10 Apr 2024

Alan Zweig looks back on decades of filmmaking—and ahead to his pessimistic new podcast

0 Television/Film Culture

JL;DR SUMMARY Filmmaker Alan Zweig, known for his candid documentaries, discusses his spiritual journey from a planned legal career to a path of film and podcasting. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski.

At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself.
This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude.
Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from.
But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Places mentioned

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"Join the Toronto Holocaust Museum and its partners for a community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sunday, May 5th, a moving evening of film, candlelighting, music, and a tribute to survivors we've recently lost."

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

"and then the two guys that they're in Vancouver in Salt Spring Island and interestingly you probably can relate to this when I said the five of us should get together"

Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada

"and then the two guys that they're in Vancouver in Salt Spring Island and interestingly you probably can relate to this when I said the five of us should get together"

Goa, India

"one of us had a schizophrenic breakdown on the beach in Goa and I had to put them on a plane back to Toronto"

Iran

"one of us ended up in prison in Iran for trying to smuggle hash"

Israel

"Keynote speaker Yoni Berous from Yad Vashem will reflect on Holocaust remembrance post-October 7th."

India

"but going to a totally different culture somehow on the road to India I was like okay I don't have to do this for the rest of my life which I certainly didn't but I don't have to do but you had a bit of a dharma bum thing that you could go life doesn't have to be this way we can look at it differently than the way we were I think that's and it happened you know what I think it happened I named those two ladies Lisa and Jenny I think that they were like older sisters again you say they were like two years older than me but they were from Texas and I've found maybe you've found this that the people I met on the road from very repressive places like Texas and Germany"

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

"I think if I do like gone to where I was thinking of going like England and Switzerland and Amsterdam and stuff like that I would have come back right and gone to law school"

United Kingdom

"I think if I do like gone to where I was thinking of going like England and Switzerland and Amsterdam and stuff like that I would have come back right and gone to law school"

Switzerland

"I think if I do like gone to where I was thinking of going like England and Switzerland and Amsterdam and stuff like that I would have come back right and gone to law school"

Texas, United States

"Lisa and Jenny I think that they were like older sisters again you say they were like two years older than me but they were from Texas and I've found maybe you've found this that the people I met on the road from very repressive places like Texas and Germany if they escaped that those were the truly coolest people you ever met right yeah I didn't have to pay any price in Toronto and Forest Hill to have long hair and smoke dope and whatever and be cool there was nothing pushing back against that but they had a big pushback you can imagine and they liked me"

Cairo Item ID	48802
Cairo Source ID	73
Retrieved	2025-04-09 05:30:53 UTC
Curated	2025-04-09 06:18:44 UTC

Alan Zweig looks back on decades of filmmaking—and ahead to his pessimistic new podcast

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Places mentioned