S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show here how artists are recovering from historic flooding two years ago. Plus the Oscar nods and snubs with our movie critics. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Two years ago today , flooding devastated neighborhoods and displaced communities across San Diego. The destruction also left many artists and culture spaces in ruin. My next two guests lead artists arts organizations that were impacted by those floods. Max Moses is a graffiti artist and muralist. He founded Graffiti Gardens , located in the San Diego Black Arts and Culture district. Max , welcome.
S2: Thank you very much.
S1: Also with us is Anna Maria Laval Cabot. She is the executive director of Pussycat , a Philippine performing arts company in National City. Ana , welcome to you too.
S3: Thanks so much for having me.
S1: Glad to have you as well. So , you know , this time of year can be difficult to reflect on.
S3: Um , we're very resourceful , and we had a lot of support. Um , and I think the biggest thing is , in spite of it , it was kind of like we already had this grant in our pocket. Um , for two years from the previous foundation , and it was to support some different things. But when we had the flood , we called them up right away. And they said , well , you can do what you can use the funds to help you get back on your feet. And so that really helped us in growing our classes , which is a wonderful thing because we've pretty much doubled our student size. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Max , what about you.
S2: Well that's awesome because before we get started today , Anna and I were just reminiscing about the flood and I was like , wow. Yeah. That was that was a devastating time. That was , you know , and I kind of felt a little slight depression , you know , just reflecting on it , I was like , wow , that was rough. That was really rough. But presently , you know , and fortunately we've had the opportunity to rebound , you know , and as I was sharing with Anna , like , it gave us the opportunity to really recommit ourselves to what we are doing because , you know , situations like that often kind of question lead you to question in which your purpose is and what your mission is. And like , wow , is this a time to give up ? Or do I dig deeper ? Because , you know , we still had to pay rent on our location even though we were incapacitated for months. So that was a very challenging situation for us , you know , um , but things have changed. Um , just like your organization , Anna , we also got a grant from previs , and but it wasn't during the flood. It was just last year. So our grant is actually helping us to create more visibility for our space and also to improve the outside courtyard area that mostly got devastated by the flood. So we are super excited right now because we are going to take our place to a whole nother level. So yeah , sometimes you got to go through some serious challenges , you know what I mean ? To really test your fortitude and see how committed you are. Exactly.
S1: Exactly. Well , I'm really glad that you both are on the rebound. Uh , going back to that day when the flood happened , what do you both remember ? Oh.
S2:
S3: Well , it was our fourth flood in ten years. Wow. So we've already experienced it. And we had the confidence that no matter what , we were going to spring back , we had to activate all our volunteers to help with the clearing of the of the floors that were all torn to pieces and , and the walls that had already had about two feet of water submerged. So that was all ripped out. And , uh , the tears were no longer there because we've experienced it three other times and said , I guess this is the new the new San Diego , the new national city where we were from. So , um , we accepted what happened And and knew that we were going to overcome it.
S1:
S2: And suddenly the light started flashing and I was like , ooh , I think I'm gonna go home. And so I go and I jump into my car , and I just kind of purchased this new car , right ? And it's a sports car. So I get out on it's Imperial Avenue and it's a river , and I'm like , whoa , okay , whoa. And they're like broken trees in the street and everything. And I'm like , oh , yo. Like , okay , okay. So my first instinct is drive uphill , so I drive uphill , I park , and then I start calling people down who are still at the building and I'm like , listen , it is madness out there. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know if to tell you to stay or to go , but the streets are crazy. So , you know , it was like , For lack of a panic attack. It was just like a deep , quick realization to see like , wow , the power of water is like quick and devastating and like , wow , I don't even know how you prepare for something like that. But except for this to be quick on your feet in terms of thinking.
S1: Yeah , yeah. I mean , I would imagine.
S2: Like , totally. And that's that's what I'm talking about in terms of , like , testing my purpose and stuff because I was like , okay , so I can't work at all. So what do I do now ? You know ? And it's like , and what do I do in the future ? Because , you know , I'm maintaining this place , you know , on my own , and the rent is not cheap. And I'm like , wow , how do I do like what am I going to do ? So it was very it was a very deep moment for me in terms of like , what am I going to do now ? Mm.
