Table of Contents: Description, Corrections/Clarifications, Housekeeping, General, Main Slate, Ephemera, Recurring Directors, Recurring Countries, One-Time Directors, Debuts, Festivals/Oscar Nominees, Events, Discussions By Length, Specifications

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Description
The seventeenth episode of the Catalyst and Witness podcast, devoted to exploring the films and format of the New York Film Festival, hosted by Ryan Swen. This covers the seventeenth edition of the festival in 1979, and features special guest Jake Cole, freelance film critic for Slant Magazine.

0:00-15:35 – Opening
15:36-1:08:42 – Part One [La luna to Wise Blood]
1:08:43-2:16:06 – Part Two [Short Memory to Molière]
2:16:07-3:13:08 – Part Three [Best Boy to In a Year With 13 Moons]
3:13:09-4:11:27 – Part Four [Without Anesthesia to The Marriage of Maria Braun]
4:11:28-4:17:25 – Closing

Corrections/Clarifications

• Though the New York Film Festival poster for this year was designed by Michelangelo Pistoletto, I was unable to find a picture of it for use on this page.

Housekeeping

• Hosted by Ryan Swen
• Special Guest Jake Cole
• Conceived and Edited by Ryan Swen
• Recorded in Roswell and Atlanta on Zoom H4N and Behringer Microphone, Edited in Audacity
• Podcast photograph from Yi Yi, Logo designed by Dan Molloy
• Recorded December 13, 2020
• Released December 26, 2020
• Music (in order of appearance):
  • La luna (opening night)
  • Wise Blood (another favorite)
  • The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (favorite of the first section)
  • Short Memory (favorite of the second section)
  • Alexandria… Why? (favorite of the third section)
  • The Black Stallion (favorite of the fourth section)
  • The Marriage of Maria Braun (closing night)

General

• Selection Committee: Richard Roud (program director), Richard Corliss, Molly Haskell, Charles Michener, Tom Luddy (West Coast consultant), Mary Meerson (retrospective consultant)
• Location: Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall
• Prices: 3, 4, 5.50; for opening and closing night 5, 7, 10
• Films seen for the podcast:
  • Ryan
    • Seen before podcast watching period: N/A
    • Seen for the podcast: All
    • Favorite films: The Marriage of Maria Braun, The Golden Coach, In a Year With 13 Moons, Peeping Tom, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, Wise Blood, The Black Stallion, Short Memory
    • Least favorite films: The Europeans
    • Catch-Up Corner: The Bench of Desolation (12th)
  • Jake
    • Seen before podcast watching period: Wise Blood, Nosferatu the Vampyre, My Brilliant Career, In a Year With 13 Moons
    • Seen for the podcast: All available except Angi Vera, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Other People’s Money, The Wobblies; Nosferatu the Vampyre, My Brilliant Career, In a Year With 13 Moons rewatched
    • Favorite films: Nosferatu the Vampyre, The Marriage of Maria Braun, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, The Black Stallion, Wise Blood, Short Memory
    • Least favorite films: The Europeans, The Maids of Wilko
• Discoveries of the festival: Short Memory, Alexandria… Why?, Other People’s Money, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

