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Robert Greene - Too Much Sugar - Fatherhood, Second Chances and Sharing the Storytelling
Ryan Holliger, a father of six in Missouri, dreams of making a comedy about his life. When documentary filmmaker Robert Greene joins him, the project grows to include stories imagined by Ryan’s children, partner Amanda and best friend AccRite. What begins as Ryan’s movie becomes a shared exploration of family, grief and the distance between the person you believe you are and how others experience you.
In this episode of Stream Close Up, Brian speaks with Robert about Too Much Sugar and the possibilities of making films with people who rarely see their lives represented on screen.
Their conversation explores:
How a meeting at a children’s basketball game led to an unlikely filmmaking partnership.
Why the films within Too Much Sugar are about dreams as much as cinema.
How Ryan’s son Gavin becomes a crucial voice in the project.
Amanda’s right to say no, and what genuine creative collaboration requires.
The possibilities and limits of filmmaking as a way to confront grief.
Why cinema audiences, festivals and online conversations matter to documentary discovery.
Robert also reflects on the relationship between performance and documentary across his work, including Actress, Kate Plays Christine and Procession.
Trailer: Too Much Sugar (https://youtu.be/EQGUMQhEl9s?si=Y31bw2_uJ1skW8su)
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28 Oct 2026
Felix Randau - I Is Another / Ich ist ein Anderer
Felix Randau on I Is Another and the Stories We Tell About Ourselves
Felix Kersten, Heinrich Himmler’s massage therapist, claimed to have used his influence to save thousands of concentration camp prisoners. When filmmaker Felix Randau began researching a proposed series about Kersten’s heroism, he found a more complicated story.
Randau joins Brian Laffan to discuss I Is Another, starring Claes Bang as Kersten and Valerie Pachner as a journalist determined to challenge his account. Set aboard a train to Oslo, their encounter becomes a psychological struggle over evidence, guilt and reputation.
We explore how Randau’s research transformed the project, why Bang was his first choice, and how the actors helped reshape a crucial confrontation through improvisation. Randau also discusses his decision to portray Himmler without the familiar caricature, and the resistance that approach encountered.
The conversation extends to the stories people construct about themselves, the relationship between fake news and historical memory, and the challenge of bringing independent films to an audience.
In this episode:
Researching Kersten and questioning the heroic narrative
Creating Hedda as an extension of Randau’s own investigation
Claes Bang’s casting, commitment and executive producer credit
The train setting, mirrors and competing versions of events
Rehearsal, improvisation and the film’s dramatic confrontation
Festivals, discovery and finding audiences across borders
I Is Another Trailer (https://youtu.be/FIUvabAzV20?si=BqKHMvyguZ_M46Hk)
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21 Oct 2026
Ivan Ostrochovský - Only Beautiful Things To Look At
Ivan Ostrochovský on Only Beautiful Things to Look At
In 1980s Czechoslovakia, a doctor’s comfortable understanding of her work begins to unravel through a friendship with a young Roma colleague.
In this episode of Stream Close Up, Brian Laffan speaks with Slovak filmmaker Ivan Ostrochovský about Only Beautiful Things to Look At, starring Aňa Geislerová and Simona Boledovičová. Set against the forced sterilisation of Roma women, the film explores how prejudice becomes institutional practice, and how people rationalise the harm they cause.
Ivan describes meeting doctors who continued to defend their actions decades later, and explains how those encounters shaped the film. We discuss the relationship between its two central characters, his approach to casting, and the striking images and intimate sound that draw us into their world.
Our conversation also covers:
Challenging stereotypes when portraying Roma communities.
The tension between historical accuracy and emotional truth.
Working with a small crew and producing films to protect creative freedom.
His documentary Photophobia, filmed with children sheltering underground in Ukraine.
Research into a possible American version addressing the sterilisation of Native American women.
The role of culture and filmmaking in difficult political times.
Recorded during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, shortly after the film’s world premiere.
Since the interview: Only Beautiful Things to Look At won the FIPRESCI international critics’ award at Karlovy Vary and was selected for the 2027 European Film Awards fiction shortlist.
Trailer: Only Beautiful Things To Look At (https://mubi.com/en/films/only-beautiful-things-to-look-at/trailer)
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