Jonathan Ali's guest appearances

Jonathan Ali

The Film Comment Podcast

The Popcorn Muncher Podcast

Tom Hanks

Ian McKellen

Jeff Goldblum

Jake Gyllenhaal

Amy Schumer

Ricky Gervais

Stephen King

Alexander Skarsgård

Melissa McCarthy

Jennifer Lawrence

Margot Robbie

Amy Adams

Matthew McConaughey

Kenneth Branagh

Guy Ritchie

OwlTail

Last weekend, Film Comment Co-Deputy Editor Devika Girish was at the True/False Film Festival: an annual documentary festival in Columbia, Missouri that has, over the years, become an exciting site to discover the latest developments in nonfiction cinema. This year, a prominent trend in the lineup was personal filmmaking—films in which directors drew upon on their memories, families, and relationships to craft something universal or even political. Two films in particular exemplified this trend, though in different ways. Forms of Forgetting, by the filmmaker Burak Çevik, turns conversations between two of the filmmaker's friends about their memories of their relationship into a broader reflection on the link between remembrance and one's sense of place, the city, and the nation. In Milisuthando, the artist Milisuthando Bongela combines archival footage, recollections, and interviews with friends and family to reflect on her childhood in the Transkei, which was an all-Black, segregationist South African state sanctioned by the apartheid regime. On today's podcast, Burak, Milisuthando, and Jonathan Ali, a programmer for True/False, joined to delve into the making of these films and the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of personal filmmaking.

Last weekend, Film Comment Co-Deputy Editor Devika Girish was at the True/False Film Festival: an annual documentary festival in Columbia, Missouri that has, over the years, become an exciting site to discover the latest developments in nonfiction cinema. This year, a prominent trend in the lineup was personal filmmaking—films in which directors drew upon on their memories, families, and relationships to craft something universal or even political. Two films in particular exemplified this trend, though in different ways. Forms of Forgetting, by the filmmaker Burak Çevik, turns conversations between two of the filmmaker's friends about their memories of their relationship into a broader reflection on the link between remembrance and one's sense of place, the city, and the nation. In Milisuthando, the artist Milisuthando Bongela combines archival footage, recollections, and interviews with friends and family to reflect on her childhood in the Transkei, which was an all-Black, segregationist South African state sanctioned by the apartheid regime. On today's podcast, Burak, Milisuthando, and Jonathan Ali, a programmer for True/False, joined to delve into the making of these films and the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of personal filmmaking.

The Politics of the Personal, with Milithusando Bongela, Burak Çevik, & Jonathan Ali

Ela Bittencourt

This week, Film Comment is reporting from Berlin, where the 2023 Berlinale is currently underway. Throughout the festival, we’ll be sharing daily podcasts, dispatches, and interviews covering all the highlights of this year’s selection, including new films by Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec, Hong Sangsoo, James Benning, and many more.On today’s episode, FC co-editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute are joined by FC contributor Ela Bittencourt and Jonathan Ali, Director of Programming at the Third Horizon Film Festival. They discuss some of the recent premieres at the Berlinale, including Claire Simon's Our Body, Moyra Davey's Horse Opera, and Aaron Kaufman and Sean Penn's Superpower; Turkish retrospective selection Black Head (1979), by Korhan Yurtsever; as well as films from the Berlin Critics' Week's "Artistic Differences" program, which included Lavra dor (1968), O tigra ea gazela (1977), The White Death of the Black Wizard (2020), and The Secret Formula (1965).

This week, Film Comment is reporting from Berlin, where the 2023 Berlinale is currently underway. Throughout the festival, we’ll be sharing daily podcasts, dispatches, and interviews covering all the highlights of this year’s selection, including new films by Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec, Hong Sangsoo, James Benning, and many more. On today’s episode, FC co-editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute are joined by FC contributor Ela Bittencourt and Jonathan Ali, Director of Programming at the Third Horizon Film Festival. They discuss some of the recent premieres at the Berlinale, including Claire Simon's Our Body, Moyra Davey's Horse Opera, and Aaron Kaufman and Sean Penn's Superpower; Turkish retrospective selection Black Head (1979), by Korhan Yurtsever; as well as films from the Berlin Critics' Week's "Artistic Differences" program, which included Lavra dor (1968), O tigra ea gazela (1977), The White Death of the Black Wizard (2020), and The Secret Formula (1965).

Berlinale 2023 #2, with Ela Bittencourt and Jonathan Ali

It’s another special interview edition of the podcast this week, as I chat to Jonathan Ali, who is one of the head programmers of the East End Film Festival. In full swing right now, the festival is screening dozens of movies at venues across the East End of London, highlighting the best of British independent cinema, as well as films from all over the world.I chatted to Jonathan about his involvement in the East End Film Festival, their partnership with the Films For Food programme, the best films he has seen since the screenings started and the ones he is excited to see in the next week or so as proceedings keep moving. To find out more about the East End Film Festival, take a look at their website and be sure to head along to the screenings between now and April 29.If you like the podcast, subscribe and rate us on iTunes. It really helps. Music is by Bensound.

It’s another special interview edition of the podcast this week, as I chat to Jonathan Ali, who is one of the head programmers of the East End Film Festival. In full swing right now, the festival is screening dozens of movies at venues across the East End of London, highlighting the best of British independent cinema, as well as films from all over the world. I chatted to Jonathan about his involvement in the East End Film Festival, their partnership with the Films For Food programme, the best films he has seen since the screenings started and the ones he is excited to see in the next week or so as proceedings keep moving. To find out more about the East End Film Festival, take a look at their website and be sure to head along to the screenings between now and April 29. If you like the podcast, subscribe and rate us on iTunes. It really helps. Music is by Bensound.

Interview with East End Film Festival programmer Jonathan Ali