Ep. 50 Creating Beauty with Alex Mallis
In this episode, filmmaker and DJ Alex Ramirez-Mallis discusses the differences between making films and music, the theme of seeking liberty, and how to make filmmaking sustainable with Meerkat Media Collective. Finally in today's concluding thought, Edward shares some reelprint updates.
Guest Bio:
Alex Ramirez-Mallis (he/him) is a Cuban-American, Jewish filmmaker raised in New Hampshire now living in Brooklyn, NY. His films have been selected for multiple festivals internationally. His work has been distributed by PBS, Criterion, Roku, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Pitchfork, The Huffington Post, and Vimeo Staff Picks. His short documentary SHUT UP AND PAINT (2022) was awarded Grand Jury Prize at IFF Boston and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and was broadcast nationally on POV. Alex received an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College (CUNY) and is an active member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and the Meerkat Media Collective.
Time Codes:
1:03 - Alex's path to being a DJ and filmmaker
4:30 - Alex's dissecting the differences between making music and differences
9:30 - Exposing the politics of food waste in Spoils: Extraordinary Harvest
20:00 - Working in Cuba and exploring family heritage in La Noche Buena
33:14 - Following Brockhampton and showing their camaraderie in American Boyband
42:56 - Unveiling NYC's criminalization of dollar van drivers and the drivers' significance to the people in Flatbush! Flatbush!
55:30 - Making filmmaking sustainable with Meerkat Media Collective
1:03:02 - Alex's recommendation: The Territory
1:03:07 - Concluding Thought: reelprint updates
Show Notes:
Featured Works Available: American Boyband Series, La Noche Buena, and Spoils: Extraordinary Harvest
Flatbush! Flatbush! project page
Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and Meerkat Media Collective group pages