FRED Film Radio - English Channel

Alex McDowell – Production Designer – Minority Report

Here is an extract from the Berlinale Talents panel discussion entitled “Imaginary Worlds: Exploring the Unknown” from the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

This is a panel discussion from the 2015 Berlinale Talents programme which set out to examine the concept and techniques of exploring, designing and constructing the world and setting of a film before actually drawing up a story. Here, celebrated production designer Alex McDowell illustrates this concept by talking about the work that took place on the 2002 production of “Minority Report” by Steven Spielberg.

Alex McDowell is an acclaimed production designer and film producer, he has worked with Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg and David Fincher. His filmography includes FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, FIGHT CLUB, MINORITY REPORT, WATCHMEN and MAN OF STEEL. He is also co-founder and creative director of the USC/5D Institute, Los Angeles, an interdisciplinary network focusing on the impact of technologies in design fields.

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Laura Tonke – Actress – Hedi Schneider is Stuck (Hedi Schneider Steckt Fest)

FRED’s Nicolò Comotti meets Laura Tonke, actress in the film Hedi Schneider is Stuck (Hedi Schneider Steckt Fest) by Sonja Heiss from the Forum programme of the  65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Laura Tonke talks with us about preparing for her delicate role, and whether or not her opinion of the character which she portrays in the film has changed over time.

Plot: A model family’s happy life unexpectedly goes off the rails when the carefree Hedi, played by Laura Tonke, suddenly starts having panic attacks. First mental illness and then drug dependency – the happiness that these happy-go-lucky thirty-somethings once took for granted suddenly seems unattainable, and their world fragile and uncertain.

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Sonja Heiss – Director – Hedi Schneider Is Stuck (Hedi Schneider Steckt Fest)

FRED’s Nicolò Comotti interviews Sonja Heiss, who presented her second feature Hedi Schneider Is Stuck in the Forum programme of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The German director Sonja Heiss, with this film, manages to tackle the serious issue of panic attacks without falling into the trap of clichès, and always leaving some room for comedy.

Plot: A model family’s happy life unexpectedly goes off the rails when the carefree Hedi, played by Laura Tonke, suddenly starts having panic attacks. First mental illness and then drug dependency – the happiness that these happy-go-lucky thirty-somethings once took for granted suddenly seems unattainable, and their world fragile and uncertain.

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Christiane Buchmann – Director of Photography

FRED Film Radio has the pleasure to meet with Christiane Buchmann, director of photography and of 2015’s Berlinale Talents.

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Daniel Metz – Producer and Director

FRED has the pleasure to meet with producer/director Daniel Metz, here in Berlin as one of 2015’s Berlinale Talents.

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Jannick Splidsboel – Director – Misfits

FRED’s Angelo Acerbi meets filmmaker Jannik Splidsboel, who talks about his touching documentary about a gay youth club in the deepest and most fundamentalist heart of the USA. Misfits was presented in the Panorama Dokumente section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Jannik tells us about achieving the authentic feel of Misfits, and establishing a level of trust between the camera and his subects. He also talks about whether or not he interacted or clashed with the members of the local ultra-conservative community while filming.

Plot: Tulsa, Oklahoma is a city in the midst of the USA’s Bible Belt with almost 400,000 inhabitants, over 4,000 churches and just one gay and lesbian youth centre. This is the meeting place for Larissa, Ben, D and other youths who, because of their decision to live gay, lesbian and transgender lives, are either not accepted or, on the contrary, have received strong support from their families and unconditional love. Jannik Splidsboel, whose film How Are You screened in Panorama in 2011, takes an almost entirely observational approach to his depiction of the lives of these three teenagers, their first love or their longing for love, their coming out, and their dreams for the future. In an unhurried, almost casual fashion, Misfits shows how D manages step by step to improve his precarious existence and how Ben learns from his brother how to defend himself. Courtesy of Larissa and her girlfriend we are also are treated to one of the most dazzling and colourful lesbian kiss scenes in film history. Misfits portrays three basically ‘average’ young people as they try to live queer lives, find their gender identities, love and be loved in an environment pervaded by religious fundamentalism.