Main Slate

Opening Night: La luna [Luna] (1979, Bernardo Bertolucci)
September 28, 8:30 {Avery Fisher Hall}
Released 1979
Retrospective: The Golden Coach [Le Carrosse d’or] (1952, Jean Renoir)
September 29, 12:30
Released 1954
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979, Chuck Jones)
September 29, 3:00
Released 1979
Black Jack (1979, Ken Loach)
September 29, 6:00
Never released
Wise Blood (1979, John Huston)
September 29, 9:00
Released 1980
Short Memory [La mémoire courte] (1979, Eduardo de Gregorio)
September 30, 2:00
Never released
Angi Vera (1978, Gabór Pál)
October 1, 6:15
Released 1980
Nosferatu the Vampyre [Nosferatu – Phantom der Nacht/Nosferatu—Phantom of the Night] (1979, Werner Herzog)
October 1, 9:30
Released 1979
Retrospective: Howard Hughes Presents…
Scarface (1932, Howard Hawks)
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947, Preston Sturges)
October 2, 6:15
Released 1932/Released 1951
The Europeans (1979, James Ivory)
October 2, 9:30
Released 1979
Molière (1978, Ariane Mnouchkine)
October 4, 7:00
Never released
Best Boy (1979, Ira Wohl)
October 5, 6:15
Released 1980
Other People’s Money [L’Argent des autres] (1978, Christian de Chalonge)
October 5, 9:30
Never released
Alexandria… Why? [Iskanderija… lih?] (1979, Youssef Chahine)
October 6, 6:00
Never released
My Brilliant Career (1979, Gillian Armstrong)
October 6, 9:00
Released 1980
A Scream From Silence [Mourir à tue-tête/To Die at the Top of One’s Lungs] (1979, Anne Claire Poirier)
October 8, 6:15
Never released
In a Year With 13 Moons [In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden] (1978, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
October 8, 9:30
Released 1980
Without Anesthesia [Bez znieczulenia] (1978, Andrzej Wajda)
October 9, 9:30
Released 1982
The Wobblies (1979, Steward Bird & Deborah Shaffer)
October 11, 6:15
Released 1981
The Maids of Wilko [Panny z Wilka] (1979, Andrzej Wajda)
October 11, 9:30
Never released
The Black Stallion (1979, Carroll Ballard)
October 13, 12:30
Released 1979
Retrospective: Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell)
October 13, 3:00
Released 1979
Closing Night: The Marriage of Maria Braun [Die Ehe der Maria Braun] (1979, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
October 14, 8:30 {Avery Fisher Hall}
Released 1979

Ephemera

• Festival of American Independent Films, a six-day festival featuring six new or unreleased films and nine previously released films, released as a prelude leading directly to the New York Film Festival, $3 a film at Paramount Theater
• Exhibition of technological developments in filmmaking, displayed October 2-4 from 11-8 in Alice Tully Hall

Recurring Directors
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/omnibus/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable), number of festivals with more than one film shown (when applicable); † indicates their last appearance, fraction in parentheses indicates number of features shown from oeuvre, features released in the eligible timeframe, features in oeuvre

• Rainer Werner Fassbinder: 2/2/9/9/1/1
• Andrzej Wajda: 2/2/3/3/0/1
• Bernardo Bertolucci: 1/1/7/8/2/1†(8/17/17)
• Werner Herzog: 1/1/7/8/0/1
• James Ivory: 1/1/4/4†(4/29/29)
• Ken Loach: 1/1/3/3
• Eduardo de Gregorio: 1/1/2/2†(2/5/5)
• Youssef Chahine: 1/1/1/1
• Christian de Chalonge: 1/1/1/1
• Deborah Shaffer: 1/1/1/1
• Jean Renoir: 0/1/0/5†(5/0/33)
• Michael Powell: 0/1/0/1

Recurring Countries
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable)

• USA: 5/7/61/80/3
• France: 3/3/98/117/15
• West Germany: 3/3/29/31/2
• UK: 2/3/22/25/1
• Poland: 2/2/13/13
• Italy: 1/2/36/42/4
• Hungary: 1/1/10/10
• Canada: 1/1/6/7
• Australia: 1/1/2/2
• Egypt: 1/1/1/1

One-Time Directors

• Gillian Armstrong
• Carroll Ballard
• Stewart Bird
• Gabór Pál
• Howard Hawks (retrospective)
• John Huston
• Chuck Jones
• Ariane Mnouchkine
• Anne Claire Poirier
• Preston Sturges (retrospective)
• Ira Wohl

Feature Debuts

• Deborah Shaffer
• Ira Wohl

Festivals

• NYFF World Premiere
  • The Black Stallion
  • The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
  • The Wobblies
• Cannes
  • Without Anesthesia (Prize of the Ecumenical Jury)
  • The Europeans
  • My Brilliant Career
  • A Scream From Silence (Un Certain Regard)
  • Angi Vera (Directors’ Fortnight, FIPRESCI)
  • Black Jack (Directors’ Fortnight, FIPRESCI)
  • Short Memory (Directors’ Fortnight)
  • Wise Blood (Out of Competition)
• Berlin
  • Alexandria… Why? (Special Jury Prize)
  • The Marriage of Maria Braun (Best Actress)
  • Nosferatu the Vampyre (Outstanding Single Achievement)
• Other
  • Best Boy (Toronto)
  • The Maids of Wilko (Locarno)
• N/A
  • The Golden Coach
  • In a Year With 13 Moons
  • La luna
  • Molière
  • Other People’s Money
  • Peeping Tom
  • Scarface
  • The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

