FRED Film Radio - English Channel

Sam Riley, actor, The Dark Valley (Das finstere Tal)

Festival Section: Berlinale Special Gala

FRED Film Radio catches up with Sam Riley, who talks about his German language acting debut in THE DARK VALLEY by Andreas Prochaska, which was presented as a Berlinale Special Gala at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.

When the snows come, darkness descends on the valley. It is the late nineteenth century; a stranger arrives in this remote community of alpine farmers. His name is Greider and he has apparently been away in America for some time. Ostensibly a photographer, he announces his desire to stay until winter is over. But this reticent observer, who finds accommodation with the widow Gader and young Luzi, finds himself confronted with the deep distrust of an unwittingly close-knit community.

Thomas Willmann’s novel on which this film is based skilfully weaves the stylistic devices of the rural-based ‘Aga saga’ into a compelling revenge drama. For her screen adaptation, Andreas Prochaska uses motifs from the western to depict, in archaic images, the silent battle of a community with its own laws.

Reporter: Matt Micucci.

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Wang Xuebing and Wang Jingchun – Actors – Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai ri yan huo)

Festival Section: CompetitionNorthern China. Investigating a murder, Zhang, a detective, is badly wounded and forced to retire. 5 years pass. More murders occur. Zhang, determined to solve the case, falls in love with a mysterious woman, Wu Zhizhen, who seems to be connected to the victims. This is the main plot of Diao Yinan’s stylised noir “Bai ri yan huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice)”, that received its world premiere at the Berlinale 2014. Actors Wang Xuebing and Wang Jingchun share their thoughts on the film and their ideas on Chinese cinema in general.

Reporter: Eddie Bertozzi

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Imtiaz Ali and AR Rhaman – Director and Composer – Highway

Festival section: PanoramaFred talks with Imtiaz Ali and AR Rhaman, respectively director and composer of Highway, a journey through impossible love and sublime landscapes.

Reporter: Nicolò Comotti

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Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stuart Rutherford, Actors, What We Do in the Shadows.

Festival Section: Generation 14plus.

Actors Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer and Stuart Rutherford talk about the comedy film WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, which they star in and which was presented in the Generation 14plus section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. The Interview also features a short appearance by vampires Nick and Deacon, and their friend Stu.

In this hilarious mockumentary the directors, who have gained a reputation well beyond their native New Zealand with their film Flight of the Conchords, provide a telling insight into the lives of modern-day vampires. Viago (aged 379), Deacon (aged 183), Vladislav (aged 862) and Peter (aged 8,000) are having a ball in their imposing baroque town house in Wellington. They are happy to talk candidly and somewhat conceitedly about their bizarre proclivities. As in any shared house, there are of course arguments, such as whose turn it is to wash the dirty dishes which are piling up. But every night is party night and it’s usually a pretty bloody affair. The camera crew accompany the vampires on their tours of the city’s nightclubs where they make new contacts, squabble with the werewolves and replenish their stock of young virgins. The film also provides an ironic commentary on today’s urban society in which we are prepared to offer up our services and our necks to vampires in return for the guarantee of eternal youth. These vampires are all too aware of this mortal desire and know just how to exploit it.

Reporter: Matt Micucci.

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Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, Directors, The Galapagos Affair:Satan Came to Eden.

Festival Section: Berlinale Special.

Filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller talk to FRED about their extraordinary documentary,The Galapagos Affair:Satan Came to Eden, a true-crime tale of paradise found and lost.

Darwin meets Hitchcock in this fascinating documentary portrait of a 1930s murder mystery as strange and alluring as the famous archipelago itself. Fleeing conventional society, a Berlin doctor and his mistress start a new life on uninhabited Floreana Island. But after the international press sensationalizes the exploits of the Galapagos’ “Adam and Eve”, others flock there—including a self-styled Swiss Family Robinson and a gun-toting Viennese Baroness and her two lovers. Things would never be the same.

To bring this extraordinary story to life, filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (Ballets Russes) nimbly interweave newly unearthed home movies of these original settlers; testimonies of modern day islanders; stunning HD footage of native flora and fauna; and powerful voice performances by Oscar® winner Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Kretschmann, Gustaf Skarsgård and Josh Radnor. Macabre yet inspiring, The Galapagos Affair is a gripping parable of Robinson Crusoe adventure and utopian dreams gone awry.

Reporter: Dana Knight.

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Yannis Economides, Director, Stratos (To Mikro Psari).

Festival Section: Competition.

In conversation with Greek director Yannis Economides, director of the Berlin competition entry “To mikro psari (Stratos)”. A stylised, art-house thriller rooting in complex moral questions, the film tells the story of Stratos who, by night, works in a bread factory and, by day, is a professional hit man. He needs the cash to free Leonidas from prison because the latter once saved his life when he was behind bars. For Stratos, this is simply a question of honour. Stratos must act, even if this means following one wrongdoing with another. In his fourth feature film Yannis Economides makes use of the character of the detached contract killer in order to explore a sad and desolate world. The forlornness of his protagonist reflects the desperation of a society which has given up on itself and its values and has allowed the mask of civilisation to fall away.

Reporter: Eddie Bertozzi.

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Umut Dag, Director, Cracks in Concrete (Risse im Breton).

Festival Section: Panorama Special.

The second time director Umut Dag talks about his new film, the story of an ex-con man trying to build a relationship with the son he never knew. A portrait of two strong male figures on the background of a desolated suburban Vienna.

Reporter: Angelo Acerbi.

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Natalie Cristiani, Editor, Dancing With Maria.

Festival Section: Berlinale Talents.

Fred has the opportunity to meet with one of the protagonists of the Berlinale Talents section: Natalie Cristiani, renowned editor, here presenting her last work, Dancing with Maria, directed by Ivan Gergolet.

Reporter: Nicolò Comotti.

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Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt – Actors – Highway

Festival section: Panorama

Fred meets the actors that made Berlin dream of India: Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt, protagonists of Highway.

Reporter: Nicolò Comotti

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Feo Aladag, Director, Inbetween Worlds.

Festival Section: Competition.

Fred has the opportunity to talk with Feo Aladag, here with her new feature Inbetween Worlds, a poignant look on the situation in Afghanistan, and a personal journey through doubt and ethics.

Reporter: Nicolò Comotti.

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