S1:
S3: We were in the midst of starting a new program , expanding our classes at adding more classes , and we had to stop and hold and just revisit what we were going to do. So we were down for a month , and then we resumed classes in March because the flood took place January 22nd. We were shut down for February , and actually , I think we came back the last week in February , but found an alternative site to rent. Um , and then after a month there , we said , well , we can just go ahead and go back to our , our space. And even though what the floor is not , not repaired or anything and the walls still chopped up , um , we were able to somehow get the building so that we can welcome students in spite of it. We apologized for the for the the look of it , but it's our home. And I think that's the important thing that even though it's ruined , it's our home and we still love it because it's a place where where we were family and we can be community together. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. You say it's home. I mean , I hear you and I know you mentioned this earlier , but Pussycat has been hit hard by flooding several times in the past. Um , I know two years ago there were conversations about relocating altogether. Yet again. You choose to stay and rebuild. Talk a bit more about that.
S3: Well , I think because we own the space and we have no payment , it's rent free. We're renting out to other artist groups , in fact , a a martial arts group. And we're we we just can't we can't move away from the legacy that the founders built , because they wouldn't want us to move to another space where we may incur new payments , then having to remodel and whatever the space is for our accommodations. Um , and plus , it was a national city where we serve a lot of the South Bay area , southeast San Diego , down to the border. Even people come from um , uh , Temecula and Menifee to be a part of our , our group and learn the culture of the Philippines through music and dance. So we just had to say this is a place where we want to be. This is where our founders want. And this has been home to us that we can't turn our backs on it. Mm.
S1: Mm. Max. You know , southeast San Diego , where the San Diego Black Arts and Culture district is located , was also hit hard due to overflow from Choi's Creek. You've said before that up until that point , you didn't feel like the community was taken care of.
S2: You know. What is that ? Marie Whitman park between my. The building that we operate up out of in the park. And prior to the flood , there was a lot of homelessness that was taking place back there and a lot of debris that was just accumulating in that creek area , which was a significant reason for the flooding. Mhm. So that had a big impact. And it wasn't until , you know , after the flooding we were like okay. Like you know , I know that there were a lot of meetings and stuff and conversations with the city about making sure that place gets cleaned up. But it took quite a while and we were still wondering like , oh , like , are they still going to just ignore us ? Like , wow. Like really like because , you know , now we're paying attention. Everybody is. And it's like nothing's happening. And then finally , you know , there was some cleanup and started , you know , really there was like , uh , the cutting of the this ever growing bamboo that homeless people would live in this kind of acidity and hide behind that and all the debris , all of that is like constantly being cleaned now. So we're pretty fortunate about that. Yes.
S1:
S3: It started in 1970. So that makes this 56 years in operation. And we purchased our building in 72 , 73. Um , we've always focused on the youth , and our programs have always wanted to bring the youth into this community so that they can learn about their cultural heritage and make a difference. Um , and hopefully giving them the confidence that it's okay to be Filipino. Don't be embarrassed by by your cultural heritage at all. Um , now it's to the point where third generation Filipino Americans are bringing their children to Pacifica to learn about the Philippines. And not only that , but older students in their 30s and 40s and even 50s are starting to take our new adult classes , which we opened , um , right after the flood. So there's an interest that we keep on maybe inspiring , um , our community.
S1: Max , do you share the same sentiment ? Tremendously.
S2: I feel that since the flood , the black arts and cultural district has , like , forged this unifying effort and this unifying energy to really promote what's taking place in that area. So places like the Block Club , the Mental Bar and all these other organizations like we are cross promoting. We are doing everything we can to like , change the the stereotypical concept that's been associated with southeastern San Diego and through utilizing art as the vehicle. You know , because art creates beauty , art creates this energy of harmony and and positivity. So we are definitely using and installing all of those ideologies into the black arts and culture district to make it an attractive place economically as well as culturally. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Well , climate disasters like these are becoming more and more frequent , as I'm sure you both know. How are you all preparing in the case another storm like this hits again.
