Chinese independent film producer and native New Yorker Peter Loehr. He became China’s first independent film producer. His film “Spicy Love Soup” in 1998 was the second only to “The Titanic” in box office receipts in China. Loehr’s third feature “Shower” is currently a hit in China, and is due in the U.S. next month. Loehr founded the company Imar to produce and distribute his films.
Editor Tom Kuntz and reporter Phil Kuntz. Their new book “The Sinatra Files: The Life of an American Icon Under Government Surveillance” (Three Rivers Press) excerpts and analyzes portions of the FBI’s massive file on Frank Sinatra. The file is 1,275 pages long and was begun in the mid 1940s and lasted until 1972. Tom Kuntz is the editor of “Word for Word,” a column in The New York Times Week in Review section. Phil Kuntz is a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal.
Guest film critic Henry Sheehan reviews the new Farrelly Brothers comedy “Me, Myself & Irene,” starring Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger. Sheehan is the film critic for the Orange County Register.
Creator and executive producer of the HBO hit series “The Sopranos,” David Chase. The show has just completed its second season and experienced the death of one of its cast members, Nancy Marchand.
The 1946 Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer musical St. Louis Woman is being revived at the Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia. (thru June 25th) The musical – which was written for and features an African-American cast –features the songs “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “I Had Myself a True Love,” and “Anywhere I Hang My Hat is Home.” We talk with two individuals, first: Larry Maslon who rewrote the libretto for the show. Maslon is professor of theatre at New York University.
We remember actress Nancy Marchand who died Sunday at the age of 71. Most recently she was best-known for playing the bitter mother of Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos.” During the 1970s she played the newspaper publisher on the “Lou Grant” show. (interview with TV critic David Bianculli rebroadcast from 3/18/99)
Dr. Nils Daulaire is the president of the Global Health Council, one of the three non-governmental organizations that administers the Jonathan Mann Award, named after the late doctor who was a pioneer in the fight against AIDS and connecting global health and human rights.
Dr. Vjosa Dobruna (“Vee-YO-sa Doe-BRU-na”) is one of this year’s recipients of the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. She’s being recognized for her work as founder of the Pristina Center for the Protection of Women and Children, which treats those victimized by rape, torture, or psychological trauma. Dobruna is a pediatrician neurologist. During the war, she fled to Macedonia and set up work in a Macedonian refugee camp. Dobruna narrowly escaped arrest last year. Her colleague, Dr. Flora Brovina, is the other recipient of the award.
Director/producer Nick Park is the academy award- winning creator of the much-loved animated British characters Wallace & Gromit. Director/producer Peter Lord is Chairman and co-founder of the clay animation studios Aardman, where PARK created his short films featuring Wallace & Gromit (“A Grand Day Out,” “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave.”) They’ve just collaborated on their first full-length feature film, “Chicken Run” an animated escape film with chickens as the escapers.
George Segal died last Friday. In this interview, Segal talks about his work which is being featured through October at The Jewish Museum in New York City. It is his first major exhibition in North America in 20 years. He is best known for his free standing sculptures depicting everyday people in urban settings. (REBROADCAST from 7/23/98)
Painter Jacob Lawrence died on June 9th at the age of 82. For six decades, Lawrence had been widely regarded as one of America's most important black artists. His work depicted the black American experience from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement. (REBROADCAST from 5/16/88)
Ex-co-leader of the septet Squirrel Nut Zippers, Tom Maxwell. His new recording as a solo artist is “Samsara” (Samsara Ltd.) On the album he continues the work he started with the Zippers, harkening the sound of hot jazz, but also blues and gospel, Country and Western, and even Chinese opera.
Author Garry Wills. The Pulitzer Prize winner has written a new book criticizing the Catholic Church. It’s called “Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit.” (Doubleday) Wills is a practicing Catholic and studied with Jesuit priests, though he was never ordained. In Papal Sin, Wills describes a papacy that seems unable or unwilling to admit its mistakes. He writes, “Given so much to hide, the impulse to keep hiding becomes imperative, automatic, almost inescapable.” He addresses topics such as birth control, the ordination of women, and views on the Holocaust.
From the American Movie Classics cable channel, Vice President for scheduling, Pat Davis. And from The Turner Classic Movie channel, Vice President of programming, Charlie Tabesh. They’ll discuss their work scheduling and acquiring classic films to be shown on cable TV.
