FRED Film Radio - English Channel

Agata Budzynska – participating teacher – New Horizons Summer Academy

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Agata Budzynska, school teacher and participant in the New Horizons Film Academy, which takes place annually during the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival.

This is her first time attending the academy, and so we take the opportunity to tell her what it was like not only to be taught the language of cinema but also to discover all the technical aspects that come with it. On top of this, Agata also tells us what she thinks would be the benefits of including film in school the school year.

NEW HORIZONS SUMMER ACADEMY: T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS International Film Festival in Wroclaw presents the work of cinema visionaries, uncompromising artists who have the courage to forge their own path regardless of prevailing fads, and to tackle key issues using their own unique language. During the festival, teachers and cultural mangers from all over Poland can participate in film workshops designed especially for them – the New Horizons Summer Academy. After T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS festival finishes, the most interesting films are screened in selected Polish cities as part of the New Horizons Tournee, and then are released for distribution.

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Liz Garbus / Lisa Simone Kelly – director / daughter of Nina Simone – What Happened, Miss Simone?

FRED’s Angelo Acerbi meets Liz Garbus, the director of What Happened, Miss Simone? and Lisa Simone Kelly, daughter of the great Nina Simone. The film was presented in the Panorama Dokumente section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Talking with Liz Garbus and Lisa Simone Kelly talk about this powerful, enlightening and relieving documentary. The fact that some harsh truths are revealed about the private life of Nina Simone, an absolute icon of the history of music in such a direct and simple way is equally as touching as it is shocking, but what they wanted to do in this film was also set a new starting point for all Nina Simone fans to understand completely the greatness and pain of the life of such an irreplaceable artist.

Plot: Sometime after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King she is to be seen standing on a stage before an entirely Afro-American audience. Her hair is piled as high as a turban, there are enormous earrings swinging from her ears and she seems to be bewitching the crowd: are you ready to take up arms? Are you ready to kill? By this time Nina Simone was no longer merely the amazingly talented classical and jazz pianist and unmistakable singer politely presenting her version of ‘I loves you Porgy’ in the TV show ‘Playboy’s Penthouse’ moderated by Hugh Hefner, but a politically committed human rights activist capable of provoking – both in her public and private life. Making use of copious archive footage, documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus weaves the various phases of Simone’s life – right up to her final years in Europe when she oscillated between being broke, lonely and sick and a celebrated jazz festival star – into a detailed and atmospheric portrait of a driven artiste.

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Nicolas Steiner – director – Above and Below

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Nicolas Steiner, director of ABOVE AND BELOW, which was screened handpicked to be screened in he Variety Critics’ Choice section of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Having received a very positive reception on the international film festival circuit – particularly Variety that handpicked it for their features section at Karlovy Vary – with half of its festival run still to go, Nicolas Steiner takes time off his busy schedule to talk with us about his feature debut.

ABOVE AND BELOW tells the story of the life of fascinating individuals living lives on the margins of society. He does so in a very unique way that manages to stretch the boundaries of the documentary filmmaking form. We talk about his exceptional vision and the way in which he brought it to the screen, as well as his close collaboration with the many aspects that came together to make ABOVE AND BELOW possible – from the brave cinematography, to the intuitive editing and meticulous paid to sound and music.

ABOVE AND BELOW: A not-quite-documentary probing the damaged psyches of five characters floating on the margins of American society, whom the director filmed in their frequently shocking environments over a number of years. Unconcerned with sensationalism, the film presents a focused study that reveals its creator’s deft hand at social anthropology.

Click here to visit the official Facebook page of ABOVE AND BELOW

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Andrew Cividino – director – Sleeping Giant

FRED’s Matt Micucci interview Andrew Cividino, director of SLEEPING GIANT, which was featured in the Another View section of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

We talk with Andrew about how he tried to defy the conventionality of usual coming of age dramas about young teenage kids.

He also talks about where the inspiration for the film came from and about his opting for a more improvisational style and an intuitive cinematography that is open to the spontaneous action but also glorifies the sinister beauty of the Lake Superior setting in which the film takes place.

SLEEPING GIANT: Teenage Adam is vacationing with his parents at Lake Superior. There he meets cousins Riley and Nate, roughly his age, and they spend the endlessly dragging summer days together until boyhood rivalry changes the course of events. A powerful and engaging drama about a sensitive period of life, built upon authentic performances and a wonderfully shifting atmosphere.

