I’m greedy when it comes to really compelling stories. I want to know so much more about Holocaust survivor Sam Harris than Price Arana and Adam Rothlein’s fifteen-minute documentary short, An Undeniable Voice, can offer. Harris was only four when Nazis invaded his hometown of Demblin, Poland, and only slightly older than that when he and four other children were allowed into a concentration camp that doubled as a munitions factory (as opposed to being shot in the train yard). The film artfully intercuts between an on-stage interview with producer Sharon Stone and haunting, archival depictions of Harris’ childhood stories. Like the 1.5 million children murdered in World War II, An Undeniable Voice feels like it was taken from us far too soon. But the filmmakers pack each minute with a gratitude and vigilance that recalls the words of Neil Gaiman: “You get what everyone gets. You get a lifetime.”
Welcome to Kicking the Seat!
Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).
The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar Noé, Rachel Brosnahan, Amy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.
Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.