FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Melita Cameron-Wood interviews Manfredi Mancuso and Domenico Della Valle, co-directors of the Crossing The Screen International Film Festival.

Here Melita Cameron-Wood meets Manfredi Mancuso and Domenico Della Valle, festival directors of Crossing The Screen International Film Festival in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The official festival takes place annually from November 4th-6th, but the pair have just organised a festival tour to give the filmmakers in their official selection greater exposure throughout the year. Melita met them after one of their tour screenings to discuss the pair’s hopes for the future of the festival and the reasons behind their selection of Eastbourne as a festival location. While many might deem the town an unlikely location to host an event such as an International Film Festival, the festival directors see this as a welcome challenge as they aim to create a place for local and international filmmakers to engage with each other and find future collaborative partnerships. Their high aims can be seen in their slogan – ‘Eastbourne, the next Cannes on the British Riviera’ – and this interview delves into where the pair wish to see their festival in five years time and how they hope this will impact the local community as well as the international one. The festival aims to showcase up and coming talents and give a platform to those who might not otherwise get a chance to share their work with wider audiences. Inclusion and the creation of a positive environment in which cultural achievements can be encouraged, commended and enjoyed by many are the central aims of the festival. Should any listeners wish to find out more, Crossing The Screen encourages filmmakers and people wishing to volunteer to contact them directly via email at [email protected] or [email protected] or alternatively follow them on Facebook for updates.

Crossing The Screen is an international film festival, meant to showcase innovative and independent forms of visual art from all over the world. The festival is devoted to discovering and celebrating unique voices and up-and-coming new cinema talents, who are not afraid to transcend traditional storytelling.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Cristiana Palmieri interviews Shahrbanoo Sadat, director and screenwriter of the film Wolf and sheep.

Shahrbanoo Sadat talks about how her life as an Afghan refugee in Iran and subsequently her relocation to the remote village in Central Afghanistan has inspired this autobiographical recount of rural life intertwined with mithology and mistery.

Wolf and sheep is set in rural Afghanistan, where simple village life is enlivened with stories of mystery and imagination. Our view into this timeless community is through its children, who mimic the adults in their gossiping and lewd language. Boys and girls don’t mix but, defying the rules, outsiders Qodrat and Sediqa develop a beautiful friendship. Using a cast of non-actors, Sadat has created a unique view of Afghanistan replete with all the mundanities and difficulties of life, but also with myth and magic: tales are told of a wolf who walks on two legs, discarding its skin to emerge as a beautiful green fairy.

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

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Eileen Hofer, director of the film Horizons, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Director Eileen Hofer talks about her documentary feature Horizons, presented at the 16th Transilvania Film Festival. The film has traveled to numerous festivals all over the world for a while and had captured the hearts of many. It is truly an inspiring story, which tells the tale of three generations of Cuban ballerinas, one of which is that of the legendary prima ballerina Alicia Alonso. Horizons is also enriched by the use of archive documentary. Nonetheless, the film was not made without challenges, and Hofer tells us some of them. Among its merits, Horizons has that of disproving the validity of the common expression “it ain’t ballet”; indeed, the documentary shows the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice that this particular world entails. Though she admits that she had no personal connection with ballet, the fact remains that Hofer’s Horizons is an inspiring movie that also feels like a work of love. Besides Horizons, we find time to talk about her latest short, that has already been screened elsewhere – it’s called Russian Salad.

Horizons: through three different generations of Cuban ballet dancers, Eileen Hofer explores love and passion for dance. Three strong women who completely dedicated their lives for ballet – the legend Alicia Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta, now 93; Viengsay Valdes, at the beginning of her international career; and young Amanda, who is dreaming about entering the ballet school. Together, their stories give an enchanting glimpse of the ballet world.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Gonzalo Delgado, co-director and actor of the film Dolphins Go East, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Gonzalo Delgado co-directed and co-write the film Dolphins Go East with Veronica Perrota, which was presented at the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival. Delgado also acts in one of the key supporting roles of the film (while Perrota plays the part of the female protagonist). But this interview focuses on his directing and writing techniques, and when we discuss his acting, we do so in order to understand whether it is difficult for him to include this other task in the midst of his film production. Delgado also shares with us his thoughts about some of the key themes of the film. The first and inevitable one is a brief discussion on the leading gay father and grown up daughter duo – progressively common in real life but still somewhat new in cinema – and why lying is a central element in the narrative of Dolphins Go East.

Dolphins Go East: Miguel Angel Garcia Mazziotti, a decadent gay figure from Rio de la Plata, is visited by his daughter Virginia, with whom he has been estranged for years. “El Gordo,” as everyone calls him, openly rejects Virginia’s visit until he learns that he is going to be a grandfather. Thus they share a true family weekend, but the time they spend together will come with surprises.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Daisuke Miyazaki, director and writer of the film Yamato (California) and writer of the film Dark Side of the Light, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Daisuke Miyazaki was present at the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival as the director of his film Yamato (California) and the screenwriter of Dark Side of the Light. The director shares with us his thoughts on the art of filmmaking as well, the various influences of his works (such as history and music), and the ways in which he approaches his film projects. Music, in particular, serves as the main subject of Yamato (California), while Daisuke also shares with us that he his collaboration on film sets as playing jazz: “cinema has everything in it … and it also is a reflection … a director’s reflection of the world,” he says.

