Close-Up Culture

Independent journalism on the things we love

Close-Up: An Interview With Hotel Cocaine Actor Erniel Baez

Actor Erniel Baez speaks to Close-Up Culture about his role in the crime drama series, Hotel Cocaine. Hi Erniel, you play Ray Dorado in Hotel Cocaine. What excited you about this project? In all honesty, there were many things that excited me about this project! I keep saying that Hotel Cocaine was a dream project for me because it…
Close-Up: An Interview With Actor Clark Moore

Actor Clark Moore speaks to Close-Up Culture about his role in the true-crime movie, Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story. The movie follows the true story of the Metzers, Morgan and Rodney, who were childhood sweethearts and married at 21. When tensions begin to arise for this picture-perfect family, Rodney starts to ‘gaslight’…
Filmmaker Zara Woolf On The Beauty Problem

Filmmaker Zara Woolf returns to Close-Up Culture to talk about her new documentary, The Beauty Problem, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The documentary is a look into how women are valued in society based on their appearances, exposing superficial scrutiny in creative industries. The short documentary combines five personal stories from women in these…
Close-Up: An Interview With Filmmakers Levi Wilson & Lisa Hammer

Writer-director and award-winning playwright Levi Wilson and award-winning filmmaker-producer Lisa Hammer bring humor, heart, and biracial issues to AMC+ with their celebrated coming-of-age short film, Luke and Emma and A Gas Station On Franklin Ave. Now streaming in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, AMC+ is featuring the film as part of a special “Future of Film:…
Throwback Interview: La Chimera Cinematographer Hélène Louvart

French cinematographer Hélène Louvart is one of the best in the industry. In this interview from 2018, Louvart talks about her collaboration with Mia Hansen-Løve for romantic-drama Maya. Louvart has since gone on to work on Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Wild Flowers, The Lost Daughter, and most recently Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera. I believe ‘Maya’ is…
Actor Bryan McClure On The Great Lillian Hall

Actor Bryan McClure joins us on Close-Up Culture to talk about his role in the new HBO original movie, The Great Lillian Hall. The film centers on Lillian Hall (Jessica Lange), a beloved Broadway star who, after pouring her heart, soul, and time into preparing for her next big role, finds herself blindsided by confusion and forgetfulness.…
Close-Up: An Interview With Forty-Seven Days With Jesus Star Joshua Triplett

Actor and recording artist Joshua Triplett stops by on Close-Up Culture to talk about his work on Forty-Seven With Jesus. The film tells the story of a disconnected family who find hope and unity through a cinematic retelling of Jesus’ final 47 days on Earth. Hello Joshua, welcome to Close-Up Culture. What interested you about the film…
Writer & Director Tomás Ferreira Talks Short Film In a House, At Night

Available to watch from today, In a House, At Night follows 7-year-old Lynn who leaves her mother after a tantrum and wanders the corridors of the women’s shelter where they’re living, coming face to face with the residents’ nightmares. After reviewing the short, Anna was able to ask writer & director Tomás Ferreira more about his creative process. Hi Tomás, thanks for joining us on…
Robby Robinson’s Blueprint – Film Review

Legendary Bodybuilder Robby Robinson Re-Emerges in Documentary During His Golden Age—by Dr. Laura Wilhelm, LauraWil Intercultural The latest in the series of Generation Iron bodybuilder documentaries is Vlad Yudin’s film ROBBY ROBINSON’S BLUEPRINT. Robinson was once known as The Black Prince and Mr. Lifestyle with dozens of magazine covers and top bodybuilding titles. He is brought…
In A House, At Night – Short Film Review

In a women’s shelter, 7-year-old Lynn leaves her mother after a tantrum, and wanders the corridors, coming face to face with the residents’ nightmares. No matter how old you are, when the lights are off, the monsters come out. In this short film, written and directed by Tomás Ferreira, even with the lights on, we encounter scary things that we can’t control…