Pulling Focus: Recent Episodes
Gretjen Clausing
Pulling Focus zooms in on what’s happening in film and digital media culture and puts soundtracks and film scores in the foreground. Host Gretjen Clausing interviews filmmakers, curators, archivists, critics and creatives about all that is unique and under-covered in indie film, video, digital culture and media policy in Philly and beyond. Since 2017, Pulling Focus has been airing on WPPM 106.5 FM in Philadelphia.
I'm very pleased to be joined by film historian and preservationist Lou DiCrescenzo, who has been collecting original 35 millimeter films and production equipment since the late 50s. Through his efforts and generosity, many rare and formerly lost films have been saved and donated to the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institute, where they have been copied and are now available for public viewing and study. Lou's projection equipment occupies a floor of the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. Queens. He is a technical consultant providing his expertise to theaters dealing with silent era projection in film, a long term member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and for many years was the Technical Supervisor for the Ritz Theater circuit here in Philadelphia. He is also an accomplished musician having performed with many regional orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and the Trenton State Symphony, and he hosts a daily radio program sunshine music memories with smiling Lou Powers on WBCB 1490 am in Montgomery County. Films from Lou's vast collection aare shown regularly as intended, projected on the big screen at local theaters, notably the Ambler Theater where he was part of their inaugural 35 Millimeter Film Festival in 2018.
note: Lou passed away on January 12th, 2024.
THE PICTURE TAKER is a tale from in front of, and behind the camera. Ernest Withers lived a complicated and extraordinary life, magnified by a legacy of developing nearly two million images that came to define the American civil rights movement. A photo-journalist, soldier, police officer, and civil rights activist in his lifetime, The Picture Taker illuminates Withers lesser-known work as a secret FBI informant, a double-life uncovered only after his death.
Tiffany Naiman, is a scholar of popular music, temporality, and disability studies with a specialization as a David Bowie scholar. She comes to Pulling Focus during Philly Loves Bowie week to talk about David Bowie in film. She also discusses her work at the Director of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s Music Industry Program as well as a lecturer in the Musicology department. She is a DJ and electronic musician performing under the moniker NeonGray; the experimental film and music programmer for Outfest Los Angeles; creator of a multiplicity of club nights and one-off musical events in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia; and an award-winning documentary film producer.
In this episode John Petitt, Assistant Archivist with Temple University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) discusses the Archives' 50th Anniversary, "digital rot" and International Home Movie Day. John share some of his favorite soundtrack music by Brian Eno, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, Raymond Scott and Al Ham's Move Closer to Your World aka Action News Theme. Also we pay tribute to Harry Dean Stanton and Tom Petty.
In this episode Sam Adams, longtime Philadelphia City Paper writer and now Senior Editor at Slate.com joins me in the studio to discuss the changing role of the film/media critic, the 2017 Emmy Awards, and his recent trips to the Toronto International Film Festival and the Camden International Film Festival in Maine. Featured are some great soundtracks from the current “Golden Age” of television shows Master of None, I Love Dick, Fargo, Empire, This is Us and Broad City plus such classic opening TV themes from Rockford Files, Miami Vice and Peter Gunn.
This episode is dedicated to all the students in the Philadelphia Public School System headed back to school on their first day. Featured here are some great soundtracks from Fame, To Sir with Love, Cooley High, Rushmore, Clueless, Breakfast Club and more. This show also celebrates the incredible resources of the Philadelphia Free Library with a set of music pulled from CDs from their music collection.
This episode was compiled for my summer road trip to head to South Carolina to see the eclipse. It features selections from some of the most iconic road movies --Badlands, Thelma and Louise, Easy Rider, Two Lane Blacktop and a few less obvious ones, including music from Wim Wenders Road Movie Trilogy. Featured artists include Kris Kristopherson, Roger Miller, Canned Heat, Improved Sound Limited, Eddy Arnold and the Village People.
This episode offers a sneak preview of the upcoming BlackStar Film Festival opening on Thursday, August 3. Senior Program Manager, Nehad Khader discusses this year's festival theme of Resistance. And BlackStar’s Artistic Director Maori Karmael Holmes talks about the genesis of the festival and how it has become a kind of family reunion for independent filmmakers of color. Featured tracks in this episode include Nina Simone’s Four Woman, Sweet Honey in the Rock’s Echo and Horance Tapscott’s The Giant Has Awakened.
This episode includes a lively conversation with Sarah Mueller, co-organizer of Cinespeak: Alternative Cinema talking about their #Boycott the Oscars summer film series in the Brewerytown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Featured soundtracks include films from Claudine, Sweet Love Bitter, and Spike Lee joints including Do the Right Things, Crooklyn and Bamboozled.
For this special 2-hour WPPM FUNd Drive show Keith Brand, longtime radio host of WXPN Sleepy Hollow and Soundtrack Sunday Morning shares some of his favorite soundtrack and sound scores. Featured artists include Harry Neilson, Elton John, Jay Farrar, Judy Garland, Gustavo Santaolalla. Hear music from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Brazil, Diva, Harlan County USA, Mary Poppins and Singing in the Rain. It’s a FUNd Drive show but we went easy on the pitching. Episode is chockful of great info about WPPM and PhillyCAM!
