Midterm

Daddy Castro, a film festival programmer, discusses the theme of film and social change. He explains that it goes beyond storytelling and aims to provoke critical thinking and action. He mentions two documentaries, "Time" by Gary Bradley and "Who Killed Vincent Chin," which highlight social and political concerns in the United States. Castro also talks about the concept of the "fourth eye," referring to the power of social media in holding oppressive systems accountable. He encourages UCLA students to attend the festival and reflect on their agency and responsibility. Hey, hey, hey! How's everyone doing? It's your host, Scott Bernatto. Once again, we're on the podcast of the Social Power Podcast. I am so excited that each and every one of you have decided to take time out of your day to join us on this podcast where we focus on interviewing industry film leaders to see what are their stance on political terms and norms and how film is really affecting and changing our ever-evolving society. Today, I have a special guest who goes by the name of Daddy Castro. He has had 10 years of experience in program event making. He's a film festival programmer and has done events across all the country and has recently traveled to Latin America. He has gone to places and hosted events such as Uruguay, Costa Rica, and also our beloved neighbor, Mexico! Shout out to all the Mexicanos on this podcast. So truly, once again, Daddy, it's such a pleasure to have you. And can we all give him a round of applause for this amazing man who's with us? Wow, Scott, truly, you've said it all. I couldn't have said it in better words. And I'm truly grateful to finally talk to you once again after 10 years. I love that, man. I guess to get the ball rolling, talking about the film and social change theme that you have for this festival, I guess I want to, for my first question, what does that mean for you as a filmmaker? What does that mean, being film and social change? Great question, Scott. For me, film and social change goes much beyond than telling a story, but instead it has a call to action for something much greater or political for its time and beyond its time. Additionally, I believe it allows your brain to also interpret different meanings of life through different mediums. As I've learned, based on the tone of music, be it minor chords, major chords, the shots, the head shots, the body shots that it's taking, the body language used, it all comes to show and bring a big message, thematic message for the time of that era. So it sparks critical analysis and critical thinking and provokes one to think much beyond their simple values. Wow, that's incredible, Danny. It really reminds me back to the class I took back in 2024, the social film and power class. Do you recall with Professor Green? Yeah, so I guess seeing how you're doing this event, what are some common themes, what films are you going to present and what are the common themes and social political concerns that are shared amongst those works? Great question, great question. I will be presenting Time by Gary Bradley and also Who Killed Vincent Chin because they're two distinct documentary-based films that really bring a call to action to the social and political, carceral and justice systems here in the United States. In the example for Gary Bradley, I love how it unfolds in a very distinct way. There's no subtext as we recall and it's very against the norm for documentary-based films and also it puts temporality into question. I love that because temporality as a whole is actually kind of disrupted throughout the film. We can see the combinations of past and the present nature through the films that the mother presents of their young boys growing up from little toddlers to young adults at the very end. So we only see that the presentism not only takes away time from the person in the carceral state but also has a direct effect on the families who don't get to see that beloved one on a day-to-day basis. As in for the film Who Killed Vincent Chin, it's more of a documentary-based setting but I love how it captures raw moments as we see the mom travel throughout places like Oakland and across New York and different aspects of the United States to really try to fight for justice for Vincent Chin and it really provokes one to think, who are the people in power? Why are they in power? And what is this racial caste system that has continued to unfold and refold itself to almost oppress the same group of people over and over again? If I can add one more topic, I would like to talk about the concept of a fourth eye. Fatima Togheroni best says it. I'm quoting her and she says, the fourth eye is kind of like examples of split subjectiveness that are rife in theories about race. And later she states that the fourth eye in the 21st century has more eyes in the form of social media. End quote. And I think this is very powerful because here we have a weapon. Here we have an ability. Here you and I, viewer who is hearing this, we have the power to hold these oppressive systems in check. Many times there's many stories. I remember back in my time as an undergrad, there's a scene that happened with George Floyd. Oh, Black Lives Matter was able to make a movement out of it. Why? Because social media provided a gateway into the justices. Oh, all media sites wanted to close what was happening. Shut it down instantly. Once again, the same oppressive system is trying to shut down the voices of the voiceless. But you and I have a responsibility, have a care, have a commission to represent those who are oppressed. And that's what I hope to take away for every single UCLA student who's going to attend this festival. I hope they come to a moment of reflection and understand their sense of agency and responsibility through social media. Wow, that was very profound, Danny. So this is Danny Castro. He's going to be here on campus at Roy's. If you guys want to meet him and want to be a part of this festival, so I recommend each and every one join us. So thank you for joining us and hope to see you guys next week. Ciao.