FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Federica Scarpa interviews Sonja Heiss, director of the film When will it be again like it never was before.

The opening film of the Generation 14Plus section, the new film by Sonja Heiss, is based on the autobiographical novel by Joachim Meyerhoff. The director tells us what convinced her to make this adaptation, how she decided to develop other characters, the songs chosen and the work done on the casting.

When will it be again like it never was before: The household Josse grows up in hardly corresponds to the typical notions of family: his father is the director of a psychiatric clinic, on the premises of which their family home is located. Josse spends his childhood and adolescence with two brothers and liberal parents whose bourgeois life is threatening to break up their marriage. Again and again, Josse is plagued by fits of anger and sadness. He finds a sympathetic ear, consolation and the feeling of not being an oddball primarily among the psychiatric patients. The adaptation of Joachim Meyerhoff’s bestseller is carried by a well-known cast and tells a tragicomic tale about growing up in the 1970s. A soulful celebration of life in all its absurdity and transience.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Federica Scarpa interviews Makoto Shinkai, director of the animated film Suzume.

In competition at the 73rd edition of the Berlinale, Suzume, the new film by Mikado Shinkai, which is already a blockbuster in Japan. We spoke to the director about the development of this story, born just before the pandemic, but who then rediscovered a deep connection with the feelings that emerged during the lockdown. Shinkai then revealed what was hidden behind the missing chair leg from his film.

Suzume: In a small, peaceful town on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, 17-year-old Suzume has lived with her aunt ever since she lost her mother as a little girl. One day on her way to school, she meets a mysterious young man named Souta who is in search of a door. She follows him into the mountains and finds a dilapidated old door standing alone among ruins. On an impulse, Suzume turns the handle, and at once sets free all the calamities the portal was meant to contain. All around Japan other doors open, threatening a population unaware of the looming danger. Together, Suzume and Souta set out on a journey to close them all again. Written and directed by anime auteur Makoto Shinkai, this epic adventure takes us across the length and breadth of Japan, venturing outside metropolitan hubs to seek doors of disaster in the abandoned infrastructures of depopulated rural areas. As we follow this young woman in her frantic search, we realise that she is also engaged in a personal quest for maturity and freedom. An intimate portrait that is also a study of a vulnerable yet combative nation, Suzume is a sign of resilience at a time when Mother Earth is sending humankind evidence of her fury.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Federica Scarpa interviews Jub Clerc, director of the film Sweet as.

In the Generation KPlus section of the 73. Berlinale Film Festival there’s a film with a big heart set in the breathtaking landscapes of Australia. We talked with the director of Sweet As, Jub Clerc, about her memories of a journey she took as a girl, similar to that of the protagonist, of the importance of delicately recounting the realities of disadvantaged children, and of the challenges she faced in making her first film.

Sweet as: Everyone and everything is a story, but what about finding the right words? This is something that fifteen-year-old Murra discovers while travelling on a photo-excursion for disadvantaged youth through the ancient natural landscapes of her Aboriginal homeland. In the course of one eventful week of wild camping and wandering through historic Indigenous sites, Murra reconnects with her ancestral roots, makes friends for life, experiences the disappointments of heartbreak but discovers also her love for photography. As the camera and the images she creates calibrate her with a fresh point of view to the world, Murra sees new possibilities for her future. Sweet As celebrates resilience, growth, hope and love and the importance of finding one’s very own voice in the process.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Federica Scarpa interviews Jow Zhi Wei, director of the film Tomorrow is a long time.

Tomorrow is a long time, the first feature film by Jow Zhi Wei, in Generation 14plus at the 73. Berlinale Film Festival it’s a touching film about the relationship and the incommunicability between a father and his son. We talked with the director, who revealed where this story’s inspiration comes from, why he decided to “divide” the film into two parts, and how it makes him feel to be at the Berlinale.

