FRED Film Radio - English Channel

Paddy Hayes – director – Name Your Poison

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Paddy Hayes, director of the documentary NAME YOUR POISON that screened at the 60th Cork Film Festival.

The bizarre story of Michael Molloy, the man who wouldn’t die or, if you like, the Rasputin of the Bronx, an Irish immigrant and alcoholic during the Great Depression. An incredible story, executed in a very entertaining way by Hayes, whose film is fun but at the same time serves as an exploration of the cultural background of those times, as well as the theme of immigration and alcoholism, while treasuring the novelty appeal of its “folklore” identity.

Hayes tells us about his use of recreation and contributions from experts, and the reason behind his choice of making this a bi-lingual documentary in both English and Irish.

NAME YOUR POISON (Deoch an Dorais): Domhillte, Dochloíte, Dochreidte…

The kind of tale handed down through families for generations, Name Your Poison brings to life the legend of Mike Malloy, the man who wouldn’t die. The unwitting subject of life insurance fraud at the hands of prohibition-era gangster Tony Marino, Malloy dodges poison, car accidents and exposure to extreme conditions.

Combining accounts from experts with beautifully recreated scenes of 1930s Bronx, this Irish language documentary immortalizes Malloy’s astonishing story with aplomb and energy, while providing a fresh approach to often explored questions regarding the Irish abroad.

The post Paddy Hayes – Name Your Poison #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Tom Geens – director – Couple in a Hole

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Tom Geens, director of the film COUPLE IN A HOLE, which premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and screened in competition at the 60th Cork Film Festival.

Tom Geens talks about the strange nature of the story of COUPLE IN A HOLE, a concept he developed out of an image he envisioned. But also, the way in which in this film he openly plays with an audience’s perception of the nature of the film itself, and the way in which each of its scenes will develop, as well as its resolution.

He also discusses the role that nature itself played in the film – particularly as the whole film essentially takes place outdoors – and how he collaborated with the actors’ performances in order for them to achieve the right performance, that had serious physical and psychological requirements.

COUPLE IN A HOLE: Could it be the end of the world, another post-apocalyptic drama? The ingredients are certainly in place: a dishevelled middle-aged couple reduced to living like animals, inhabiting a hole in some forest. And it feels like they’re the last people left on earth, until an aeroplane is observed flying overhead. So, they’re not entirely alone. Each tiny revelation in Geens’ assured sophomore feature serves to raise more questions, taking us further into the heart of couple’s private mystery and further unravelling the delicate web that holds them together.

The post Tom Geens – Couple in a Hole #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

The Sardegna Film Foundation launched the Heroes 20.20.20. project in collaboration with the Sardinian Regional Department of Industry, the Energy Service, and Sardegna Ricerche. Its goal is to promote eco-sustainable best practices at the local level by creating a new public awareness campaign to celebrate the “everyday heroes” of environmental sustainability. In this clip, we run through a list of the films that were produced in the first semester of 2015 as a result of the project.

Click here to find out more about Heroes 20.20.20 on FRED

The post Heroes 20.20.20 – Shorts and Web-Series from the first 2015 semester appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Conor Barry – producer – Life is Sacred / Brand New-U

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews producer Conor Barry, who was at the 60th Cork Film Festival presenting two very different films – one is the documentary LIFE IS SACRED directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, and the other the science fiction film BRAND NEW-U by Simon Pummell. He talks to us about the two films, but also about the benefits of international co-production, especially for Ireland.

LIFE IS SACRED: A story about a fearless politician and his devoted followers. With an army of young people hoping for change, he uses mimes, pencils, flashmobs and superhero costumes to attack the corruption and violence in Colombia. A young woman falls in love with the movement, but to change a society penetrated by illegality, turns out to be much more difficult than she ever anticipated.

