Past Present Feature with Marcus Mizelle
by Marcus Mizelle
Latest episode
The Past Present Feature Film Festival • Nov. 21 • Hollywood, CA
The Past Present Feature Film Festival • Nov. 21 • Hollywood, CA
About this podcast
Past Present Feature is a film appreciation podcast hosted by Emmy-winning director Marcus Mizelle, showcasing today’s filmmakers, their latest release, and the past cinema that inspired them.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 86 episodes
- The Past Present Feature Film Festival • Nov. 21 • Hollywood, CA · 1 minThe Past Present Feature Film Festival returns Saturday, November 21, 2026, for a full day celebrating independent cinema at Eastwood Performing Arts Center in Hollywood…
- E82 • Finding Truth in Imperfection • YOON DAN-BI, dir. of ‘The World Before’ at TIFF & San Sebastian · 43 min · Season 3 Episode 7Yoon Dan-bi discusses her second feature, The World Before, ahead of her premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. We explore her fascination with emotions that resist…
- E81 • Storytelling Beyond Heroes & Conflict • IRENE KALTENBORN, dir. of ‘The Mother Age‘ at CPH:DOX · 48 min · Season 3 Episode 6Irene Kaltenborn discusses The Mother Age, her sensory documentary which premiered in CPH:DOX’s NEXT:WAVE competition. Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Carrier Bag Theory of…
- E80 • Rebuilding a Culture Around Cinema & the Experience Streaming Can't Replace • MILES WILLIAMS, Artistic Director of The Alex Theatre · 54 min · Season 3 Episode 5Miles Williams discusses the revival of Glendale's historic Alex Theatre and its return to first-run cinema after more than 35 years, including the installation of 70mm…
- E79 • The Stories We Choose to Believe • FELIX RANDAU, dir. of ‘I Is Another‘ at Locarno Film Festival · 51 min · Season 3 Episode 4I Is Another marks Felix Randau's return to the Locarno Film Festival, where the film premieres in competition. Inspired by the true story of Felix Kersten, personal masseur to…
- E78 • The Power of Containment • MADS MENGEL, dir. of ‘The Guest‘, Special Jury + Best Director WINNER at Karlovy Vary · 50 min · Season 3 Episode 3Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel joins Past Present Feature just before his world premiere of The Guest in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film…
- E77 • The Art of Discovery & Staying Ahead of Your Audience • CARA CUSUMANO, Festival Director at Tribeca · 47 min · Season 3 Episode 2Cara Cusumano, Director of Programming for the Tribeca Festival, joins Past Present Feature as the festival celebrates its 25th year. She pulls back the curtain on how one of the…
- E76 (SEASON 3!) • The Stories Closest to Us Are the Hardest to Tell • DANIEL BLAKE SCHWARTZ, dir. of ‘Cotton Fever‘, Best Narrative Feature WINNER at Tribeca · 1 h 0 min · Season 3 Episode 1Daniel Blake Schwartz breaks down how Tribeca Best U.S. Narrative Feature winner Cotton Fever grew out of years spent collecting stories during his own experience with addiction…
- E75 • Distribution Starts With Knowing Your Audience • ALAN D’ESCRAGNOLLE, Co-Founder of Filmhub · 49 min · Season 2 Episode 20Alan D’Escragnolle breaks down how his company Filmhub is rethinking distribution, shifting away from gatekeeping toward flexible, film-specific strategies. Instead of a single…
- E74 • From Prison to Premiere • TAWFIK SABOUNI, dir. of ‘Other Side of the Sun‘ at Berlinale · 42 min · Season 2 Episode 19Tawfik Sabouni breaks down his Berlinale-bound documentary Other Side of the Sun and how it grew out of lived experience, from filming protests during the Syrian revolution to…
- E73 • Facing the Future Without Looking Away • CHARLIE TYRELL, co-dir. of ‘The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist’ Now in Theaters from Focus Features · 58 min · Season 2 Episode 18Charlie Tyrell breaks down how The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, this years SXSW Audience Award winner now in theaters from Focus Features, turns an overwhelming…
- E72 • Feel the Fear, Do it Anyway • FREDERIKE MIGOM, dir. of ‘Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays’ at Berlinale · 60 min · Season 2 Episode 17Belgian filmmaker Frederike Migom breaks down her Berlinale premiere Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays, a coming-of-age story set almost entirely inside a single home and a young girl’s…
- E71 • Don’t Wait For Perfect Conditions • JEREMY WORKMAN, dir. of ‘Secret Mall Apartment’ now on Netflix · 44 min · Season 2 Episode 16Jeremy Workman discusses Secret Mall Apartment, his Netflix documentary about a group of Rhode Island artists who secretly built and lived in an apartment inside a busy shopping…
- E70 • Build It Small, Release It Smart • GILLE KLABIN, dir. of ‘Weekend at the End of the World’ · 1 h 19 min · Season 2 Episode 15Gille Klabin discusses Weekend at the End of the World, his follow-up to The Wave, and the deliberate choice to build a second feature that didn’t require waiting for studio…
- E69 • When the Story Becomes the Evidence • SHARON LIESE, dir. of ‘Seized’ at Sundance · 47 min · Season 2 Episode 14Sharon Liese joins the show after premiering Seized at Sundance to unpack the story behind the Marion, Kansas newspaper raid that ignited a national debate around press freedom…
- E68 • Finding the Frame in a Shared Landscape • GABBY OSIO VANDEN & JACK WEISMAN, dirs. of 'Nuisance Bear' - Sundance Grand Jury Award WINNER · 53 min · Season 2 Episode 13Gabby Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman join the show after winning Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize to unpack the ten-year road behind Nuisance Bear, a polar bear’s journey through two…
- BeastGrip - Proud Sponsor of the Past Present Feature Podcast 🎙️ use code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10% off · 1 min · Season 2Proud to welcome BEASTGRIP as a new sponsor of the Past Present Feature Podcast 🎙️ Head over to Beastgrip.com and use code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10% off When you're filming on…
- E67 • Taking the Scary Road on Purpose • STEPHANIE AHN, dir. of 'Bedford Park' at Sundance, U.S. Dramatic Competition (Special Jury Award) · 35 min · Season 2 Episode 12Stephanie Ahn discusses Bedford Park, (Special Jury Award) her Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition debut about a Korean American woman in her 30s pulled back into her parents’…
- E66 • Finding the Soul of Your Film • J.M. HARPER, dir. of ‘Soul Patrol’ at Sundance, U.S. Doc Competition (Best Director Winner) · 50 min · Season 2 Episode 11Documentary filmmaker and editor J.M. Harper discusses Soul Patrol (Best Director Winner at Sundance ‘26), his six-year journey telling the story of the first Black special…
- E65 • Curation as Craft, Responsibility, Intuition • ANIA TRZEBIATOWSKA, Sundance Programmer & SANDS Festival Director · 49 min · Season 2 Episode 10Sundance feature programmer Ania Trzebiatowska joins the show to talk about curation as craft, responsibility, and intuition. From her roots in Poland to running Krakow’s Off…
