FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Steve Hargrave interviews Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne and Todd Lieberman, actors and producer of the film The Aeronauts.

The Aeronauts: In 1862, daredevil balloon pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) teams up with pioneering meteorologist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) to advance human knowledge of the weather and fly higher than anyone in history. While breaking records and advancing scientific discovery, their voyage to the very edge of existence helps the unlikely pair find their place in the world they have left far below them. But they face physical and emotional challenges in the thin air, as the ascent becomes a fight for survival.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Todd Lieberman – The Aeronauts #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

We meet Tania Cypriano soon after the world premier of Born to Be at the 57th New York Film Festival. We talk about the making of Born to Be, how she chose the stories to add in the movie and the amazing reaction of the audience with a standing ovation for the movie and to welcome the protagonists of this remarkable documentary which we all hope will inspire new generations of medical students. Dr. Ting is a gifted musician, he was a student at The Juilliard School but he started medical school to honor the expectations of his family. He was a brilliant medical student, first in his class, a surgeon who decided to dedicate his life to help people to be who they are. He is a pioneer and he started the first Fellowship Program in the United States in Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. “Not every patient wants to have a surgical transition. Transition can take many forms. You might just change your hair color, your makeup, the way you dress, your name, your gender marker. You don’t have to have surgery. I see a subset of the transgender population. Only those patients who desire transitional surgery.” – Dr. Ting.

Born to Be: Soon after New York state passed a 2015 law that health insurance should cover transgender-related care and services, director Tania Cypriano and producer Michelle Hayashi began bringing their cameras behind the scenes at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, where this remarkable documentary captures the emotional and physical journey of surgical transitioning. Lending equal narrative weight to the experiences of the center’s groundbreaking surgeon Dr. Jess Ting and those of his diverse group of patients, Born to Be perfectly balances compassionate personal storytelling and fly-on-the-wall vérité. It’s a film of astonishing access—most importantly into the lives, joys, and fears of the people at its center.

To discover more about the film, click here on the Film Festival website, or here on the film website.

The post Tania Cypriano – Born to Be #NYFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Calm With Horses: In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas ‘Arm’ Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between these two families, Arm’s loyalties are truly tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Nick Rowland – Calm With Horses #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Sarah Bradbury interviews Nuno Escudeiro, director of the film The Valley.

The Valley: Sometimes help comes from the most unexpected places. The valleys of the French Alps experienced enforced displacement during Second World War, so perhaps it’s no surprise that many residents feel moved to help refugees whose homes have also become battlefields. In a climate of mistrust and rising prejudice, it’s refreshing to witness everyday people get savvy about the laws of these lands, especially when political engagement is fickle. As one man quips, ‘Increase the retirement age by six months and you’ll have three million people protesting, but nothing for this’. While director Nuno Escudeiro attempts to document the way these ambiguous, shifting laws are enforced, and authorities sneak refugees out the back door instead of registering them, no irony is lost with the town’s sign: ‘The Pearl of France is Happy to Welcome You’.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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The post Nuno Escudeiro – The Valley #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Steve Hargrave interviews Willem Dafoe and Robert Eggers, actor and director of the film The Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse: Leaving Canada behind for the unforgiving terrains of the New England coast, Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) reluctantly arrives at the begrimed lighthouse where he will work for the next four weeks. Greeted with gruff hostility by Tom Wake (Willem Dafoe), a veteran seafarer with whom he is obliged to share these uncomfortably close quarters, the pair quickly establish a volatile dynamic, with Tom the baiting slave-driver and Ephraim his battered lackey. As the young apprentice tends to the building’s more onerous and demeaning demands, Tom proudly presides over the mythical light. And with the slow passing of each punishing day, Ephraim’s resentment grows. But when he learns of the mysterious fate which befell his master’s former assistant, a creeping sense of fear and paranoia also begins to stir.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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The post Willem Dafoe, Robert Eggers – The Lighthouse #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Just Mercy: Fresh from Harvard Law School, fledgling attorney Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) defies the wishes of his parents, who are concerned about the notoriously racist South, when he ventures to Alabama to open a law practice to support death row inmates routinely denied proper legal counsel. Meeting with a variety of prisoners, Stevenson soon encounters Walter “Johnny D” McMillan (Foxx), a black man accused of the brutal murder of a white teenage girl, an allegation he vehemently denies, with numerous factors clearly supporting innocence. Despite Johnny D’s scepticism that he will be afforded due diligence by a corrupt system, Stevenson hires local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), and mounts an urgent case for a retrial, uncovering a chain of injustices and crucial oversights as they search for the truth. Adapted from Bryan Stevenson’s own bestselling memoir, director Destin Daniel Cretton’s methodical and interrogative approach paints a searing (and often infuriating) portrait of the fight for justice in the face of structural racism, which feels all-too timely nearly three decades after the case in question. Driven by powerhouse performances from Jordan and Foxx, who are ably supported by a stellar cast including Larson, Rafe Spall and O’Shea Jackson Jr, this is cinema at its most inspiring and essential.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Michael B. Jordan – Just Mercy #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Steve Hargrave interviews Richard Lowenstein, director of the film Mystify: Michael Hutchence.

