FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Mani Haghighi, director of A Dragon Arrives! (Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad!), in competition at the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

After participating twice in the Forum Section with his previous films, director Mani Haghighi steps up to the Berlinale competition with A Dragon Arrives! This is a film that takes the audience away on a trip through the desert, in a precarious balance among dream-like hallucinatory states and the search for the truth.

A DRAGON ARRIVES: An orange Chevrolet Impala drives across a cemetery towards an abandoned shipwreck in the middle of a desert landscape. It is the 22nd of January, 1965. The day before, the Iranian prime minister was shot dead in front of the parliament building. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself. The walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes and strange symbols. Can they help Police Inspector Babak Hafizi in his investigations? Will they shed any light on why there is always an earthquake whenever somebody is buried in this desert cemetery?

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To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Lav Diaz‘s latest mastodontic film, presented in competition at the 66th Berlinale, is the 8 hours long A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery. The film retraces the events of the Philippine Revolution (1896-97) by evoking mythology to better communicate with the Filipino society and the international audience in the hope for change.

A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY: Interconnected narrative threads on the Philippine Revolution of 1896-1897 against Spain characterize Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapins – The story of the ballad Jocelynang Baliwag, which became the hymn of the revolution; Gregoria De Jesus forlorn search for the body of the Father of Philippine Revoution Andres Bonifacio; the journey of our national heroes’ fictional book characters Simon and Isagani; The role of the Philippine mythical hero of strength Bernardo Carpio and the half-man, Half-horse tikbalang/Engkanto, on the Filipino psyche. It is a marriage of history, literature and mythology.

The post Lav Diaz, director of “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Danis Tanović, director of Death in Sarajevo (Smrt u Sarajevu) in competition at the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

FRED Film Radio catches up once again with director Danis Tanović. This time, the subject of the interview is his latest film Death in Sarajevo (Smrt u Sarajevu), which marks his return to the Berlinale after his earlier film An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker was awarded the Jury Grand Prix in Berlin three years ago.

In Death in Sarajevo, Tanović gathers together an imaginary group of VIPs in the famous Sarajevo’s Hotel Europe, set in the Holiday Inn, during the centennial of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. The hotel and its guests aim to represent a satirical metaphor of the circles of hell, which Bosnia finds itself in the midst of. And for the first time, the film talks publicly about some “taboo” subject that have always only been discussed privately.

DEATH IN SARAJEVO: Sarajevo’s Hotel Europe is bustling in preparation for tonight’s European Union gala for the centennial of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. But the disgruntled staff plans to strike because they haven’t been paid for two months. If this prestigious political dinner fails, the already mortgaged hotel will be shut down by the bank. Desperate to stop the strike, hotel manager Omer must turn to tough guy Enzo, who runs the cellar strip club. Things get tricky for head receptionist Lamija when her mother Hatidza is elected strike leader. While the French VIP guest rehearses his keynote speech in his room, TV journalist Vedrana conducts interviews on the roof for a centennial special. Among her guests is Gavrilo Princip, the namesake descendant of the Archduke’s assassin. Firm political stances quickly lead to age-old disputes. From the roof to the cellar, via the reception, laundry room and kitchen, increasing tensions turn the Hotel Europe into an ideological pressure cooker.

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PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Julia Jentsch and Bjarne Mädel, actors in the film 24 Weeks by Anne Zohra Berrached from the main competition of the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film.

Actors Julia Jentsch and Bjarne Mädel talk about how they related to their characters. In 24 Weeks (24 Wochen), they play a stand-up comedian and her manager struggling to keep a tragedy privately while being public figures.

24 WEEKS tells the story of cabaret performer Astrid (Julia Jentsch), who six months pregnant learns that her unborn child will be severely disabled. She and her husband Marcus (Bjarne Mädel) have a choice, but little time… A strong nature with a witty answer to everything, Astrid now feels lost, on her own, impossible to continue her comedy routine. Ultimately only she who is bearing the child can take this weighty decision. What will she do? Who decides whether the child will have a life worth living?

The post Julia Jentsch and Bjarne Mädel, actors, “24 Weeks” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Cristina Pato and Kinan Azmeh, musicians and protagonists of The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble from the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film.

Cristina Pato from Spain and Kinan Azmeh from Syria are among the protagonists of the new documentary by Oscar winning director Morgan Neville, titled The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. The film has been presented at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, in the Berlinale Special section, and follows the story of the renowned international music collective created by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma on tour.

Pato and Azmeh discuss the role of music and arts in society, and tell us their first impressions upon watching the film, and therefore their life stories, through the third eye perspective of Neville’s camera.

THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: YO-YO MA AND THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE: From the director of the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom and the critically acclaimed Best of Enemies, the new film The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble tells the extraordinary story of the renowned international musical collective created by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The feature-length documentary follows this group of diverse instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers as they explore the power of music to preserve tradition, shape cultural evolution and inspire hope.

The post Cristina Pato and Kinan Azmeh, musicians and protagonists of “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: Sound designer and composer Marshall Smith from New Zealand, who is taking part at the 2016 of the Berlinale Talents, introduces himself to the listeners of FRED Film Radio.

To listen to the clip, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the image at the top of the page.

Marshall Smith is the MD of NZ music company The Sound Room and Chair of the Screen Composers Guild of NZ talks about his composing work for Film and TV

For more information check outwww.thesoundroom.co.nz

Berlinale Talents is the annual summit and networking platform of the Berlin International Film Festival for 300 outstanding creatives from the fields of film and drama series.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSoundRoomNZ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesoundroomnz1/

Click here to go to Marshall Smith’s page on the Berlinale Talents website

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PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgard, actors of the film War on Everyone by John Michael McDonagh from the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård are protagonists in the film War on Everyone, directed by John Michael McDonagh, which has been presented at the 66th Berlinale in the Panorama Special section. The two young actors play a couple of corrupted cops, with their own moral code, trying to steal from a gang of criminals.

Skarsgard was cast thanks to a crazy video he shot at a football game and he immediately found the right chemistry with his “buddy” Peña. The two shared a “bromance” on and off screen. After his two previous films set in Ireland, which starred Brendan Gleeson, McDonagh created his own idea of a out-of-time Alburqueque in New Mexico and that’s what makes the film perfect to experiment a mix of genres and influences. And, the open ending offers plenty of room for a sequel or a TV series…

WAR ON EVERYONE: Two corrupt cops in New Mexico set out to blackmail and frame every criminal unfortunate enough to cross their path in this volatile jet-black action comedy.

The post Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgard, actors of “War on Everyone” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: An audio clip by Rafaël Leloup, composer taking part in the Berlinale Talents 2016 edition.

To listen to the clip, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Berlinale Talents is the annual summit and networking platform of the Berlin International Film Festival for 300 outstanding creatives from the fields of film and drama series.

Website: www.rafaelleloup.info

Demo reel: https://youtu.be/CrV8ke0iGF8

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RafaelLeloup

Click here to go to Rafaël Leloup’s page on the Berlinale Talents website

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