In 2023, the American Cinematheque created the “Buddy of the Fest” movie competition, a collection of packages tied to film-related podcasts. Among the many highlights of that first 12 months had been a stay recording of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit” with Oliver Stone in dialogue following a screening of “JFK,” Marc Maron of “WTF” introducing Sidney Lumet’s “Canine Day Afternoon,” and Josh Olson and Joe Dante of “The Films That Made Me” introducing Martin Scorsese‘s “The King of Comedy.”
“Toolkit,” “WTF,” and “The Films That Made Me” will all be again on the Cinematheque this August for the third version of “Buddy of the Fest,” which can characteristic 27 podcasts and occasions on the Aero Theatre and Los Feliz 3 from August 21-27. The competition kicks off with one other stay recording of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit,” with director Mario Van Peebles showing stay in particular person to display screen and focus on his characteristic debut, “New Jack Metropolis.”
It’s one in all three stay recordings that can happen at this 12 months’s fest. On August 21, the identical night time Van Peebles will current “New Jack Metropolis” on the Los Feliz 3, the Aero will host a screening of “Vampire’s Kiss” adopted by a stay recording of the “Visitations” podcast with hosts/SpectreVision co-founders Daniel Noah and Elijah Wooden joined by filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (higher referred to as Radio Silence). Greg Proops will file a stay episode of “The Greg Proops Movie Membership” on the twenty sixth, following a screening of “The Producers.”
Maron will probably be again to current Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” whereas Dante and Olson have picked the cult basic “Vanishing Level” for his or her screening this 12 months. Different highlights embody a 4K restoration of Altman’s “Popeye” introduced by the hosts of Perf Harm, three packages from The Ringer (“The Massive Image,” “Home of R,” and “The Midnight Boys”), and a screening of “UHF” hosted by “Workplace Hours Reside” podcasters Tim Heidecker, DJ Douggpound, and Vic Berger.
Cinematheque programmer Cindy Flores factors out that whereas a number of competition favorites from earlier years are again, this 12 months’s fest additionally consists of 15 new podcasts together with “Tea Time,” who will probably be internet hosting a double characteristic of the “Sister Act” motion pictures, “The Dana Gould Hour,” with Gould introducing “Carnival of Souls,” and “The Screenwriting Life,” whose hosts Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna will current “Up.” And there are a lot extra the place these got here from.
“A enjoyable factor concerning the podcasts that current at ‘Buddy of the Fest’ is that they don’t seem to be all immediately film-focused, which opens up quite a lot of movie appreciation,” Flores mentioned. “We’re excited to carry these passionate listening audiences out to the theater to rejoice their favourite exhibits along with the shared movie-going expertise.”
“Buddy of the Fest 2025” runs on the American Cinematheque from August 21-27. Tickets are actually out there on the Cinematheque’s web site.