S3: Well , for us um , we still haven't installed floors. And we did put in a new roof just recently through a through the support of the County of San Diego and. Montgomery County Supervisor Montgomery Step. And so we are grateful for that. But we can't tackle our flaws yet. Um , and I was just looking at the floors coming into the studio go , these are beautiful flaws. Maybe we should kind of consider that. Um , so nevertheless , you know , we we try to make our space as welcoming as possible through the people and not so much by the facade of what it is. Um , but we're we're getting to it slowly but surely. Um , with our new board of directors , a younger group of board of directors are helping us in that way.
S1:
S2:
S1:
S2: You know , I'm really preparing for. I'm an optimistic , idealistic human being , so I'm always preparing for the best outcomes , you know , disaster. If it strikes like , wow. Hopefully I can run fast enough and we can get people out of the disasters way. But I think one of the biggest things that we are forming right now , and this is this ongoing program that we have at our location , is conversations about nothingness. And within these conversations we have all these various topics. So what I'm getting at is just the fact that we are forging this community that is dialoguing on a regular basis , and that dialogue alone is like setting a platform for us to be in communication with one another , with something I don't think has been lacking over the years. So that way at least we're in communication with each other and we can be prepared on that level for what's coming next. If that answers your question.
S1: Well , briefly tell me about that.
S2: So many good things in terms of graffiti gardens. You know , we have our ongoing dialogue of conversations about nothingness. We just forged a partnership with Vision Culture. I am bringing back an event that started when I lived in Philadelphia many years ago called the B-Boy barbecue , which is a culmination of all the elements of hip hop , from breakdancing to graffiti to deejaying to emceeing. And we will be doing this over a ten day period with a film festival , with workshops , and we're going to be engaging various different locations throughout San Diego. So the idea is to create this cross-pollination. There's all of these beautiful organizations that are taking place within San Diego that often don't get the visibility or the physical foot traffic that they deserve. So this , this , this event will like host different parts of this festival at these different locations. So it's going to be amazing. It's going to take place between May 16th and May 25th.
S1: And Anna in 10s.
S3: Oh well , it's our 55th anniversary last year , so we're going to celebrate with three productions this year , um , all throughout San Diego. So hopefully they'll be able to come to them , um , in , in the in the coming months.
S1: Awesome , awesome. Well , I've been speaking with Max Moses , graffiti artist and founder of Graffiti Gardens. Max , thank you so very much.
S2: You're welcome.
S1: Also , Ana Maria La Boca Sabato , executive director of the Ana. Thank you , thank you.
S3:
S1: Because Oscar nominations are finally out , our midday movies critics will talk about the big surprises and the big snubs. KPBS Midday Edition is back after the break. Welcome back to Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman at 530 this morning , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its 98th annual Oscars nominations.
S4: For achievement in directing. The nominees are Chloe Zhao , Hamnett. Josh Safdie , Marty Supreme , Paul Thomas Anderson , One battle after Another , Joachim Trier , Sentimental Value and Ryan Coogler Phoenix.
S1: Big applause there. So with 16 nominations , Ryan Coogler's Sinners made Oscars history , breaking the previous record of 14 held by the films All Above All About Eve and Titanic and La La Land. So for reactions to this and the other nominees , we've gathered our midday movie film critics. KPBS Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi Beth Yazdi. It's a big day for movies , huh ? I know.
S5: You both were.
S6: Bright and early.
S5: Definitely was.
S1: Yes , yes. Well , there's there's lots to dive into. So let's start with the positives. Yazdi , I know you were were stoked about the sinners nominations. Absolutely.
S7: Absolutely. Sinners has nabbed the most Oscar nominations for a film ever. And even if the film does not go on to win as many actual awards , I just like that it now holds its place in history for this record. Couldn't have happened to a better film.
S1: Agreed Beth. This was your top pick for 2025.
S5: So , you know , in this , when this happens , sometimes the screenplay award seems to be the consolation prize that they give out to black directors. You can look to Barry Jenkins and Moonlight and Jordan Peele with Get Out. They both won screenplay but were ignored for Best Director. So I'm a little bit worried that one battle after another will take the top prize. And since it has black characters , the Academy will feel good about itself , thinking that it's celebrating diversity. But that film does not really have a black perspective in the same way that sinners does. So I'm hoping the Academy will prove me absolutely wrong in my cynicism and will give awards for Best picture to sinners. But I'm just a little concerned.
