The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 383: Oliver Laxe on Sirat

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. In Sirat, director Oliver Laxe tells the story of a father searching for his daughter with his young son’s help. But the milieu isn’t what one might expect: a desert rave scene in an unidentified country in a world plunged into disarray and war. Premiered in Cannes last year and still in U.S. cinemas, Sirat's visceral, spiritual journey joins together the father (Sergi Lopez) with a motley crew of ravers rumbling into the desert and running into a tragedy that tends to catch audiences off guard. I spoke with Laxe recently about the film, which is nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature alongside It Was Just an Accident (directed by Jafar Panahi), The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonca Filho), Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier), and The Voice of Hind Rajab (Kaouther Ben Hania).

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 382: Berlin 2026 – Bilge Ebiri on Mouse, Moscas (Flies), Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 2026 Berlinale concluded its second week, I continued my series covering the film highlights. This time I sat down with Bilge Ebiri of Vulture and New York Magazine, who was making his first visit to this festival. Among the titles discussed were Moscas (aka Flies, directed by Fernando Eimbcke), Mouse (Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson), and Everybody Digs Bill Evans (Grant Gee).

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 381: Berlin 2026 – Rachel Pronger on The Blood Countess, No Good Men, The Radu Jude Short, The Fabulous Time Machine, The Cruel Woman

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 2026 Berlinale enters its second week, I continue my series covering the highlights. This time I welcome a new guest to the podcast, Rachel Pronger, critic and co-founder of Invisible Women, an archive activist feminist film collective which champions historic work by women and marginalized gender filmmakers through curation, events, and editorial. We began with a revival selection from the festival’s Teddy 40 anniversary series, Seduction: The Cruel Woman, co-directed by Elfi Mikesch and Monika Treut. Then we discuss premieres from across the festival: The Blood Countess (directed by Ulrike Ottinger, from Berlinale Special Gala), the opening film No Good Men (Shahrbanoo Sadat), The Fabulous Time Machine (Eliza Capai and Daniel Grinspum, from Generation Kplus), Crocodile (The Critics and Pietra Brettkelly) and a new short film from Radu Jude, Plan Contraplan (from Shorts Program 4).

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 380: Berlin 2026 – Jonathan Romney on My Wife Cries, 17, Safe Exit, Chronicles from the Siege

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 2026 Berlinale enters its second week, I continue my series of episodes covering the highlights. This time I sit down with Jonathan Romney, who is contributing as usual to Screen and the Observer. Titles discussed include: My Wife Cries (aka Meine Frau Weint, directed by Angela Schanelec), 17 (Kosara Mitic), Safe Exit (Mohammed Hammad), and Chronicles from the Siege (Abdallah Alkhatib).

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 379: Berlin 2026 – Guy Lodge on Queen at Sea, We Are All Strangers, Nina Roza, Forest High

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 2026 Berlinale continues, I continue my series of episodes covering the highlights. This time I sit down with Variety critic Guy Lodge. Titles discussed include: the freshly screened Queen at Sea (directed by Lance Hammer, starring Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay), We Are All Strangers (Anthony Chen), Nina Roza (Geneviève Dulude-De Celles), and Forest High (Manon Coubia).

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rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass