What do you call three lost souls left on a prep school campus during the holidays? The holdovers. That’s also the title of Alexander Payne’s film.
Set in the 1970’s, Paul Giamatti plays a scrooge-like New England teacher–stingy with good grades and generosity. But over the winter holiday break, his heart thaws –slightly –and he forges an unlikely fellowship with a student and the school cook. The Oscar-winning filmmaker joins The Culture Show to talk about making a quintessential New England film.
From there it’s local artist Robert Freeman. He went to see the movie “American Fiction” and to his surprise his paintings played a supporting role, hanging on the walls in several scenes. We talk to him about this 20-feet from stardom moment and what it means to have one of his paintings selected to hang in Governor Healey’s office.
Then Edgar B. Herwick III and producer Kate Dellis take us into the room where the movie magic happens: the projectionist’s booth at Somerville Theatre.