Sometimes you think you know the full story when it turns out you really don’t know the half of it. Oscar-winning filmmakers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s (“Free Solo”, “Meru”) riveting new documentary “The Rescue” chronicles the heroic international effort in the summer of 2018 to save twelve boys and their soccer coach trapped deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.
At the time, the Thai cave rescue story was a world-wide media sensation. But very little was known about what actually went on inside the cave, how the rescue was carried out, and the complex interpersonal dynamics between the various key players. Equal parts suspense thriller and character study, the film also manages to be a thoughtful cultural exploration. In total, “The Rescue” is a tour-de-force of non-fiction filmmaking.
After drying their eyes, Mike and Ken were eager to talk to Chai and Jimmy about the immense challenges they faced in telling this miraculous story. How did they transition from documenting the high-risk pursuits of elite mountain climbers to portraying the equally treacherous and hidden world of cave diving? What did they make of the quirky cave divers themselves? How did one last ditch effort to get their hands on some crucial footage pay off? And, finally, what does ground up broccoli have to do with any of this? You’ll have to tune in to this “Top Docs'' episode to find out. “The Rescue” is available now for streaming on Disney+
Hidden Gem: Le Joli Mai
Classic: "Summer of Soul" with Amir "Questlove" Thompson (from January 2022)
Classic: "Navalny" with Daniel Roher (from September 2022)
Our Most Popular Pods, Season 3
"The Greatest Night in Pop" with Bao Nguyen
"Girls State" with Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss
"Anxious Nation" with Laura Morton & Vanessa Roth
"Reality Winner" with Sonia Kennebeck
Oscar Nominees Special with Clayton Davis
"Daughters" with Angela Patton & Natalie Rae
"To Kill a Tiger" with Nisha Pahuja
"Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)" with Sean Wang
"The Last Repair Shop" with Kris Bowers & Ben Proudfoot
“Island in Between” with S. Leo Chiang & Jean Tsien
"The Barber of Little Rock" with John Hoffman
"The ABCs of Book Banning" with Trish Adlesic
"Porcelain War" with Slava Leontyev & Brendan Bellomo
"Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza" with Michael John Warren
"Union" with Brett Story, Stephen Maing & Chris Smalls
"Sugarcane" with Julian Brave Noisecat & Emily Kassie
”Four Daughters” with Kaouther Ben Hania
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Cinema: A to B
I Finally Watched...
Star Wars Escape Pod
Pod Meets World
Pop Culture Happy Hour