In honor of our tenth episode we finally dug out the Rocky theme, it was only a matter of time. It seemed the only fitting way to close out a short audio piece recorded at a rally in support of the PA Film Tax Credit held on the steps at the Art Museum on June 3, 2017. Featured soundtracks of films shot in Philly include Peter Gabriel's score for Birdy, Paul Buckmaster's theme for Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys and James Newtown Howard's score for M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. We also devote a set of music to Sofia Coppola who just became only the 2nd women to be named Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. Hear music from her first short film Lick the Star, Lost in Translation, Somewhere, Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette.
This episode offers a sneak preview of the upcoming Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF) opening on Friday, June 2. Festival Director, Marangeli Meija Rabell discusses this year's festival offerings and their commitment to showcasing work by emerging filmmakers and those using film as a means of social change. We talk about the current economic crisis in Puerto Rico, the new documentary film about Residente and how PHLAFF is building community by bringing artists together with audiences. Featured soundtracks include Alejandro Iñárritu's Amores Perros, Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus, Eliseo Subiela's Dark Side of the Heart and Residente.
This episode celebrates the over 40 years of repertory film programming at International House of Philadelphia while looking ahead to its future with a new name, the Light Box Film Center. I'm joined by Jesse Pires, Chief Curator to talk about their launch event featuring a 25th Anniversary screening of Allison Anders' Gas, Food Lodging. Featured soundtracks are all inspired by past programs shown on the big screen at International House and include Wim Wenders' Kings of the Road, Robert Mugge's Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise and Bill Pypmton's The Tune.
This episode of Pulling Focus is a conversation with local film curator, filmmaker, cultural critic, fashionista, Maori Karmael Holmes. She invited 2 filmmakers. Nefertite Nguvu (In the Morning) and Kimi Takasue (95 and 6 to Go) to talk about their recent films screening here in Philadelphia in May 2017. In the Morning follows a group young, hip folks on a day in Brooklyn and that got me thinking about other films with strong ensemble casts full of young breakout talents. Soundtracks featured in this episode include Diner and Chacun cherche son chat plus music by Danny Elfman, Bahamadia, Greg Tate and Abby Dobson.
Continuing the celebration of National Poetry Month but this time adding jazz to the mix. April is designated as Jazz Appreciation Month in Philadelphia and here at WPPM we have been pulling out all the stops highlighting the tremendous community of jazz musicians of all genres and generations. I’ll put playing of some seminal jazz film tracks film noir to the French new wave. And in just a few minutes I will be having a conversation with poet Beth Feldman Brandt who was commissioned by the Philadelpia Jazz Project to adapt her poems to the stage and combine them with jazz in the work Retro Love. Aired on WPPM 106.5 FM in Philadelphia in April 2017.
It being National Poetry Month, this edition of Pulling Focus puts films that feature poetry in the foreground. Program also features a short audio piece recorded during a hand processing workshop led by experimental filmmaker Kathryn Ramey. Hear music from films by Jim Jarmusch, Robert Frank, Nina Patel and others. Featured artists include Lynn Sheffield and David Amram, Annette Hanshaw, Masala Dosa, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and more.
This episode of Pulling Focus aired on WPPM in Philadelphia on March 21, 2017. This is an all music episode built around the theme of great concert films. It features jazz. Latin, RnB, ska, bluegrass and Rock n Roll from films like Stop Making Sense, Jazz on a Summer's Day, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Wattstax, Woodstock and The Last Waltz and featuring artists Dinah Washington, Buena Vista Social Club, Talking Heads, David Bowie, The Selector and more.
Recorded on the eve of International Women's Day, this episode of Pulling Focus puts women directors in the foreground and features interviews with Laris Kreslins, programmer of the Women's Animation Festival, and animators Emily Hubley and Signe Baumane. For more info about the festival go to http://moore.edu/calendar/moore-women-artists-film-festival-women-in-animation.
This episode of Pulling Focus is an Oscar preview and features an interview with Hebert Peck, one of the producers of the Oscar nominated I Am Not Your Negro. Original air date on WPPM in Philadelphia, 2/21/2017. Featured artists include Maurice Jarre, Mychael Danna, Nicholas Britell, Little Jimmie Scott, Alexi Aigui, words by James Baldwin and more.
This edition of Pulling Focus is a crowd sourced mix of songs about movies. Original air date on WPPM in Philadelphia, 2/14/17.
Au Cinema by Lianne La Havas
Skate Away by Dire Straits
Clint (Silence on tourne) by Thomas Dutronc
Matinee Idol by Rufus Wainwright
Mon Pere se prenait pour Fred Astaire by Antoine
Brimful of Asha by Cornershop
Celluloid Heroes by Kinks
B Movie by Elvis Costello
What’s Your Take on Cassavetes by Le Tigre -
Films by Gary Numan
Gary Numan by Let's all go to the Lobby
Let's Go to the Movies by Ozomatli
Saturday Night at the Movies by The Drifters
Grace Kelly by Mika
The Film of My Love by 10 cc