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Jayro Bustamante – Director – Ixcanul

FRED’s Nicolò Comotti meets filmmaker Jayro Bustamante, whose feature film debut Ixcanul was chosen to compete for the Golden Bear at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Jayro talks with us about Ixcanul, how he conceived the idea and how it was to go out and shoot it. He also talks about the cast, with its vast majority made up of amateur players, and how close they came to the actual characters they portray on the film, as well as how it has been for them to be in Berlin at one of the biggest film festivals in the world.

Plot: María, a 17-year-old Kaqchikel Maya, lives with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foot of an active volcano – the titular Ixcanul. She is set to be married to the farm’s foreman. But María longs to discover the world on the other side of the mountain, a place she cannot even imagine. And so she seduces a coffee-harvester who wants to escape to the USA. When this man leaves her behind, María discovers her own world and culture anew.

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Maria Telòn, Maria Mercedes Coroy – Actresses – Ixcanul

FRED’s Nicolò Comotti interviews Maria Telòn and Maria Mercedes Coroy, actresses in Jayro Bustamante’s film Ixcanul, the Guatamelan gem in the main competition of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Maria Telòn and Maria Mercedes Coroy, both in their cinematic debut here, tell us how they prepared and got used to acting for the camera in Ixcanul, and also talk with us about their favourite aspects of the film.

Plot: María, a 17-year-old Kaqchikel Maya, lives with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foot of an active volcano – the titular Ixcanul. She is set to be married to the farm’s foreman. But María longs to discover the world on the other side of the mountain, a place she cannot even imagine. And so she seduces a coffee-harvester who wants to escape to the USA. When this man leaves her behind, María discovers her own world and culture anew.

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Ed Oxenbould – actor – Paper Planes

FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets Ed Oxenbould, who is the protagonist of the film Paper Planes, the new film directed by Australian filmmaker Robert Connolly, which was presented in the Generation section of the 65th International Berlin Film Festival.

The young but experienced actor tells us about how different this experience on Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes was, compared to the films he worked on in the US, such as The Visitor by M. Night Shyamalan. Oxenbould also talks about the things he has in common with Dylan, his character in the film.

Plot: Paper Planes is a family film that tells the story of a young Australian boy’s passion for flight and his journey to compete in the world paper plane championships in Japan. Eleven-year-old Dylan meets the junior Japanese champion Kimi in the national paper planechampionships in Sydney, Australia. They develop a close bond, challenging each other to create a plane that has never been seen before. Directed by one of Australia’s leading filmmakers Robert Connolly, the film is set in iconic locations, with engaging characters and a powerful story of friendship between two countries. It stars globally renowned cast including Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans), and Ed Oxenbould (Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day).

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Ella Manzheeva – Director – The Gulls (Chaiki)

FRED’s Nicolò Comotti meets Ella Manzheeva, director of the film The Gulls (Chaiki) from the Forum section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The Gulls is Ella Manzheeva’s feature debut, and deals with the themes of loss and recovery. She tells us about how she sees this film as being one about happiness. She also explains what it was that made her want to tell this story and talks about choosing to cast first time actress Evgeniya Mandzhieva in the pivotal role of The Gulls.

Plot: The Gulls is the story of Elza, who lives in a small town in the Republic of Kalmykia on the Caspian Sea. Another year comes to an end, it’s cold and the steppe is covered in a thin layer of snow. When her husband, who makes a living from illegal fishing, asks her one night what she did during the day, she lies. She wasn’t at her mother’s, but at the bus stop. She thought of leaving – to find out what it might be to escape the infinite expanse of her dreary small world. But she didn’t dare; instead she stays and withdraws into herself, unconcerned by who might see. One day, her husband doesn’t return from a dangerous boat trip. It is said that a fisherman only returns if he has a woman waiting for him and that seagulls are the souls of the missing.

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