S1: Yeah , I couldn't agree more with you on that. Um , there was a new category this year also. So let's hear the nominees.
S4: Now , here are.
S8: The nominees.
S4: For the first new Oscar category in 25 years. Achievements in casting. Hamlet. Marty. Supreme. One battle after another. The secret agent and sinners.
S1: All right.
S5: The fact that it took 25 years to add a new category , you know , shows how fast the academy moves. But , you know , casting directors are the people who find new talent , who resurrect old talent who put ensembles together that work magic. And I think it's this sense of ensemble that is really being acknowledged and celebrated here. But I am still waiting for the best stunt category , and that is supposed to be coming at the 100th Academy Awards.
S1: Both of which really deserve recognition for sure.
S7: The films nominated in this category Hamnet , one battle after another , Maadi , Supreme Sinners and the Secret Agent. They are hard to fault. I mean , the casting is in all of these films was really stellar.
S1: Well , while we're talking about casting , let's look at the acting categories. Yazdi , you.
S7: And it's hard to believe he's never been nominated before. Um , the other one's the other two that I'm really very happy to hear about our Inca daughter Elias and Elle Fanning , who picked up Best Supporting Female Actor nominations for Sentimental Value. And it's just great to see the voters recognize the exceptional acting in this film. In fact , I think it may be a record for for non-English speaking actors to get nominated from the same film at the Oscars. Um , and I think this film did great overall , picking up nominations not just for acting , but also for best film. Best international film , best director and original screenplay. So not bad for a subtitled Norwegian film.
S1: Well , hey. So well deserved , right ? And a long time coming for for Delroy Lindo.
S5: My absolute favorite nomination , I think , has to be Wunmi Mosaku for sinners. I fell in love with her in his house , which was a horror film , but my favorite along with that is Delroy Lindo. These are two amazing actors who defy stereotypes and deliver compelling , really humane work , and so I'm so glad to see them nominated for a more flashy role. Amy Madigan in weapons. This is a case where a little flamboyance , I think , worked , and I'm glad to see her getting acknowledged for that. And then , of course , I'm happy to see Wagner Moura for the secret agent , Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value , and of course , Michael B Jordan twice. For sinners. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Of course. All right. I have to know , in your view , who should not have been nominated here.
S6:
S5: Uh , Sean Penn , if there's one person who should be removed from this list of nominees , it's him. I'm surprised any scenery survived his chomping bite. I would have definitely put Jack O'Connell from sinners , who gave us a very different kind of evil and so deliciously played. So I would have definitely replaced him with that. And I would replace Kate Hudson with Liz Larson for her fine comedic work in an underseen film called The Baltimore Bronze. So I think those would be like the top acting ones that I would I would like to see swapped. Interesting.
S1: Interesting.
S7: And as has been said by others , it is usually the most acting that gets nominated versus the best acting. So , like Sean Penn's deep fried everything , but the kitchen sink performance gets the nod. While some someone like Dylan O'Brien and winless is not on anybody's list. There was an opportunity to recognize some fun performances like Robert Pattinson and Mickey , 17 , or any one of the three fine performances from Josh O'Connor and films released in 2025. But even so , I'm glad that some gentler performances like Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein and Wagner , Maura's in The Secret Agent did get nominated. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , Yazdi , I mean , you were happy with the showing of international films across all categories. Yes.
S7: Yes. I'm so happy with the general showing for foreign films in this year's nominations. In my opinion , this is the most competitive category of the Oscars because we've had such fine foreign films released , and most of the films nominated in this category also additionally picked up. Other nominations. We've already talked about Sentimental Value , but it was just an accident. The Iranian film , which is actually being presented by France , picked up a nod for original screenplay as well. Serrat , from Spain , got an additional nomination for Best Sound. The secret agent picked up nods for best overall film and casting , and even a little wonderful films such as The Ugly Stepsister is an Oscar nominee with a nod for Best Makeup and Hairstyling , so they did well.
