FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Quan Zhou, director of the film End of Summer.

Filmmaker Quan Zhou talks about his feature film debut, End of Summer, which was screened at the inaugural edition of the Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival in China. (The film also had its European premiere, almost simultaneously, at the Rome Film Festival in Italy.) Quan Zhou describes the film as a coming-of-age movie with autobiographical elements. One of these is football. The film is, in fact, set in the summer of 1998, the summer of the World Cup in France, and mentions Italian footballing star Alessandro Del Piero prominently, as the idol of the film’s youngest protagonist. Football also carries an important meaning in End of Summer for other reasons, narrative and cultural, which the director explains. End of Summer is also a story about three different generations. He tells us whether it was difficult to balance the stories of the film, represented by a father and a son, and an older man who the child befriends. As well as talking about End of Summer, Quan Zhou tells us about his aim to tell stories about his native land, the collaborative nature of his works, and his future project, which he is currently working on.

End of Summer:  A coming-of-age family drama timid fifth grader, an orthodox middle-aged teacher, and a grumpy old man experiencing their first awakening to true self during the 1998 World Cup in China.

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PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Santiago Esteves, director of the film Rey’s Education.

Director Santiago Esteves screened his feature film, Rey’s Education, at the inaugural edition of the Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival in China. In this interview, he talks about his influences, from film noir to the western and Mendoza, where the film was shot. Mendoza, in particular, played a big part in shaping the final work, as Esteves tells us. The director also talks about an interesting aspect: casting a veteran actor, German de Silva, in the role of the title character’s mentor, and a talented young man from the streets, Matías Encinas, as the young petty criminal Rey. The former’s mentoring in acting echoed the “education” of the story of the film.

Rey’s Education: Escaping from his criminal baptism, Reynaldo Galíndez, alias “Rey”, lands in the patio of the house inhabited by Carlos Vargas, a retired security guard. Vargas offers him a deal: the young boy will repair the damage caused to his home when falling – in return for not being handed over to the police. The lessons given to the teenager by the old guard will give rise to a relationship, not unlike the old legends of educating a king (for the “Rey” of his name, meaning “king”). But the agreement will start to fall apart when the loose ends of the robbery Reynaldo had participated in start wrapping themselves round them…

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Anita Doron, scriptwriter of the film The Breadwinner.

FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets Anita Doron, scriptwriter of Nora Twomey’s animation film The Breadwinner, in competition at the 2017 Alice Nella Città. Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a tiny apartment building in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan. Living under Taliban rule, Parvana grows up listening to stories told by her father while helping him in the marketplace One day, her father is arrested, and Parvana’s life is changed forever. In a time and place where women are not allowed to leave home without men, her family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. Anita Doron describes her collaboration with producer Angelina Jolie and Deborah Ellis, whose book the film is based on. We experience everything through Parvana’s point of view so that we can have the perception of how it feels to be suddenly exposed to “freedom”.

The Breadwinner tells the story of Parvana, an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. When her father is wrongfully arrested, Parvana disguises herself as a boy in order to support her family. With dauntless perseverance, Parvana draws strength from the stories her father told her, and ultimately risks her life to discover if he is still alive. Equal parts thrilling and enchanting, The Breadwinner is a timely and inspiring tale about the transcendent power of stories, and their potential to unite and heal us all.

For the website of the film, click here. 

The post Anita Doron – The Breadwinner #RomaFF12 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Jeff Bauman and Jake Gyllenhaal, book author and actor of the film Stronger.

After presenting it at the Toronto Film Festival, the new film by David Gordon Green, Stronger, is in the official selection of the 12th Rome Film Fest. Its protagonist, Jake Gyllenhaal portrays Jeff Bauman’s story and strength and testifies his fall and rise story. Bauman who came to introduce the film to the audience with Gyllenhaal , lost both his legs in the explosion caused by the 2013 Boston Marathon’s terrorist attack and wrote a book about this tragic experience. With Gyllenhaal, they talk about how it feels to be in Rome, how they worked together and they clarify that the film is always focusing on Jeff’s personal story, leaving aside a more general debate on terrorism.

Stronger is the inspiring true story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become the symbol of hope following the infamous 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Jeff, a 27-year-old, working-class Boston man who was at the marathon to try and win back his ex-girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany). Waiting for her at the finish line when the blast occurs, he loses both his legs in the attack. After regaining consciousness in the hospital, Jeff is able to help law enforcement identify one of the bombers, but his own battle has just begun. He tackles months of physical and emotional rehabilitation with the unwavering support of Erin and his family. It is Jeff’s deeply personal account of the heroic journey that tests a family’s bond, defines a community’s pride and inspires his inner courage to overcome devastating adversity. Filled with raw emotion, humanity and humor, Stronger is the inspirational real-life story of the man who became the living embodiment of “Boston Strong.” The film also stars Academy Award® nominee Miranda Richardson and is directed by David Gordon Green.

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PODCAST| Cristiana Palmieri interviews Eddie Tamir,  artistic director of the Jewish International Film Festival in Sidney.

 From Israel, France and Australia, to the Yiddish-speaking neighbourhoods of Brooklyn, to award-winners and critics favourites; JIFF presents 65 films from across the globe that celebrate the remarkable diversity of Jewish culture and storytelling.