BRAND NEW-U: The organisation BRAND NEW-U identifies networks of Identicals – “people who walk like you, talk like you, but are walking through different, better lives” – and helps their customers make a life upgrade: eliminating the Better-Life donor, and relocating their client to that Brand New life. But errors can occur, and a Brand New life can cost more than expected. Brand New-U follows Slater as he is forced to move through a series of parallel lives. He becomes more and more obsessed as he tries to find the lover he lost, but what he must find in the end is himself. BRAND NEW-U takes elements of science-fiction movies and thrillers, strips them down, and re-mixes them into a looping dream-logic to create a contemporary allegory of our search for identity and human connection in our rootless, media-saturated worlds.

The post Conor Barry – Life is Sacred / Brand New-U #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Mark Aitken – director – Dead When I Got Here

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Mark Aitkins, director of the documentary DEAD WHEN I GOT HERE, which screened at the 60th Cork Film Festival in the illuminate strand, which presents films dealing with the delicate theme of mental illness.

Mark Aitken talks to us about the asylum in which the film takes place, how he first found out about this place and his initial reaction to it. He also talks about the challenges of making a film dealing with this particularly delicate issue without it being defined by expert narration, also revealing why he did not mean to make DEAD WHEN I GOT HERE some kind of exposé, but rather pay tribute to the inhabitants of this establishment.

DEAD WHEN I GOT HERE: A film about a man finding purpose for his life in the most unlikely place after years of self-destruction. Josué was cast out of the traumatised streets of Juárez, México into the desert and dumped in a mental asylum run by its own patients. Assisted by people employing empathy as the only means of survival, Josué transcended near death – discovering compassion in his darkest hours. Six years later, Josué manages the asylum and dreams of his estranged daughter. This is a story about sorrow and hardship but also about healing and redemption.

The post Mark Aitken – Dead When I Got Here #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Andy Herzog / Matthias Guenter – director, actor / director, cinematographer – Winter Guest

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Andy Herzog and Matthias Guenter, who co-directed the film WINTER GUEST, which was presented in the 60th edition of the Cork Film Festival (Herzog also plays the leading role in the film, while Guenter was its cinematographer).

The blueprint of the story was drawn up in advance. However, a lot of it was also constructed on the go, making WINTER GUEST a road movie that was actually made on the road, and therefore includes many aspects and elements that were really captured while filming – such as the interaction between the disenchanted and lost character with some colourful characters he meets along the way.Herzog and Guenter also talk about the different artists and films that influenced them in making the film, as well as the challenges they themselves, in real life, encountered in making their first feature film – kind of like the leading character of the film itself, although to much greater success.

WINTER GUEST: In the six years since Stefan Keller released his celebrated short film he has been in a creative crisis. Although he already filled 2000 pages with notes for his first feature film, the rough draft is far from finished. Much to the disappointment of his girlfriend Christina, whose biological clock is ticking. Now in financial distress, Keller takes on a job as an anonymous tester of youth hostels. It’s the beginning of a mad odyssey: Keller desperately fights for his film idea, tries to save his relationship and encounters strange characters and ordinary folk, all searching for the meaning of life.

The post Andy Herzog, Matthias Guenter – Winter Guest #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Carolina Hellsgård – director – Wanja

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Carolina Hellsgard, director of the film WANJA, which screened at the 60th edition of the Cork Film Festival.

WANJA is the first feature by Hellsgaard, so she talks about how the transition from short to feature was. We also talk about her aims at achieving a type of minilalistic cinema that does not try to manipulate a viewer’s emotions through, for instance, fancy editing or music – Carolina also took over on the editing during post production.

We talk about her relationship with the cast, and the various influences that helped shape her feature, as well as her future project, which she is currently working on and her more general thoughts on female representation in cinema today.

WANJA: The former bank robber Wanja is released from a long prison sentence. As her feelings of loneliness escalate, Wanja sets out to find work and hereby a new identity. Against all odds she lands an internship at a horse race track. In the stable she gets to know the troubled teenager Emma, and a strong friendship develops between the two women. When Emma slips deeper into her own drug abuse, Wanja decides to rescue her.

The post Carolina Hellsgård – Wanja #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Daisy Asquith – director – After the Dance

FRED’s Matt Micucci meets director Daisy Asquith, whose documentary AFTER THE DANCE screened at the 60th Cork Film Festival.

