Episode recorded: February 22nd, 2026 (02/22/2026)

Note: Yes, I made a typo on the thumbnail. And yes some of Brandyn’s audio got muted out due to internet connection issue. It was too glitchy that I couldn’t hear his explanation. 

Please support our Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/ReAnimateTHISPodcast

Black history month of February is coming to close and Brandyn of The Most Important Election of Our Lives is back with an Afro-futuristic cult classic movie Born in Flames, directed by Lizzie Borden. It was made during the No Wave Cinema movement right before the indie cinema boom of the 1990s.

What Jay and his animator co-host Ryan Castrillo didn’t expect was the NYC-set movie’s non-conformist storytelling and its surprisingly relevant political theme – and dare to confront the inherent flaws of democratic socialist alternative to then-recent Reagan’s America. To keep themselves warm during the massive blizzard in New York City, each of them share their hot takes and rebel against the conventional opinions (as long as it’s nothing problematic). Jay, Ryan, and Brandyn explore political media with non-conventional aesthetics, animated documentary with lo-fi elements, experimental animation with guerrilla filmmaking elements, and the possibility of animation media that’s rebellious inside-out. This episode was truly born in flames.

Also, check out Hellavision Television’s latest open-call C*NT-A-VISION 2: https://www.hellavisiontelevision.com/open-calls/cuntavision-2-open-call

Intro music: WANDERLUST (Celest3 mix) by Celest3 – https://celest3.bandcamp.com/track/wanderlust-celest3-mix (CC BY-SA 4.0 – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Ending music: Arizona Green Tea by Stuffy Doll – https://stuffydollband.bandcamp.com/track/arizona-green-tea (used it with a permission)

Narrator: Dom Valentini

Audio Editor: Jay Whang & Jessie Hymowitz

Movies, shorts, and works that we have discussed (spoilers ahead!):

• Born in Flames (1983), directed Lizzie Borden
• One Battle After Another (2025), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Killers of Flower Moon (2023), directed by Martin Scorsese
• The Warriors (1979), directed by Walter Hill
• Network (1976), directed by Sidney Lumet
• HAPPYEND (2024), directed by Neo Sora
• Zero for Conduct (Zéro de conduite) (1933), directed by Jean Vigo
• Frank Film (1973), directed by Frank Mouris and Caroline Mouris
• Fritz the Cat (1972), directed by Ralph Bakshi
• Gorillaz’s The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God, directed by Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett
• I Died in Irpin (Я померла в Ірпені) (2024), directed by Anastasiia Falileieva
• Waltz with Bashir (ואלס עם באשיר) (2008), directed by Ari Folman
• Belladonna of Sadness (哀しみのベラドンナ) (1973), directed Eiichi Yamamoto
• Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022), directed by Guillermo Del Toro
• Chainsaw Man manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto
• paul revere is here (1976), directed by Mary Beams & Susan Rubin
• The works of Norm McLaren
• Jim Mahfood’s Grrl Scout comics