Mumblecore Unmasked: Dr. Maria San Filippo Deciphers Its Authentic Core

In this episode of Cinema Scope, Andy Nelson and his guest Dr. Maria San Filippo, a professor at Emerson College, explore the raw, unfiltered world of Mumblecore cinema. This fiercely authentic movement emerged in the early 2000s, trading polished production for unvarnished intimacy. With handheld cameras, skeletal budgets, and a fearless commitment to capturing the messy realities of everyday life, Mumblecore has redefined the boundaries of independent cinema.

The digital revolution played a crucial role in the emergence of Mumblecore. Affordable digital cameras, editing software, and platforms like—Hold on there! This is currently only available for members. It’ll be available to everyone else soon, but why not become a member so you can listen to it now? We’d love it if you became a member to support our show, but you’d love it because of everything you get. We have monthly member bonus episodes that only members can access. You also get access to members-only Discord channels, and early ad-free releases for every episode. Plus, you get to vote on the movies we discuss in our members only episodes! What can we say? It pays to be a member. Learn more about supporting The Next Reel film podcast through your own membership — visit TruStory FM.

 

Maria San Filippo holds a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from UCLA, and is Associate Professor of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College. She authored the Lambda Literary Award-winning The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television (2013) and ‘Provocauteurs’ and Provocations: Screening Sex in 21st Century Media (2021), both published by Indiana University Press, and edited the collection After ‘Happily Ever After’: Romantic Comedy in the Post-Romantic Age (Wayne State University Press, 2021). Her most recent book, a Queer Film Classics volume on Desiree Akhavan’s Appropriate Behavior, was published in 2022 by McGill-Queen’s University Press and was also honored with a Lambda Literary Award. From 2020-2023 she served as Editor in Chief of New Review of Film and Television Studies.