Reign of Terror (1949) & the art of political animation filmmaking (feat. Scout Tafoya)

Episode recorded: May 12th, 2025 (05/12/2025)

Meredith is still on the break. We will get another episode out once she is available.

Filmmaker, film critic, and video essayist Scout Tafoya came to talk about Anthony Mann, his post-revolution France film noir thriller Reign of Terror (1949), Mann and his cinematographer John Alton's long-lasting influences in filmmaking and visual arts, anti-authoritarian and post-colonial politics of Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers (2020), Lorenzo Mattotti's artworks and his cinematic contributions, including his haunting segment in animation anthology Fear(s) of the Dark (2007) and feature directorial debut (that never received a US distribution) The Bears' Famous Invasion in Sicily (La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia) (2019), which is about Sicilians picking bears over men as their ruling class.

 

Movies that we will mostly be talking about:

• Pola X (1999), directed by Leos Carax
• Reign of Terror (1949), directed by Anthony Mann
• Domino (2005), directed Tony Scott
• Wolfwalkers (2020), directed by Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart
• Fear(s) of the Dark (Peur(s) du noir) (2007), directed by Christian "Blutch" Hincker, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire
• The Bears' Famous Invasion in Sicily (La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia) (2019), directed by Lorenzo Mattotti

 

Check out Scout Tafoya's video essay works (especially The Unloved), buy his books, and support him on Patreon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DVC5BTH8/?tag=wwwrogerebe0e-20

https://www.patreon.com/honorszombie/shop/black-book-anthony-mann-reader-970432

https://www.patreon.com/c/honorszombie/home

https://www.rogerebert.com/features/the-history-of-the-unloved

 

Scout Tafoya's bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/honorszombie.bsky.social

Jay Whang's bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/jaywhangdoesstuff.com

Meredith Nudo's bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/meredithnudo.bsky.social