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Alexis Alexiou – director – Wednesday 4:45

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews director Alexis Alexiou, who talks about his latest work WEDNESDAY 4:45, which had its European premiere in the East of the West competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Alexis tells us about using genre film, and more particularly film noir, to represent various themes. Among them, its use as a metaphorical representation of the tumultuous economic crisis that has violently impacted it in recent years, but also an identity crisis that has impacted its society for even longer than that.

WEDNESDAY 4:45: Thanks to the efforts of owner Stelios, musicians love his small jazz club in the heart of Athens and the place seems to be prospering. But an early demise threatens this island of quality music, and Stelios has a mere 32 hours to save his beloved nightclub – and himself. The movie’s tough shell (crime thriller) masks a bitter treatise on the Greek economic crisis.

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Sonia Bonspille Boileau – director – Le Dep

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Sonia Bonspille Boileau, whose feature directorial debut LE DEP was screened in the Forum of Independents Competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

We talk about Sonia about the struggles and challenges of making a first feature, particularly one that takes place in the course of one night and in one setting – the titular setting of the corner store.

We also discuss representation of aboriginal communities in today’s cinema, and she reveals her hopes and dreams of developing future projects within such cultural context by highlighting aboriginal issues within entertaining narrative structures.

LE DEP: One night Lydia is attacked as she’s preparing to close her father’s store, and in the next few hours she is forced to make a number of life-altering decisions. In her powerful psychological drama, the director demonstrates her sensitivity in depicting the world of the Innu community as well as the inner emotions of the young protagonist.

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Kim Ki-duk – filmmaker – Stop

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews the legendary filmmaker Kim Ki-duk from the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which hosted the world premiere of his latest film STOP out of competition.

In this film, Kim Ki-duk covers many roles beyond the direction. Screenplay, cinematography, art direction, editing…he did it all! We ask him whether this is his favoured approach to filmmaking and how he is able to be so prolific.

We of course also ask him about the theme that inspired this film – his fears of the growing number of nuclear power plants. He talks extensively about these fears and how he tried to present them in STOP.

STOP: A young married couple were exposed to radiation during the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor. The young woman is pregnant and she and her husband must decide whether or not to keep the baby. Their assumption that the child will be disabled is certainly realistic, and they both gradually succumb to madness. Kim Ki-duk’s latest film focuses on a highly topical issue.

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Francois Peloquin – director – The Sound of Trees

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews the filmmaker Francois Péloquin, whose feature directorial debut THE SOUND OF TREES was features in the Official Competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

We talk with Francois about the challenges of making a first feature and why he decided to tell this particular story for it. We also talk about certain driving themes and subjects that influence THE SOUND OF TREES, such as adolescence, father and son relationship and the relationships different generations have to rural life.

Taking into consideration that this his directorial debut, we also take the opportunity to ask him what his interest as a filmmaker are and what he would like to explore with his future projects.

THE SOUND OF TREES: At 17 Jérémie dreams of a life different from the one that awaits him at the family sawmill in the small Canadian town where he lives. Jérémie is more interested in pimping his car, listening to hip hop, and slacking off with his friends. This impressionistic debut, built upon convincing performances, tells of a summer that completely changed a teenager’s life.

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Hugo Bousquet – director – Beyond Here

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Hugo Busquet, director of the film BEYOND HERE, which had its world premiere in the forum of independents competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Hugo tells us about where the initial inspiration of the film and also how the desolate mountainous setting of the film affects its narrative and thematic examinations.

BEYOND HERE: A desolate mountainous region, a young couple exhausted from a long journey, an abandoned house discovered by chance, and finally the arrival of a mysterious stranger speaking an unfamiliar language – the director defly employs these ingredients to create suspense in a psychological drama compressed by time and space.

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Tonislav Hristov – director – Once Upon a Dream – Journey to the Last Spaghetti Western

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Tonislav Hristov, director of the film ONCE UPON A DREAM – JOURNEY TO THE LAST SPAGHETTI WESTERN, which had its international premiere in the documentary competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Tonislav tells us about how the documentary got started, and about how it would chronicle the real production of a real fiction film that was meant to be shot in the pivotal village, used decades ago as the setting for countless spaghetti western film productions. He also talks about his initial reaction to the setting and to its inhabitants.

ONCE UPON A DREAM – JOURNEY TO THE LAST SPAGHETTI WESTERN: It’s not so long since they shot one cult film after another in the Andalusian town of Tabernas. But the fame of the movie stars has since faded and the charm of the place evaporated in the face of the economic crisis. When word gets out about the production of a new blockbuster, the eyes of the local inhabitants shine with hope. A humorous documentary fairy tale about a life reminiscent of an endless Hollywood movie.

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