A very personal documentary, Asquith talks to FRED about the challenges of making it and the opposition she encountered from members of the family who were reluctant of her exposing such a personal and obviously delicate part of their family history.

But we also talk about the significance of AFTER THE DANCE in view of its portrayal of the Irish society of the forties and fifties, and the effects it still has on Ireland to this day.

AFTER THE DANCE: In this funny and moving documentary, acclaimed film-maker Daisy Asquith tells the very personal story of her mother’s conception after a dance in the 1940s on the remote west coast of Ireland.

By exploring the repercussions of this act, Daisy and her mother embark on a fascinating and emotional adventure in social and sexual morality. Her grandmother, compelled to run away to have her baby in secret, handed the child over to ‘the nuns’. Daisy’s mum was eventually adopted by English Catholics from Stoke-on-Trent. Her grandmother returned to Ireland and told no-one. The father remained a mystery for another 60 years, until Daisy and her mum decided it was time to find out who he was.

Their attempts to find the truth make raw the fear and shame that Catholicism has wrought on the Irish psyche for centuries. It leads Daisy and her mum to connect with a brand new family living an extraordinarily different life.

After The Dance trailer from Oisin Lunny on Vimeo.

The post Daisy Asquith – After the Dance #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Simon Pummell – director – Brand New-U

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Simon Pummell, director of the film BRAND NEW-U, which had its Irish premiere at the 60th edition of the Cork Film Festival.

Simon talks to us about where the inspiration for the story came from, and how he adapted its very real and current themes of identity crisis, dopplegangers and paranoia within the science fiction genre.

The film looks amazing, thanks to some excellent effects, and despite the fact that BRAND NEW-U did not benefit from the large scale budget of other similar works. We talk how the stunning visual work was achieved, but also how he managed to not let the film be overtaken by it, retaining lots of substance in a story that seeks open interaction with its viewers and aims to be immersive with its meticulous pace and intense atmosphere.

BRAND NEW-U: The organisation BRAND NEW-U identifies networks of Identicals – “people who walk like you, talk like you, but are walking through different, better lives” – and helps their customers make a life upgrade: eliminating the Better-Life donor, and relocating their client to that Brand New life. But errors can occur, and a Brand New life can cost more than expected.

Brand New-U follows Slater as he is forced to move through a series of parallel lives. He becomes more and more obsessed as he tries to find the lover he lost, but what he must find in the end is himself. BRAND NEW-U takes elements of science-fiction movies and thrillers, strips them down, and re-mixes them into a looping dream-logic to create a contemporary allegory of our search for identity and human connection in our rootless, media-saturated worlds.

The post Simon Pummell – Brand New-U #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Katina Medina Mora – director – You Will Know What To Do With Me

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews filmmaker Katina Medina Mora, whose film YOU WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ME had its World Premiere at the 60th Cork Film Festival.

Katina described working on this film as a cathartic process before the film screened at the Gate Cinema – and she tells us why that is, and the mahy personal aspects of the film that led to its development over the lengthy course of eight years.

She also talks about the different choices she made for the film, such as the narrative structure that sees the blooming love story between the leading characters from each of their individual viewpoints or the subtle and yet meaningful visual stylistic choices.

On top of that, we talk about how she cast and worked with the actors themselves, whose excellent performances and the fantastic chemistry they share between them contribute to the beauty and overall impact of the film.

YOU WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ME: Photographer Nicolás, epileptic since childhood, and is forced to take care of himself and sacrifice a lot, though he lives a normal life. On the other hand, Isabel is a woman who, apparently, has her whole life figured out although her mother is ill and she has no choice but to try to save her. Isabel and Nicolás fall in love in spite of themselves, their demons, their ghosts, and their weaknesses. Suddenly engaged in a relationship none of them would have even dared to imagine, they experience the love, passion, insecurity, fear, and allergy to commitment in this subtle and intelligent love story.

The post Katina Medina Mora – You Will Know What To Do With Me #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.