Find Your Friends - Director Izabel Pakzad

This Ordinary Thing - Director Nick Davis

Haunting and unforgettable, THIS ORDINARY THING tells the story of non-Jews who helped save Jewish people across Europe during The Holocaust. The film combines never-before-seen archival footage with the testimonies of over forty different people who, operating independently and at great risk to themselves and their families, saved thousands of Jewish strangers from almost certain death. THIS ORDINARY THING is a timely reminder of the pockets of goodness that can rise in a sea of evil: everyday people helping others who were "different" from them. Notably, none of the people featured in the film thought of themselves as heroes. And yet the film, with immense contemporary resonance, causes each of us to ask ourselves “What would I have done?” The film employs some of the world’s greatest actors, performing excerpts translated from the original transcripts. The cast, including Helen Mirren, F. Murray Abraham, Carrie Coon, Jeremy Irons, Ellen Burstyn, Stephen Fry, Bill Camp, Harry Hadden-Paton, Marcia Gay Harden, Bill Irwin, Kasia Kółeczek, Anna Krippa, Natasha Landow, Camillo Lareczyk, Donal Logue, Martha Plimpton, Rufus Sewell, Hope Davis and Lily Tomlin. About the filmmaker - An accomplished writer, director, and producer, Nick Davis got his start in film and television by interning on Ken Burns’ Baseball. His first task was to build a desk. In addition to his work with Burns, which included jobs on Cornerstone and The West, Davis worked for filmmaker David Grubin—co-producing The Language of Life with Bill Moyers for PBS and producing Money and Power: The History of Business for CNBC. In 1993, he directed the Emmy Award–winning Jack: The Last Kennedy Film, produced with his father, Peter Davis. In 1998, Nick wrote and directed 1999, a black-comedy feature starring Jennifer Garner, Dan Futterman, and Amanda Peet. The film aired on the Sundance Channel and screened at more than 20 festivals worldwide. In 2001, he founded Nick Davis Productions. Having seen Young Frankenstein ten times as a child, Nick was thrilled that the company’s first job was producing a Bravo Profile of Gene Wilder. Since then, NDP has produced more than 80 hours of television—and, over the past two decades, more than 300 commissioned films for organizations, institutions, and private clients. Meanwhile, Nick’s public-facing documentary work has continued to grow. In 2018, he produced and directed the PBS American Masters film Ted Williams: “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived,” narrated by Emmy- and Golden Globe–winner Jon Hamm. In 2021, he directed the acclaimed Once Upon a Time in Queens, a multi-part 30 for 30 documentary on the 1986 Mets, in partnership with ESPN Films, Kimmelot, ITV America, and Major League Baseball. In 2024, he won an Emmy Award for executive producing Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox for Netflix. In 2025, Nick organized his work into two distinct entities: Series of Dreams [https://www.series-of-dreams.com/], a boutique production company for films made for wide audiences, founded with his wife, novelist Jane Mendelsohn — and NICK DAVIS PRODUCTIONS, his commissioned-film studio. A filmmaker whose work is known for its humanity, humor, and emotional depth, Nick has a particular love for the private films, where the stakes are personal and the storytelling can be intimate, funny, and deeply meaningful. Prior to his work in film and television, Nick performed improv comedy in New York City nightclubs and co-wrote the novel Boone (with Brooks Hansen), published in 1990 and named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His book Competing With Idiots [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/37845/competing-with-idiots-by-nick-davis/]—a dual portrait of his grandfather Herman Mankiewicz and great-uncle Joseph Mankiewicz—was published by Knopf in 2021 and shortlisted for the LA Times Book Prize (Biography).

Magic Hour - Director / co-writer / co-lead actor Kate Aselton

Charlie and Erin escape to the desert to navigate an unexpected and challenging new phase of their relationship. Magic Hour is a story of love, perception, regret and acceptance. Director, writer, co-lead actor Kate Aselton joins us for a conversation on the making of Magic Hour, the early days of indie filmmaking, working with her husband / collaborator Mark Duplass and the brilliant co-lead, Daveed Diggs. About the filmmaker - Katie Aselton is an acclaimed actor and filmmaker working across television and film. Her breakout acting role was in the indie hit THE PUFFY CHAIR, directed by Mark and Jay Duplass, and she is known for her starring role as ‘Jenny’ in the FX comedy series, THE LEAGUE.MAGIC HOUR is Aselton’s fourth feature as a director. She made her directorial debut with THE FREEBIE, in which she also stars alongside Dax Shepard; the film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Katie also directed and starred in the survivor thriller BLACK ROCK opposite Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell, which also premiered at Sundance in 2012. She directed the iconic Diane Keaton in MACK & RITA in 2022. Her short film OH, CHRISTMAS TREE, starring Mark Duplass and her daughter Ora Duplass, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024. She recently wrapped her fifth feature, THEIR TOWN starring Ora Duplass and Chosen Jacobs. As an actor, Aselton has appeared in numerous roles on the big and small screen. Her TV credits include: the FX series LEGION, created by Noah Hawley; HBO’s indie hits ANIMALS and TOGETHERNESS; long-running favorites like CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, VEEP, and THE OFFICE; Netflix's acclaimed anthology series ROOM 104, and Hulu’s CASUAL. She can next be seen in Apple TV’s upcoming GOVERNMENT CHEESE. In the feature space, Aselton’s acting credits include Netflix’s OLD DADS, the Paramount favorite BOOK CLUB, Lionsgate’s BOMBSHELL, Warner Brother’s FATHER FIGURES, and the acclaimed horror/sci-fi films SHE DIES TOMORROW and SYNCHRONIC.

