Past Present Feature with Marcus Mizelle

Gabby 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 connected worlds: tourist-heavy Churchill, Manitoba, and the Inuit community of Arviat, where the stakes are far more complex and far less welcoming. The film becomes a meditation on coexistence, control, and who gets labeled a “nuisance” in a shared landscape.
We dig into craft and access: finding the right position for the camera so the story can reveal itself, structuring the feature in two halves, and how a dialogue-free short film born partly out of COVID constraints became the proof of concept that unlocked TIFF, The New Yorker, and eventually A24. They also talk candidly about what the audience never sees: rough living conditions, long hours waiting, the specific agony of “the best thing happened, and we missed it,” and the slow but important work of earning trust, where listening comes before filming.
They share influences that shaped them, including Miyazaki’s sense of nature and modernity, Gus Van Sant’s bravery with form, and John Cassavetes’ belief in the energy of a set. The conversation closes on what it meant to experience Sundance as both a career peak and a personal milestone, getting engaged and then married during the festival. Advice to filmmakers: be tenacious when you know you need to tell a story, protect trust like it is part of the craft, and do not turn on each other when the pressure spikes.

What Movies Are You Watching?
This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip. When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. 
If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. 
Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more.
Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. 
Acclaimed documentary ROADS OF FIRE is now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango at home. Directed by Nathaniel Lezra, the film won best documentary at the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film examines the migrant crisis here in the States all the way down to Venezuela, and Academy Award nominee Diane Lane calls it "a must-see journey of human dignity." Roads of Fire - now on Amazon, iTunes, Fandango.

Introducing the Past Present Feature Film Festival, a new showcase celebrating cinematic storytelling across time. From bold proof of concept shorts to stand out new films lighting up the circuit, to overlooked features that deserve another look. 
Sponsored by the Past Present Feature podcast and Leica Camera. Submit now at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Support the show

Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature
The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 20-22, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Proud 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 your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. 

If you’re ready to level up your mobile workflow, head to Beastgrip.com and use code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10% off.

What Movies Are You Watching?
Support the show

Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature
The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 20-22, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Stephanie 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’ home after her mother’s car accident, where she meets the man responsible and an unexpected connection begins to form. Ahn shares why she needed to make this film, how growing up Korean American left her hungry for stories that felt real beyond familiar clichés, and why writing Bedford Park meant finally walking straight into something deeply autobiographical she avoided for years.
She talks about choosing uncertainty over comfort and taking the scary road on purpose, stepping away from a stable editing career to pursue a story that wouldn’t let go. Ahn reflects on journaling as a way into the script, years of rejection, and learning to be ruthless with her own material as the film evolved from a family drama into a more intimate relationship story. Rather than starting with a message, she describes how the film’s themes revealed themselves over time, ultimately centering on human connection, being truly seen, and how that clarity reshapes self-understanding.
Ahn walks through the long, practical build: seven years of persistence, financing that finally unlocked through relationships and Korean backing, and an unusually deep rehearsal process with actors that stretched across years before shooting in New Jersey. She reflects on editing as a brutal but clarifying search for truth alongside a trusted co-editor, and on the films she kept returning to for structure and inspiration, including A Separation, Secret Sunshine, Rust and Bone, Heat, and The Insider.

What Movies Are You Watching?
This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip. When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. 
If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. 
Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more.
Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. 
Introducing the Past Present Feature Film Festival, a new showcase celebrating cinematic storytelling across time. From bold proof of concept shorts to stand out new films lighting up the circuit, to overlooked features that deserve another look. 
Sponsored by the Past Present Feature podcast and Leica Camera. Submit now at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Support the show

Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature
The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 20-22, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Documentary 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 operations unit in Vietnam. What began with reading Eddie Manuel’s book grew into years of weekly conversations, slow trust-building, and eventual access to never-before-seen Super 8 footage and photographs shot by the soldiers themselves. Harper also reflects on how his work editing Jeen‑Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy sharpened his instincts around character, structure, and letting footage reveal meaning over time.
We talk about point of view and theme as the engine of a film, not ideas layered on afterward. Harper frames Soul Patrol around a central question: whether speaking openly about acts committed in war, long buried and rarely acknowledged, can offer any form of healing. Drawing on Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, he discusses how cinema can confront violence without glamorizing it, and the ethical tension of rendering horrific experiences with clarity, restraint, and intention.
He reflects on editing as discovery, assembling a team of editors with different strengths, and shaping a film that moves between memory, present-day reckoning, and historical record.

What Movies Are You Watching?
This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip. When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. 
If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. 
Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more.
Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. 
Acclaimed documentary ROADS OF FIRE is now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango at home. Directed by Nathaniel Lezra, the film won best documentary at the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film examines the migrant crisis here in the States all the way down to Venezuela, and Academy Award nominee Diane Lane calls it "a must-see journey of human dignity." Roads of Fire - now on Amazon, iTunes, Fandango.

Introducing the Past Present Feature Film Festival, a new showcase celebrating cinematic storytelling across time. From bold proof of concept shorts to stand out new films lighting up the circuit, to overlooked features that deserve another look. 
Sponsored by the Past Present Feature podcast and Leica Camera. Submit now at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Support the show

Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature
The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 20-22, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Sundance 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 Camera festival, working in acquisitions at Visit Films, and programming U.S. and world documentary features at Sundance, Ania reflects on how taste is formed and why being pleasantly surprised when viewing submissions still matters most.
We discuss the realities filmmakers obsess over, including who you know, timing, marketplace “success,” and why Vimeo analytics do not tell the full story. Ania breaks down what actually happens behind the scenes at Sundance, how programmers balance limited slots with thousands of film submissions, and why being the right fit matters more than trends or agendas.
She shares why festivals need balance between urgent, heavy films and work that is entertaining, humane, and emotionally alive. Drawing from examples like André Is an Idiot and Gleason, Ania explains how character-driven storytelling can carry even the most difficult subjects. Advice to filmmakers: do your research, be clear about what you are making, and remember that programmers are rooting for you, even when the answer might still be no.

What Movies Are You Watching?
This episode is brought to you by BeastGrip. When you're filming on your phone and need something solid, modular, and built for real productions - including 28 Years Later and Left Handed Girl - BeastGrip's rigs, lenses, and accessories are designed to hold up without slowing you down. 
If you're ready to level up your mobile workflow, visit BeastGrip.com and use coupon code PASTPRESENTFEATURE for 10 % off. 
Revival Hub is your guide to specialty screenings in Los Angeles - classics on 35mm, director Q&As, rare restorations, and indie gems you won't find on streaming. We connect moviegoers with over 200 venues across LA, from the major revival houses to the 20-seat microcinemas and more.
Visit revivalhub.com to see what's playing this week. 
Acclaimed documentary ROADS OF FIRE is now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango at home. Directed by Nathaniel Lezra, the film won best documentary at the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film examines the migrant crisis here in the States all the way down to Venezuela, and Academy Award nominee Diane Lane calls it "a must-see journey of human dignity." Roads of Fire - now on Amazon, iTunes, Fandango.

Introducing the Past Present Feature Film Festival, a new showcase celebrating cinematic storytelling across time. From bold proof of concept shorts to stand out new films lighting up the circuit, to overlooked features that deserve another look. 
Sponsored by the Past Present Feature podcast and Leica Camera. Submit now at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature

Support the show

Listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more, as well as at www.pastpresentfeature.com. Like, subscribe, and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature
The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 20-22, 2026 in Hollywood, CA - Submit at filmfreeway.com/PastPresentFeature