Oscar Nominees

• Best Boy: Best Documentary (won)
• The Black Stallion: Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Special Achievement for Sound Editing
• The Maids of Wilko: Best Foreign Film
• My Brilliant Career: 1980 Best Costume Design

Events

Discussions By Length (Approximate)

• 15:09 The Marriage of Maria Braun (3:56:18-4:11:27)
• 15:04 “Howard Hughes Presents…” (1:40:16-1:55:20)
• 13:14 In a Year With 13 Moons (2:59:54-3:13:08)
• 13:12 Nosferatu the Vampyre (1:27:03-1:40:15)
• 12:58 Molière (2:03:08-2:16:06)
• 12:50 The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (37:36-50:26)
• 12:02 La luna (16:41-28:43)
• 11:56 Short Memory (1:09:47-1:21:43)
• 11:15 The Black Stallion (3:34:35-3:45:50)
• 10:26 Peeping Tom (3:45:51-3:56:17)
• 10:09 Wise Blood (58:33-1:08:42)
• 10:04 Without Anesthesia (3:14:10-3:24:14)
• 10:00 A Scream From Silence (2:49:53-2:59:53)
• 9:44 Best Boy (2:17:07-2:26:51)
• 8:51 The Golden Coach (28:44-37:35)
• 8:34 Alexandria… Why? (2:32:56-2:41:30)
• 8:21 My Brilliant Career (2:41:31-2:49:52)
• 8:05 Black Jack (50:27-58:32)
• 7:46 The Europeans (1:55:21-2:03:07)
• 6:26 The Maids of Wilko (3:28:08-3:34:34)
• 6:03 Other People’s Money [One Person] (2:26:52-2:32:55)
• 5:18 Angi Vera [One Person] (1:21:44-1:27:02)
• 3:52 The Wobblies [One Person] (3:24:15-3:28:07)

Specifications

• Bernardo Bertolucci, La luna, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 142 minutes, 1.85:1, English and Italian, Italy.
• Jean Renoir, Le Carrosse d’or, 1952, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 103 minutes, 1.37:1, English and Italian, Italy.
• Chuck Jones, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 98 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
• Ken Loach, Black Jack, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 110 minutes, 1.66:1, English, UK.
• John Huston, Wise Blood, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 106 minutes, 1.85:1, English, USA.
• Eduardo de Gregorio, La mémoire courte, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
• Gabór Pál, Angi Vera, 1978, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 96 minutes, 1.66:1, Hungarian, Hungary.
• Werner Herzog, Nosferatu – Phantom der Nacht, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 107 minutes, 1.85:1, German, West Germany.
• Howard Hawks, Scarface, 1932, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 93 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
• Preston Sturges, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, 1947, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 89 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
• James Ivory, The Europeans, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 91 minutes, 1.66:1, English, UK.
• Ariane Mnouchkine, Molière, 1978, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 260 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
• Ira Wohl, Best Boy, 1979, 16 mm, color, mono sound, 111 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
• Christian de Chalonge, L’Argent des autres, 1978, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
• يوسف شاهين‎, إسكندرية… ليه؟, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 133 minutes, 1.66:1, Arabic and English, Egypt.
• Gillian Armstrong, My Brilliant Career, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 100 minutes, 1.85:1, English, Australia.
• Anne Claire Poirier, Mourir à tue-tête, 1979, 16 mm, color and black-and-white, mono sound, 96 minutes, 1.37:1, French, Canada.
• Rainer Werner Fassbinder, In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden, 1978, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 124 minutes, 1.66:1, German, West Germany.
• Andrzej Wajda, Bez znieczulenia, 1978, 35 mm and video, color, mono sound, 131 minutes, 1.37:1, Polish, Poland.
• Stewart Bird & Deborah Shaffer, The Wobblies, 1979, 16 mm, color, mono sound, 89 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
• Andrzej Wajda, Panny z Wilka, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 118 minutes, 1.66:1, Polish, Poland.
• Carroll Ballard, The Black Stallion, 1979, 35 mm, color and black-and-white, stereo sound, 118 minutes, 1.85:1, English, USA.
• Michael Powell, Peeping Tom, 1960, 35 mm and 16 mm, color and black-and-white, mono sound, 101 minutes, 1.66:1, English, UK.
• Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Die Ehe der Maria Braun, 1979, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 120 minutes, 1.66:1, German and English, West Germany.