Find Your Friends - Director Izabel Pakzad

Amber and her four best friends flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface. What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a revenge-fueled nightmare. Featuring a stellar cast that includes; Bella Thorne, Chloe Cherry, Helena Howard, Sophia Ali, and Zión Moreno, Find Your Friends, director and writer Izabel Pakzad joins us to talk about why she wanted to tell this story about the trauma and fear women are forced to regularly navigate and how this film is a loud and clear expression of resistance. About the filmmaker - Izabel Pakzad is an Iranian-Greek American filmmaker, writer, and actor. She recently wrote and directed her debut feature film, Find Your Friends (2026), starring Helena Howard (Madeline's Madeline,) Bella Thorne (Divinity,) Chloe Cherry (Euphoria,) Zion Moreno (Gossip Girl,) Sophia Ali (Uncharted,) and Chris Bauer (The Wire.) Find Your Friends had its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival as one of the festival's headliners, and additionally screened at TIFF as one of 10 Industry Selects, followed by its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest in Texas, where Forbes named it one of 5 "Must-See Films from Fantastic Fest.” The film went on to screen at the Sitges Film Festival and Torino Film Festival. Pakzad’s short film Don’t Worry, It’s Gonna Be OK (2022), which she directed, wrote and starred in, was an official selection at the Oscar qualifying Raindance Film Festival and Hollyshorts, and also won Best Short Film at the L.A. Film Festival. Previously, Pakzad produced and starred in the independent feature, Thena, opposite Chris Bauer, Virginia Gardner (Fall), Brian Marc (White Girl) Will Peltz (Euphoria), Dakotas Lotus (Cami and Coop), and Malia Baker (The Baby-Sitters Club,). Thena had its world premiere at Taormina Film Festival in June 2025.

Carolina Caroline - Director Adam Carter Rehmeier

Acclaimed director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s romantic crime thriller stars Samara Weaving (READY OR NOT, BORDERLINE) as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner, DINNER IN AMERICA), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast. Also starring Kyra Sedgwick, the film features a wide-ranging country music soundtrack, with tracks from artists such as Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Loretta Lynn, and over a dozen others. Director Adam Carter Rehmeier (Dinner in America) joins us for a lively conversation on making this live wire, criminally entertaining odyssey. About the filmmaker - ADAM REHMEIER is an American filmmaker from Nebraska City, Nebraska, unbound by genre, blending style, humor and humanity into stories that entertain, move and linger long after the credits roll. Rehmeier’s breakout film, Dinner in America (2020), premiered in competition at Sundance, earned critical acclaim for its energy and performances, and developed a cult following in 2024 thanks to a TikTok-fueled rediscovery, trending on Hulu, Google, and Letterboxd before a second theatrical run into 2025. Variety praised the film’s “bright comic look and energy,” while the New York Times reported on the film’s most recent theatrical run, noting several theaters’ requests to show the film “were the most they’d received for any film,” with one critic adding, “this is what a cult film looks like” for modern movie fans. The film’s theme song that aided the movie’s virality, Watermelon, was also co-written by Rehmeier. Rehmeier’s follow-up Snack Shack (2024), produced by T-Street and MRC, released theatrically by Paramount’s Republic Pictures. Named a “Critic’s Pick” by the New York Times, the film was widely praised for Rehmeier’s evocative vision of teen summer, with the A.V. Club calling the film “kinetic… Rehmeier constructs an intoxicating teenage dreamworld.” Rehmeier premieres Carolina Caroline at TIFF50 this fall, starring Samara Weaving, Kyle Gallner, and Kyra Sedgwick. The film is being produced by Star Thrower (King Richard, Fair Play) and Wonder Company. He just entered post-production on his wild genre-bending feature A BOBBY THING, starring frequent collaborators Gabriel LaBelle and Kyle Gallner.

Food Roots - Director Michele Josue & Subject Billy Dec

Emmy award-winning Filipino American film director Michele Josue (Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine) masterfully blends cinematic storytelling with intimate cultural exploration, FOOD ROOTS follows Billy Dec, two-time Emmy Award Winning TV Personality, Actor, Attorney and Entrepreneur, as he journeys through his mother’s native 7,641 islands in the Philippines in search of his last living elders, ancestral recipes, and long-held family stories. Traveling by plane, boat, motorcycle, jeepney, and on foot, he moves through bustling cities, remote islands, and cloud-covered mountain villages, uncovering culinary traditions and personal truths that redefine his understanding of identity, heritage, and belonging. About the subject - Billy Dec is a 2-time Emmy Award Winning TV Personality, Actor, Attorney and Entrepreneur. Dec is the Founder/CEO of celebrated businesses like Sunda New Asian Restaurants, The Blueprint Underground Cocktail Club, as well as cutting edge Creative Agency COACT, with 4000+ teammates around the world. Dec can regularly be seen hosting and cooking on local & national TV, loves to act from time to time, and is proud to share his heritage in his new documentary FOOD ROOTS. A Chicago-Kent College of Law and Harvard Business School Alum, Dec was a Presidential appointee for five years, serving on the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, and the White House Bullying Prevention Task Force, and has served on many local philanthropic boards and committees. About the filmmaker - Michele Josue is an Emmy award-winning Filipino American director. She is the Executive Producer and Director of “Happy Jail,” [https://trk.cp20.com/click/93qm-30vnn1-al1vc3-1bmlyeq3/] a Netflix Original Documentary Series about the Filipino jail that is home to the world-famous “Dancing Inmates” known for their viral Michael Jackson dance video. Michele’s critically acclaimed feature-film debut "Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine" [https://trk.cp20.com/click/93qm-30vnn1-al1vc4-1bmlyeq4/] is the winner of 10 Best Documentary and Audience Choice Awards from festivals worldwide and boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2016, the film won the Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class Special.”