later she was back at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2021 with “In The Company of Crows,” again taking home an award!

I’m super proud to add that “The Squirrels in the Attic” will join season 5 of the Discover Indie Film TV series, likely coming this March.  If you want to watch other superb indie shorts just go to the Discover Indie Film TV Series on Amazon Prime Video.

If you want to learn more about Rachel and her work, go to rachelspoonerthomas.com @rachelspoonerthomas on Instagram.

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You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Here are Rachel’s 4Qs answers:

• Favorites: Thelma & Louise, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, Pulp Fiction
• Underrated: Christopher Guest improv films – Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman
• Overrated: Titanic
• Seek Out: Cousins (American)

Podcast

Source: Discover Film