Rachel Fleit on Directing "Bama Rush" for HBO Max

In this episode, I talk with award-winning director Rachel Fleit, who recently released “Bama Rush” on HBO Max. The film follows several young women as they prepare to participate in the sorority rush at the University of Alabama and explores what it means to belong. We talk about the production of the film and the audience response Rachel received to the film, particularly from the sorority community. 

"Bama Rush" on Max: https://www.max.com/movies/a309e8fd-a2d6-46a2-a8b6-4d43c2649a65 
"Introducing, Selma Blair" on Discovery+: https://www.discovery.com/shows/introducing-selma-blair
Rachel's website: https://www.rachelfleit.com/about

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“On Documentary” podcast page: www.adamjamessmithfilm.com/on-documentary
Adam James Smith’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/ajsfilm
Contact: ajsfilm@alumni.stanford.edu

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:06 How Rachel made a start in her career
• 6:25 On starting "Bama Rush"
• 10:31 Production challanges
• 16:13 Suspicion of media
• 17:51 Why Rachel featured herself in the film
• 21:12 The editing process
• 23:20 Audience responses to the film
• 27:28 Influence of social media
• 28:34 What Rachel learnt about the Greek system
• 32:07 Where people can find Rachel's work