INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE with Greg Laemmle & Raphael Sbarge

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 SCOUT01:10 — Finding a Film in an Invisible Job03:40 — Location Scouting After COVID04:51 — The Films That Shaped THE SCOUT07:27 — Film Clip: Inside a Stranger’s Home09:20 — Trusting the Film’s Slow Burn11:42 — Why Sofia Stays at the Edge of the Frame12:36 — Editing: When to Enter and Leave a Scene14:27 — Becoming a Director — and Imposter Syndrome17:31 — The Voicemails: A Greek Chorus20:00 — The Real Cost of New York Locations20:24 — THE SCOUT Trailer22:31 — Why the Story Is Just a Day in the Life24:05 — Creating Sofia with Mimi Davila25:58 — Antonioni, French New Wave & Visual References27:12 — How Audiences Are Responding28:59 — Finding Humor in New York Loneliness30:54 — 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 Wladyka03:45 — Finding Joy in a Story About Grief06:25 — The Personal Story Behind the Film09:15 — Rinko Kikuchi and Creating Haru12:10 — When Life Gets Messy15:25 — Dance as an Emotional Language18:35 — Grief, Desire and Starting Over21:45 — Humor, Fantasy and Magical Realism24:45 — Japan, Family and Cultural Identity27:30 — Sundance and Trusting the Film30:05 — 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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