Oscar Day: 2022 Best Picture & Best Documentary Interviews

CHICAGO – Happy Oscar Day! The 94th Academy Awards takes place on March 27th, and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com conducted two major interviews connected to nominees. Actor David Dastmalchian for “Dune” (Best Picture) and Director Jessica Kingdon for “Ascension” (Best Documentary).

It’s been an amazing film year for David Dastmalchian, who got his start in theater in Chicago. Besides portraying Piter De Vries from the House Harkonnen in “Dune,” he also was the Polka-Dot Man in James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.” He’d previously achieved blockbuster notoriety as the Russian Kurt, part of the “Antourage” in the Marvel Universe “Ant-Man” films, and has appeared in the DC series on the CW, “The Flash,” as the villain Abra-Kadabra.

David Dastmalchian as Piter in ‘Dune’ & Director Jessica Kingdon of ‘Ascension’
Photo credit: Warner Bros./MTV Documentary Films

“Ascension” is an impressionistic and cinematic portrait of China’s industrial supply chain that reveals itself through staggering observations of labor, consumerism and wealth. Jessica Kingdon’s mother is Chinese, but she didn’t develop an interest in China until her brother moved to the country. She is a veteran producer and director, and currently has two other documentary shorts about China (“Commodity City and “Routine Island”), and a narrative short “Jessica.”

In an interview via Zoom with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, David Dastmalchian talks about “Dune,” Denis Villeneuve and his passion for acting …

Director Jessica Kingdon talks about the themes and implications in her documentary “Ascension” …

For the David Dastmalchian interview with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com about his role as Polka-Dot Man in ‘The Suicide Squad,” click POKEY [21].

[22]	By PATRICK McDONALD [23] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [22]