An interesting meld of films today thanks to our guests TONY AHEDO talking his film ICON, and STEPHEN EDWARDS discussing at length his “must see” documentary, SYNDROME K.
First up is writer/director/editor TONY AHEDO who makes his narrative feature directorial debut with ICON, a coming of age story focused on high school students Sam and Ana and the effects of an unplanned pregnancy. While we have seen plenty of films, tv movies, reality shows, etc. with a theme of teen pregnancy, ICON is one of the rare instances where the story is told from the POV of the young father-to-be. Led by a strong performance courtesy of Parker Padgett as Sam, and supported by Devon Hales as Ana, Tony delivers a film that boasts layered themes and is emotionally raw and compelling, while laced with sweetness and heart. Listen as Tony dives into the making of ICON from story to casting to lensing and his collaboration with cinematographer Harrison Stagner, and, of course, his directorial learning curve.
And then we jump right into a conversation with documentarian and acclaimed composer STEPHEN EDWARDS talking his new documentary, SYNDROME K. One of my “must see” documentaries of the year, SYNDROME K is fascinating. Showcasing a little-known aspect in the history of WWII and Italy, in October 1943, three dedicated doctors at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital on Tiber Island across from the “Jewish Ghetto” of Rome saved dozens of Jews from the Nazis, hiding them in the hospital as patients in isolation due to suffering from the highly contagious disease SYNDROME K; a fake contagion designed to keep the Nazis away. In October 1943, the Nazis rounded up 1023 Jews in the Jewish Ghetto and “deported” them to Auschwitz. Only 16 survived. But thanks to this daring subterfuge by the doctors and staff of Fatebenefratelli, on June 6, 1944, when the US Army liberated Rome, dozens upon dozens of “patients” were “cured” and free to return home.
Comprised of extremely rare archival footage from the Nazi roundup in the ghetto, an interview with Dr. Adriano Ossicini – the last surviving doctor who conceived the SYNDROME K plan, interviews from the SHOAH archives, period images, recreations, interviews with survivors and their descendants, as well as present-day footage, the result is stunning. And adding a final layer of poignancy as narrator is Ray Liotta in his final narration prior to his death. Listen as Stephen goes into detail about the story, the research process, working with his co-writer Gregory Ballard, developing a throughline and the editing process as a whole, score and the cinematic lyricism of the project, and more.
SYNDROME K is available on digital on August 16th.
