Special Report: First Look 2025

The Projection Booth Podcast

The Projection Booth

Film Reviews, Film Interviews, Film History, Tv & Film

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike welcomes Eric Hynes and Edo Choi, curators of First Look 2025 at the Museum of the Moving Image, running running March 12-16 in Astoria, New York. Now in its 14th year, the festival remains a vital showcase for bold, boundary-pushing cinema from around the world.

This year’s lineup includes 38 films—20 features and numerous shorts—spanning 21 countries, with three world premieres and 24 U.S. or North American premieres. Each evening culminates in a Showcase Screening at MoMI’s Sumner Redstone Theater. The festival opens with the U.S. premiere of Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse, a contemporary take on the classic novel, and closes with Giovanni Tortorici’s Diciannove, an intimate portrait of a young man’s journey across Italy.

Mike, Eric, and Edo dive into the festival’s mission of discovery, its rigorous selection process, and the importance of in-person filmmaker appearances. They also highlight First Look’s unique inclusion of work-in-progress screenings and discussions, offering a behind-the-scenes look at emerging cinematic voices. Whether you’re attending or just love adventurous filmmaking, this episode provides an insightful preview of what makes First Look a can’t-miss event for cinephiles.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hold your ears, folks. It's showtime.
0:08.6	People pay good money to see this movie.
0:10.9	When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot popcorn, and no monsters in the projection booth.
0:17.3	Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.
0:20.0	Shut it off.
0:25.4	Turn it off.
0:26.6	Turn it off.
0:31.6	Hey folks. welcome to a special episode of the projection booth.
0:43.5	This is your host, Mike White.
0:44.7	I am joined once again by Eddo Choi and Eric Hines, two of the programmers at the
0:51.2	Momi First Look Festival.
0:57.5	The festival is happening this year, March 12th through March 16th, over at the Museum of the Moving Image. Had a great time talking with Ado and
1:04.0	Eric. Yet another great batch of films that they have curated for us to see this year. Check out everything over at moving
1:12.2	image.org and just search for First Look 2025. You'll find the whole program as well as where
1:19.9	you can get passes and how much those are. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you
1:25.8	enjoy this interview. Eric and Edo, thank you so much for joining me I hope you enjoy this interview.
1:30.2	Eric and Edo, thank you so much for joining me again today.
1:33.3	I'm super excited to talk about this latest first look festival.
1:36.5	Gosh, remind me how many years have you been doing this now?
1:43.7	This is the 14th year for first look and it's the 10th year that I've been a part of. So it had a good strong four years before I even got there.
1:47.7	And now we're looking at 14.
1:49.1	So very on the cusp of the 15th anniversary.
	...

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