FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Wanuri Kahiu, director of the film Rafiki.

Rafiki is definitely the feminine and feminist Manifesto of this year’s Festival de Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Section. A colorful and hopeful love story between two teenage girls in the homophobic Kenyan society where even religion is not accepting diversity and same sex couples. Rafiki is also a coming of age story and a tale of independence that teaches us that only by deeply loving someone else we can learn more about ourselves and the power of our dreams. In Wanuri Kahiu’s opinion, for the themes it depicts, Rafiki‘s not only important for its impact on the Festival de Cannes but also for its effects on Kenyan and African society.

Rafiki: “Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but Kena and Ziki long for something more. Despite the political rivalry between their families, the girls resist and remain close friends, supporting each other to pursue their dreams in a conservative society. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.

For the page of the film on the Festival website, click here.

The post Wanuri Kahiu – Rafiki #Cannes2018 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Vincent Lucassen, VoD manager at Under the Milky Way International.

An interview with Vincent Lucassen, who is a VoD manager with Under the Milky Way International, a leading service company dedicated to the digital distribution and marketing of films, and which facilitates the process of releasing and exploiting feature films, closely curating their marketing and editorial positioning in order to maximise their visibility on VoD platforms. The interview is also being conducted in relation to the upcoming edition of the Young Audience Award, with which Under the Milky Way will be collaborating in bringing the films of its last three editions as well as all three nominated films in 2018 out Europe-wide on VoD platforms. The films will go out on May 7, one day after this year’s EFA Young Audience Award.

As an official category of the European Film Awards, the EFA Young Audience Award presents three European films to 12-14-year-old audiences across Europe. They watch the nominated films and act as a jury, voting for the winner right after the screenings. In a truly European vote, jury speakers then transmit the national results live via video conference to Erfurt (Germany) where the winner is announced in an award ceremony streamed live on this website.

The post Vincent Lucassen #YAA2018 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Joaquin Phoenix and Lynne Ramsay, actor and director of the film You Were Never Really Here.

It took You Were Never Really Here one year from Cannes 2017 and the courage of a small local distributor to finally be released in Italy and for the occasion Fred’s Chiara Nicoletti meets director Lynne Ramsay and protagonist Joaquin Phoenix, in Rome to present the film. As the film focuses on a very delicate balance between tenderness and brutal violence, Joaquin Phoenix and Lynne Ramsay discuss violence as the solution to fight violence, what it means to be a pacifist and above all, declare their personal fears and defects. It’s an excess of empathy, the key that makes Joaquin Phoenix able to play so many difficult and tormented characters with such deepness and catharsis.

You Were Never Really Here:  A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

For the official website of the film, click here.

The post Joaquin Phoenix, Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Cristiana Palmieri interviews Santiago Fouz Hernández and Alfredo Martínez Expósito, curator and collaborator of the Bigas Luna Tribute.

Hear from two international experts on Spanish cinema how Bigas Luna’s work contributed to radically change the perception of Spanish culture, marking the beginning of a new identity, where past and present coexist in a multifaceted and appealing cultural framework.

Bigas Luna Tribute includes Luna’s critically-acclaimed “Iberian Portraits Trilogy”: Jamón, Jamón (1992) (which launched the career of Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Jordi Mollà), Golden Balls (1993) and The Tit and the Moon (1994); as well as the posthumous documentary Bigas x Bigas (2017), based on his video-diaries. The trilogy offers a complex depiction of a Spain in transition, where older customs and stereotypes associated with the rural, simpler past survive alongside newly introduced European/global, capitalist values.

To discover more about this event, click here.

The post Santiago Fouz Hernández, Alfredo Martínez Expósito – Bigas Luna Tribute #SpanishFilmFest appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Director Sandra Vannucchi talks about the film Girl in Flight – 2018 EFA Young Audience Award finalist.

Director Sandra Vannucchi talks about shooting Girl in Flight, the idea for the film which is partly based on personal experience, working with the two girls and how their relationship with each other changed during the shoot, being inside a Roma camp, studying filmmaking and more…

Girl in Flight:  Inspired by real events, Girl in Flight is the story of 11-year old Silvia whose life at home is consumed by her mother’s clinical depression. When no one will take the time to fulfill her dream to visit Rome, she runs away, determined to see it for herself. On a train she meets a Roma girl, Emina, and begins following her through the streets of Rome to her gypsy camp. Shot in a real Roma camp using non-actors, the film also features the Italian stars Donatella Finocchiaro and Filippo Nigro. Girl in Flight’s beautiful imagery, captured by award-winning cinematographer Vladan Radovic (Donatello award for Anime Nere, 2015), reflects the tender, frightening and exciting emotional journey of a young girl coming into her own.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Sandra Vannucchi – Girl in Flight #YAA2018 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Director Selma Vihunen talks about the film Hobbyhorse Revolution – 2018 EFA Young Audience Award finalist.

