63: Sweet Movie with Sarah-Tai Black
This week, writer, academic and film programmer Sarah-Tai Black tests our mettle a with a film that tops a number of "Most Disturbing" lists on the internet - 1974's Sweet Movie. This film is deliberately provocative, so trigger warnings abound. We talk the importance of government funding, using disturbing imagery to make a point, and responsible filmmaking when it comes to getting the shot vs. traumatizing your actors. It's not all intensity though, we laugh about our favourite funny moments, what we genuinely enjoyed about this, and how many times is too many times to watch a movie you don't enjoy. For those on the fence about if they want to see this, we recommend you listen to the podcast first and then make your decision, but it is totally worth checking out.
Sweet Movie is available through the Criterion collection and we highly recommend reading the essay companion piece before you dive in.
End credit music for this episode is Is there life on earth? Written by Anne Lonnberg, Dusan Makavejev, and Manos Hadjidakis, and performed by Anne Lonnberg.
On this week's show
Sarah-Tai Black is a film programmer, arts worker, and writer living and working in Toronto, Ontario. She currently programs a monthly series at The Royal Cinema called Black Gold which aims to highlight the best and most vibrant of black cinema and its heroes. Her writing and words have appeared in Broken Pencil, Buddies in Bad Times, and alongside projects by several fantastic artists. She is committed to intersectional feminist practices within the arts and her work focuses heavily on the representation and experiences of black, queer, and body positive communities.
Check out the schedule for Black Gold here.
Shrimpton's Suggested Short
This week's Shrimpton Suggested Short is Bacon & God's Wrath by Sol Freidman