The tradition of screening the cream of the crop of Israeli film continues with many films coming directly from film festivals in Cannes, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Venice, Tribeca and Berlin. “We made our selection after seeing more than 300 films during the past year,” said Tamir to The Australian Jewish News “and this year we present the strongest Australian line-up in our history.”

For the official page of the Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, directors of the film Battle Of The Sexes, distributed in Italian cinemas from October 19th.

The Battle Of The Sexes is not only something that still goes on today in our society, it is also the name of the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs and the third film by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris that stars Emma Stone and Steve Carell as King and Riggs. On the occasion of the Italian release of the film, FRED meets the directors who start describing their journey working on this film from the very beginning: the real battle of the sexes that was going on between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. They admit they thought the film could be perfect to be screened at the White House to celebrate Clinton’s presidency and how far women had gone and how much they have earned in society from 1973 on. As we all know things went differently and Battle Of The Sexes is a way to discuss how much women still have to fight to get equal treatment in society and at work.

Battle Of The Sexes: In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women’s movement, the 1973 tennis match between women’s World #1 Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-men’s-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the Battle Of The Sexes and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough) developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today.

For the official website of the film, click here.

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The post Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton – Battle Of The Sexes appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Randy Haberkamp, Managing Director, Preservation and Foundation of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science of America.

Randy Haberkamp, besides being Managing Director, Preservation and Foundation of the Academy, is also a dog lover and an expert of dogs on films. He came to Turin for the exhibition Bestiale: Animal Film Stars, which the Acadamy helped with, and for a one-of-a-kind screening for dogs and their owners of a Rin Tin Tin film, an event like it never seen before. We met him to talk about the history of films through dogs, actors and more.

The post Randy Haberkamp – Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science of America appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Glenn Close and Anne Stark, actresses in the film The Wife.

Glenn Close and her daughter Anne Stark are the protagonists of The Wife by Björn Runge, presented as a Gala Premiere at the 13th Zurich Film Festival. They play the same character, the young Joan Castleman falling in love with this young and promising professor (Jonathan Pryce) and writer and the adult Joan, dealing with the results of her life spent supporting this man. Glenn Close and her daughter talk about their approach to the film and their roles and describe their mother-daughter relationship in real life. Since The Wife portrays a strong and talented woman who gave up her career and ambitions for love, it is the perfect occasion for Glenn Close to talk about her career choices and iconic films such as Fatal Attraction.

The Wife:  Joan Castleman is a model wife: loyal, attentive, considerate and still very attractive. She and her spouse, Joe, a successful writer, have been a formidable team for the past 40 years. Joan has always taken Joe’s shortcomings and affairs with a pinch of humour – they are, after all, a part of his existence as an artist – and her years of support finally seem to pay off: Joe is asked to travel to Stockholm in order to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. The more he finds himself in the spotlight, however, the more she finds herself trapped in his shadow. In a Stockholm hotel lobby – on the eve of the ceremony – Joan takes a radical decision… THE WIFE is the bittersweet story of one woman’s liberation, in which Glenn Close manages to upstage any shred of masculinity with elegance and venom.

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

The post Glenn Close, Anne Stark – The Wife #ZFF2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Samantha Sartori interviews Serge Bozon, director of the film Mrs. Hyde.

As Noah Baumbach said “my parents used to come to the New York Film Festival, and call it The Festival”. The Festival has a very limited number of movies selected, in the main slate category there are only 25 movies. There are no prizes at The Festival; the prize is being selected and, as the director of The Festival, Kent Jones, said, they select only the movies that move them. Among these movies is Mrs Hyde by Serge Bozon. We meet Serge Bozon and talk about how he worked with Axelle Ropert on her idea of this very free adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel; he reveals some of the crucial ideas and technical tricks that characterize the unique aesthetics of his astonishing movie, shot in 35mm with the Director of Photography, Céline Bozon. He humbly admits that the attention to the movie and the sold out screenings are due to Isabelle Huppert’s presence, but it is definitely also due to this talented filmmaker’s original approach to movie-making.

Mrs. Hyde: Serge Bozon’s eccentric comedic thriller is loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with many a twist. Mrs. Géquil (Isabelle Huppert), a timid and rather peculiar physics professor, teaches in a suburban technical high school. Apart from her quiet married life with her gentle stay-at-home husband, she is mocked and despised on a daily basis by pretty much everyone around her—headmaster, colleagues, students. During a dark, stormy night, she is struck by lightning and wakes up a decidedly different person, a newly powerful Mrs. Hyde with mysterious energy and uncontrollable powers. Highlighted by Bozon’s brilliant mise en scène, Isabelle Huppert hypnotizes us again, securing her place as the ultimate queen of the screen.

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

The post Serge Bozon – Mrs. Hyde #NYFF2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Ivan Kozlenko, deputy director of the National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Centre.

An interview with Ivan Kozlenko, deputy director of the National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Centre, the national film archive of Ukraine, from the 36th Pordenone Silent Film Festival (Le Giornate del Cinema Muto). Kozlenko presented An Unprecedented Campaign by Mikhail Kaufman, described in the Giornate catalog as a “dutiful celebration of the first Five Year Plan (1928-1932), chronicling triumphs of industry, of agriculture, and social care and literacy,” but is also a look at the last fruitful year of Stalin’s collectivization before the great starvation of Ukraine, which happened in 1932, as Kozlenko explains. Besides the film, we talk about he many activities of film preservation, archive, and exhibition of the centre and also about the man who names it, the great Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko.

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