Mystify: Michael Hutchence: Respected clinical psychologist Nicoline is at the top of her game. Promptly after starting a new job at a penal institution, she commences sessions with Idris, an inmate found guilty of multiple violent sex crimes. While her colleagues are confident that the disarmingly alluring convict is well on the road to rehabilitation, Nicoline remains unconvinced, passionately advocating that Idris be denied release. As the simmering tensions between the pair steadily escalate, Nicoline finds herself overpoweringly drawn to her subject, and soon the boundaries between doctor and patient begin to blur. Shot with cool, probing precision, director Halina Reijn’s stimulating examination of power and abuse features an impressively nuanced central performance from Carice van Houten. A film of bold intricacy that’s unafraid to pose challenging questions and venture into uncomfortable territory.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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The post Richard Lowenstein – Mystify: Michael Hutchence #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Joe Talbot, director of the film The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco: Jimmie (Jimmie Fails) dreams of reclaiming the beautiful late 19th century home his grandfather built in the heart of the city, before harder times and changing demographics forced his family out. He and best friend Mont (Jonathan Majors) scheme to make this happen while Jimmie annoys the sitting tenants with guerrilla gardening on the beloved Fillmore house. A skateboarder and dreamy, suit-wearing playwright, the pair are at odds with the tough guys around the neighbourhood, and spend their time working to deliver Jimmie’s dream while living with Mont’s grandfather (Danny Glover). Occasionally, a film comes around that thrillingly invents its own cinematic rhythms, perfectly suited to its subject. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is such a film and it’s one to make your head sing and heart soar.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Joe Talbot – The Last Black Man in San Francisco #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Steve Hargrave interviews Halina Reijn, director of the film Instinct.

Director Halina Reijn presents her first feature at London Film Festival, the complex adult, sexual psychological drama Instinct starring her producing partner and Game Of Thrones star Carice van Houten. Halina discusses her journey to getting the film made, and her quest to give female voices a more nuanced and complex platform in film.

Instinct: Respected clinical psychologist Nicoline is at the top of her game. Promptly after starting a new job at a penal institution, she commences sessions with Idris, an inmate found guilty of multiple violent sex crimes. While her colleagues are confident that the disarmingly alluring convict is well on the road to rehabilitation, Nicoline remains unconvinced, passionately advocating that Idris be denied release. As the simmering tensions between the pair steadily escalate, Nicoline finds herself overpoweringly drawn to her subject, and soon the boundaries between doctor and patient begin to blur. Shot with cool, probing precision, director Halina Reijn’s stimulating examination of power and abuse features an impressively nuanced central performance from Carice van Houten. A film of bold intricacy that’s unafraid to pose challenging questions and venture into uncomfortable territory.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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The post Halina Reijn – Instinct #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Alejandro Landes, director of the film Monos.

Alejandro Landes is back talking about Monos, his third film, in competition at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. Landes confirms that Monos is an allegory to talk about Colombia but also to talk about war nowadays. Besides, the film can also be considered as a coming-of-age story as it portrays teenagers going through that important and fragile phase in life. In its mixing genres, Landes reveals that he got influenced by war movies like Apocalypse Now and from teen movies like Harmony Korine’s Gummo. Since Alejandro Landes is also an architect, his goal is always to be faithful to details, even when rituals are involved.

Monos: High in the mountains of South America, above the billowing clouds but with gunshots heard in the distance, a motley group of child and teenage soldiers train and wait for instruction. They stave off boredom by fucking, playing and fighting. This might be some teen rave gone feral, but for the deadly seriousness underlined by the presence of an American hostage, the Doctora. Monos has inspired feverish buzz wherever it has screened this year and comparisons to Apocalypse Now and Lord of the Flies are not off the mark in mapping out the film’s terrain. But this is also a wildly original vision from Landes and screenwriter Alexis dos Santos, referencing horrors on their own continent. The camera prowls over mud and organic decay, cutting swathes through the jungle, all to the strains of Mica Levi’s visceral score. Monos sparks with dark adrenal electricity and it’s completely, utterly thrilling.

Monos is released in UK cinemas across UK and Ireland on 25th October 2019. For more information visit the official website here , or visit the Facebook page, and find on Twitter #MONOSFILM.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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The post Alejandro Landes – Monos #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.