Yamato (California): moody teenager Sakura shares a small house with her mother and brother, next to the US military base in Yamato, Japan. Her only dream is to become a famous rapper, but a crippling stage fright makes her unable to perform in front of an audience. Out of the blue, the daughter of her mother’s American boyfriend, Rei, arrives from California to spend some time with them. This unexpected arrival will at first turn Sakura into a state of turmoil but she will soon realise that she and Rei have much more in common than what she initially thought.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Bartosz M. Kowalski, director of the film Playground, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Bartosz Kowalski presented his film Playground at the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival. The film has been deemed as shocking by many, and Kowalski tells us about some of the most surprisingly outrageous reactions that the film has received. Surely, its tale of violence and children is quite shocking. Nonetheless, Kowalski reveals that the origins of his movie can be traced back to a true event that happened in Britain and was written about in newspapers. He also talks about talking about his research process that included talking with child psychopathologists. The stories behind children’s acts of violence are very complicated. Furthermore, there are some decisions that Kowalski took in the making of Playground that he himself is unable to understand. Sometimes, he says, “it feels like the best thing, and we cannot really explain why.”

Playground: final day of school in a small Polish town. It’s the very last chance for a 12-year-old Gabrysia to tell her classmate that she had fallen in love with him. She sets up a secret meeting and blackmails the boy to show up. But what was supposed to be an intimate talk spins out of control.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Dmytro Moiseiev, director of the film Chrysanthemums Time, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Dmytro Moseiev’s film Chrysanthemums Time was presented in the competition of the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival. The film revolves around a woman coping with the loss of her husband – who was not only a husband to her but also the closest person to her in her life. But as Moseiev explains, the story itself is not important. In fact, as he tells us in this interview, he himself was changed after he made the movie. Chrysanthemums Time allows us to discuss some of the themes of the film, from the aforementioned one of loss, to that of the lack of true importance of material things. We also talk about the nature of the film itself, which reflect the words of its director: “we should stop and reflect on the moments […] because what we live in the moment will have consequences in the future.”

Chrysanthemums Time: after losing a close person, Olga is left alone with her grief. With no one to share the loss with, she buys a car and goes on a journey around Kyiv and its surroundings. On her way she meets people who have lost themselves: some through constant lies, others because of a bad choice. Olga helps some of them, but leaves the others in their swamp. Will she ever feel better?

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Francis Lee, director of the film God’s Own Country, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Director Francis Lee presented his film God’s Own Country in the competition of the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival. The film chronicles the blooming romance between two farm workers (one of whom is an immigrant from Romania) in the Yorkshire countryside. The film was inspired by Lee’s own backgrounds, which he talks about in his interview. His commitment to a realistic portrayal of life on the Yorkshire farm led to some interesting choices in the production of the film. As Lee says, “I love details and I love layering … and always pushing deeper for the truth and the emotion.”

God’s Own Country: Spring. Yorkshire. Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Thierry Thieu Niang and Marie Balducchi, protagonist and producer of the film A Young Girl in Her Nineties, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

A Young Girl in Her Nineties (Une jeune fille de 90 ans), a documentary directed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Yann Coridian was screened during the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival. Producer Maria Balducchi and the protagonist of the movie, dance choreographer Thierry Thieu Niang, represented the movie here in Romania, where we met them for this interview. The film originated from the latter’s workshop. Thierry works with all people, and in particular, A Young in Her Nineties follows his process of work with old people with Alzheimer’s. It is through them that we witness the power of dance and the surprising effects that dance has on them. Marie and Thierry tell us about the challenges of making the movie, which even involved convincing that this story was worth telling (the film successfully premiered on Arté shortly before this interview was recorded). We also discuss many other things, such as the aforementioned power of dance, whether there was any concern about crossing a line, and a few comments about the coming together of dance and cinema.

A Young Girl in Her Nineties: in the geriatric care section of the Charles Foix d’Ivry hospital, Thierry Thieû Niang, a famous choreographer, is running a dance workshop for Alzheimer’s patients. Through dance, memories are recounted: regrets, bitterness, moments of joy and solitude. Blanche Moreau is 92 years old. During the filming, she has fallen in love with the choreographer: her illness has simply become lovesickness.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Yaniv Berman, director of Land of the Little People, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

Land of Little People marks the fiction directorial debut of Yaniv Berman, and was presented in the competition of the 17th Transilvania International Film Festival. The film doesn’t discuss the war in Israel as much as it looks at the militaristic society in Israel at large – especially, through its narrative, how this society affects children. The themes and story of Land of Little People allows Berman to elaborate on the film’s driving themes of military, war, Israel and the media. We also mention William Goulding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. Finally, Berman ends the interview by listing a number of surprising ways in which reality and fiction got mixed together in the making of the movie.

Land of the Little People: four young kids who live in a village of military officers families form a small gang. An old abandoned army base turns into their camp. Another war begins in Israel, and most men are drafted to serve their country. The mothers are sitting worried in front of the TV sets, while the kids, with no one to supervise them, return to their camp in the wild. To their surprise, they discover two soldiers who deserted their units, using their camp as a hideout.

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