The Last Thing I Saw

• Ep. 331: Eva Victor, writer-director of Sorry, Baby, on the film’s influences and her recent viewing

  Ep. 331: Eva Victor, writer-director of Sorry, Baby, on the film’s influences and her recent viewing Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I’ve been eager for people to see Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby ever since I saw it at Sundance (where it picked up a prize). A wonder of a film, it’s the funny and moving story of a woman working through trauma, with Victor playing the leading role, opposite Naomi Ackie (Mickey 17) and Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea). The writer-director brings her tonal and emotional precision both as a performer and as a writer to a debut feature that blazes its own path (distinct from the comedic shorts that were my first introduction to her work). I was delighted to speak with Victor about influences on the film (ranging from Certain Women to The Handmaiden and beyond), as well as her recent viewing. Sorry, Baby is in theaters now, distributed by A24. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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• Ep. 330: David Schwartz on A Theater Near You series at MoMA + Nitrate Picture Show 2025

  Ep. 330: David Schwartz on A Theater Near You series at MoMA + Nitrate Picture Show 2025 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The repertory cinemas of New York were a formative influence on me and so I was excited to see a new film series at the Museum of Modern Art that surveys their programming, called A Theater Near You. David Schwartz, the former chief curator at the Museum of the Moving Image, guest-programmed the series, and he joins the podcast to talk about how the specific films in the program capture the particular flavors of New York cinemas past, such as the Bleecker Street Cinema, the Public, and the pioneering Cinema 16, brainchild of New York Film Festival co-founder Amos Vogel. Then on the second half of our chat, Schwartz talks about the latest Nitrate Picture Show at the George Eastman Museum, the festival that shows exclusively nitrate prints, including La Ronde, The Destroyers of Our Gardens, and more. “A Theater Near You” runs through July 11 at the Museum of Modern Art. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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• Ep. 329: Edo Choi on Mikio Naruse at Metrograph: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs and more

  Ep. 329: Edo Choi on Mikio Naruse at Metrograph: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Scattered Clouds, Wife! Be Like a Rose!, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. There are retrospectives that remain close to one’s heart and for me, one such was an immersion in Mikio Naruse’s work many years ago at Film Forum. Fortunately, film history can repeat itself in a good way: Metrograph and Japan Society have teamed up for a Naruse retrospective on his 120th anniversary. I spoke with Edo Choi, a film programmer at Metrograph and past guest on the program, about Naruse’s rich and perhaps still underappreciated body of work, as well as its context within Japanese cinema. Among the films discussed: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Wife! Be Like a Rose!, Floating Clouds, and perhaps one of the great swan songs, Scattered Clouds, before Naruse’s death in 1969. Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us continues through the end of the month at Metrograph. For listeners outside of New York, select films are available on the Criterion Channel. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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• Ep. 328: Michael Koresky on his new book Sick and Dirty about queer cinema and Hollywood censorship

  Ep. 328: Michael Koresky on his new book Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness - The Children’s Hour, These Three, Tea and Sympathy, Dance Girl Dance, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I was a huge fan of Michael Koresky’s last book, Films of Endearment, and so I leapt into action when I heard about his latest, Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness. Koresky is now Senior Curator of Film at Museum of the Moving Image, and, as he points out, his book has roots in his column I had the privilege of editing at Film Comment, Queer and Now and Then. I spoke with him about some pivotal titles in his deeply researched chronicle of under-the-radar queer cinema from the 1930s to the 1960s, and the fascinating work that could emerge under Hollywood’s censorship regime: These Three and The Children’s Hour, two adaptations of Lillian Hellman’s play, both directed by William Wyler; Dorothy Arzner’s Dance, Girl, Dance; Vincente Minnelli’s oft-maligned Tea & Sympathy; and more. “Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness” by Michael Koresky is available now, published by Bloomsbury. On June 22, Tea & Sympathy will screen with Koresky in conversation at the Museum of the Moving Image as part of a special book event. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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• Ep. 327: Eric Hynes on Post-Cannes Catch-Up: I Only Rest in the Storm, The Last One for the Road, A Useful Ghost, Militantropos, plus Yes and Renoir

  Ep. 327: Eric Hynes on Post-Cannes Catch-Up: I Only Rest in the Storm, The Last One for the Road, A Useful Ghost, Militantropos, plus Yes and Renoir Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2025 Cannes Film Festival is over, but there were still a few films that I really thought you should hear about too! So, back on the program for a catch-up episode back home is Eric Hynes of the Jacob Burns Film Center (whom I’d also been talking with on the ground in Cannes). Our post-Cannes discussion includes award-winners, personal favorites, and overlooked titles: I Only Rest in the Storm (directed by Pedro Pinho), The Last One for the Road (Francesco Sossai), A Useful Ghost (Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke), and Militantropos (Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgovyi), plus a few words on Nadav Lapid’s latest, Yes, and Chie Hayakawa’s Renoir. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

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