Film programmer Elliot Lavine has been introducing audiences to vintage cinema for decades, first in San Francisco and now in Portland. His regular Film Noir festival I Wake Up Dreaming is a popular event, as are his theme screenings of subversive science fiction and Cold-War-era B-movies.
The Covid pandemic forced filmgoers out of theaters, but Elliot pivoted to the internet and expanded his Zoom film courses to multiple universities. Now that theaters have opened their doors once again, classic film programs on the big screen have been finding new audiences.
Elliot sits down with S.W. Conser to talk about history and art, 35mm film and streaming video, propaganda and political suppression, and the endurance of Film Noir from the 1930's on up to such late-20th century directors as David Lynch, John Dahl, and the Coen Brothers.
An expanded web-only version of this episode, featuring an extra 10 minutes of content, is available at this link.
- KBOO