Director Selma Vihunen talks about shooting Hobbyhorse Revolution – how she first found out about the community and its activities, how much time she spent with the girls and how many hobbyhorses she owns herself…

Hobbyhorse Revolution:  Hobbyhorse Revolution is a funny and moving film about the power of imagination and the strength of a community. The film follows three young girls, Aisku, Elsa and Alisa whose lives have been transformed by their new interest: hobbyhorses. Despite a lack of understanding by some, the girls bravely and spiritedly pursue their hobby. Playing with hobbyhorses is a traditional children’s activity, but today’s Finnish teenagers have created a versatile hobby around it, raising the scene to a whole new level. The hobbyists’ are unofficially organised, working on a voluntary basis. On the hand they are active online with their Instagram accounts, blogs and forums while on the other they practise the sport by exercising outdoors in woods and parks – and they are serious. They are an ever-growing group that trains determinedly and organises nationwide competitions. Every handcrafted hobbyhorse has its own name and personality. The age range of hobbyists’ is continuously expanding with the eldest now over 20 years old. The hobbyhorse fever is now spreading abroad as well.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Selma Vihunen – Hobbyhorse Revolution #YAA2018 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Director Berni Goldblat talks about the film Wallay – 2018 EFA Young Audience Award finalist.

Director Berni Goldblat talks about shooting Wallay in France and Burkina Faso, in the heat of Africa, in the water with crocodiles and much more…

Wallay:  Ady, a 13 years old boy, no longer listens to his father who raises him alone. The latter, running out of resources, decides to entrust Ady to his uncle Amadou for the summer. Uncle Amadou and his family live on the other side of the Mediterranean sea… in Burkina Faso! There, at 13 years, one must become a man but Ady, persuaded to go on holidays, understands things differently…

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Berni Goldblat – Wallay #YAA2018 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Ofir Raul Graizer, director of the film The Cakemaker.

Ofir Raul Grazier is a food lover, he works with food, he is a cooking teacher and so his first film has food as the main character. With a guerrilla production, he created a film that was made with nothing, has been selected in more than 30 festivals and has been bought all over the world, with a US remake on the way. Not bad for a film that nobody wanted to finance….

The Cakemaker: Berlin. Thomas is a pastry cook and one of his regular customers is Oren, an Israeli engineer, whose wife and son live in Jerusalem. Thanks to Thomas’ wonderful cakes, the two fall in love. But one day Oren suddenly stops coming to the shop. Thomas decides to go to Jerusalem to understand the reasons behind his disappearance. There he goes to the coffee shop run by Anat, Oren’s wife, and, pretending to look for a job, he becomes the new dishwasher. When his talent as a pastry cook comes out, the doors of the kitchen open for him. But Moti, Oren’s Orthodox Jewish brother doesn’t look kindly on Thomas. Very soon Thomas’ cakes are a success with the customers, while the relationship between Thomas and Anat become less professional, and more adventurous and intimate…

The post Ofir Raul Graizer – The Cakemaker #LFF18 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews director Robin Campillo.

Robin Campillo has been celebrated at Lovers Film Festival, with a retrospective and a masterclass. He revealed all the stories behind his films, and explained his idea of cinema and the politics of it. From The Revenants to 120BPM, through his life as an editor and being a friend of Laurent Cantet, to his most loved and hated aspects in the life of a filmmaker.

The post Robin Campillo #LFF18 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Steve Mclean, director of the film Postcards From London.

Steve Mclean tells us about the construction of Postcards From London, where all the rules and classic conceptions about hustlers in film have been rewritten. The pace, the visuals and the tone are completely new to that topic and the narrative approach gives the film an unforgettable identity.

Postcards From London is set in modern-day London and is the sequel to the cult film Postcards From America, which was set in the back streets of New York. Jim is a good-looking provincial boy, as beautiful as a Greek god but with few prospects in life, who decides to move to London to seek a better future, since there are not many opportunities in his dreary little hometown in Essex. But his first contact with the big city is catastrophic: in fact, he is robbed, left penniless and spends his first night in a cardboard box. He then meets the Raconteurs, a very particular group of male escorts from Soho, who love art and have unique style and extremely refined taste. Jim discovers a world of the night previously unknown to him, and is irresistibly attracted. He soon becomes the most sought-after muse of all the artists in London. But a rare psychosomatic condition prevents him from climbing the ladder of success: he suffers from Stendhal syndrome, which causes fainting and hallucinations when he encounters a great work of art…

The post Steve Mclean – Postcards From London #LFF18 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.