S1:
S5: I mean , I think what's happening is that the line between foreign and mainstream films is really starting to blur people. And by that I also mean Academy voters are more willing to watch subtitled films in cinemas and streaming and not just relegate them to that one category of foreign language film. And I think it helps that there's actors like Stellan Skarsgard , who's in sentimental value , who's also been seen in a number of English language films , again helping to blur this line. There's not two separate categories of films English language ones and foreign language ones. It's just movies that are good. So I think that diversity is also reflected in the animated films that were nominated this year because we have Italian , French and Korean representation.
S1: Yeah , I agree with that. I mean , what else stands out to you about this year's nominations compared to previous years ? Beth.
S5: You know , I think this year it's I'm more satisfied overall. Like my frustration level is much lower than it usually is. And , you know , part of that is sinners getting 16 nominations. It's so deserving in all those categories. And also , as we've mentioned , the The Good show of foreign films. And , you know , some of them are smaller foreign films like Sarat is not , you know , it doesn't have a star like Stellan Skarsgard in it. It's a little bit difficult to get into it. It has some devastating moments , so I'm just happy that even though there are small movies that were overlooked , and even though some of my favorite films are nowhere to be found on this list list like the documentary Tura , I'm pretty overall happy with this , and I feel like the Academy is maybe spreading out those nominations in a nice sort of way.
S1: All right , Yazdi , your thoughts.
S7: Yeah , I like that. So many records are being broken with these set of nominations. So if you look at the four main acting categories best male lead , best female lead , best male supporting best female supporting five nominations each , that's 20 acting nominations. And 11 out of those 20 nominations this year were first timers. So I really like that. You know , the Academy as as their own demographics of the voters is changing. That's being reflected in the nominations as well. And you are seeing this younger group of actors kind of getting a shot at the biggest prize there is in cinema. I'm so glad that somebody like Chloe Zhao becomes only the second woman to get nominated for two films that she directed , and she is only the 11th woman to be a female director nominee at all. So I think a lot of progress has been made. Likewise , you know , all the crafts categories over decades has been , um , you know , dominantly had , you know , male nominees. But we're seeing a lot of female names pop up in the craft categories as well. So I think that's what's separating this year's batch. And I I'm happy for it. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well so now we have all the nominations. Let's get into some predictions.
S5: So what I want is sinners to win big. I think that probably one battle after another is the more likely Best Picture winner. And this is because sinners has three strikes against it. It has a black director. It has a director who negotiated creative control over his film , which is probably the scariest thing in the world to studios. And it's a horror film. So , I mean , I know it's more than a horror film , but I think the Academy voters will put it into that category , into that genre , despite how rich and nuanced it is. So I think one battle after another is likely to take the big prizes. And I think the rest of the awards are probably going to be divvied up sort of evenly amongst films like Sinners and Hamnet and F1 in some craft categories. So that would be my prediction. But I am happy to be proven wrong.
S1: I mean , I got to agree. I don't understand one battle after another. Happy for Teyana Taylor , but I thought it just overall lacked character development and left a lot of questions on the table there.
S6: You know , I think the problem.
S5: With that film is it really should have been played more as a satire , and it got caught in this , like straddling the world of like being satirically funny and poking fun at these ineffectual white males and kind of making a real , real world drama film. So tonally is where it had its problems. For me , the second half was definitely better.
S1: Yeah , well , Yazdi in the last 30s we have.
S6:
S7: One battle after another is the one to beat for best film. I think if there is a lock on terms of who's going to win in any category , it's Timothee Chalamet who's a lock for best male lead for Marty Supreme. And then the best female lead performance is down to Jessie Buckley and Hamlet or Rose Byrne. And if I had legs , I would kick you. Wow.
S1: Wow. All right. Well , I , uh , it's always a pleasure to have you all on. We'll be sure to follow this race closely. The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday , March 15th and televised on ABC. And again , I want to thank our midday movie critics , KPBS , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi Beth Yazdi. Thank you so much.
S5: Thank you.
S7: Thank you.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman.
S9: Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