Tomorrow is a long time: Acts of violence bring regret and repercussions for widowed pest exterminator Chua and his son Meng. But control over their lives is not a familiar feeling for either of them. The dense cityscape of Singapore hems them in their precarious existence, offering little tenderness or space to breathe freely. His father’s long shifts of gruelling work for a thankless employer coupled with his grandmother’s advancing illness have left Meng isolated, and susceptible to being pressured into joining ranks with a group of bullies from school. Compulsory military service looms near. The unknown world of the jungle holds its own threats, but also the possibility of bringing Meng closer to understanding his own nature, and connecting with something bigger.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi  interviews Amr Garal, director of the film The Burdened.

Amr Garal the director of The Burdened, in the Panorama section of the Berlinale73, talks about the difficulties of shooting the fim in contemporary Yemen and the unfortunate common situation which amny families find themselves in as told by his film. The civil war has erased all culture and films and theatre and now little by little people like Amr try to re-start.

The Burdened: Isra’a lives with her husband Ahmed and their three children in the old port city of Aden in southern Yemen. Their everyday lives are shaped by the civil war – which means military checks in the streets, frequent power cuts, and having to haul water from the street to the kitchen. Ahmed used to work for television, but after several salary cheques were not paid, he is now earning his money as a driver. When Isra’a unexpectedly becomes pregnant, the couple faces a crisis. They both know they cannot afford a fourth child: they are about to move to a cheaper flat and the children’s school fees are due. Together they decide on an abortion. An odyssey begins in which a doctor friend becomes a key figure. A feature film from Yemen is a great rarity. Here, director Amr Gamal has chosen to fictionalise a real-life story that occurred within his circle of friends. Set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most devastating civil wars, this sensitive family drama provides us with a glimpse into the society of a country largely unknown beyond its borders.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Zhang Lu, director of the film The Shadowless Tower.

For The Shadowless Tower, his latest film in competition at the 73rd Berlinale, Zhang Lu goes back to his city in Bejing, under the shadow of the White Pagoda that always remains the same, to narrate the life of a middle aged food critic in the middle of a life crisis. The director tells us how the film is at the same time about a love story, father son story and a journey through a moment in life in which one feels directionless.

The Shadowless Tower: Gu Wentong, a middle-aged food critic, is drifting through the local eateries of vibrant Beijing with his younger photographer colleague Oyang. A divorcé with a 6-year-old daughter and estranged from his father for decades, he is looking for a new perspective on life while reconsidering his failings as a father, a son, and a lover. While the seasons come and go, people get together and move apart. Only one thing will remain the same: The White Pagoda where they all meet sooner or later..

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Domien Huyghe and Wendy Huyghe, director and screenwriter of the film Sea Sparkle.

Sea Sparkle is the opening film in the Generation KPlus section at the Berlinale Film Festival. A delicate film about grief and the importance of accepting and (then) sharing your emotions. We talked with Damien and Wendy Huyghe, director and screenwriter of the film, that told us about the birth of this film, what it means to them, and much more…

Sea Sparkle: Lena loves the ocean. Battling the wind and waves on her sailing boat, she is as passionate and fearless as her father on his fishing expeditions. But one day, he and the rest of his crew do not return. Some say it was an accident; others say he had been reckless. Lena is sure it could not have been his fault. They must have encountered a gigantic sea creature, causing the boat to capsize. The signs are everywhere: from a shadow in the water, to a large tooth stuck in a piece of driftwood. If only she could find that one, decisive piece of evidence, she could stand up to her family and friends and prove them all wrong. Thus begins a requiem of rage and a tale of letting go and of holding on – to the inexplicable, and to one another.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Aliocha Schneider, Agathe Bonitzer, actors of the film Music.

Protagonists of Angela Schanelec’s Music, in competition at the 73rd Berlinale,talk about the wise freedom the director gave them in this Oedipus myth transposition to the big screen.

Music: Abandoned at birth in the Greek mountains on a stormy night, Jon is taken in and adopted, without having known his father or mother.. As a young man, he meets Iro, a warden in the prison where he is incarcerated after a deadly tragic accident. She seems to seek out his presence, takes care of him, records music for him. Jon’s eyesight begins to fail… From then on, for every loss he suffers, he will gain something in return.Thus, in spite of going blind, he will live his life more fully than ever

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Federica Scarpa interviews Tatiana Huezo, director of the film The Echo.

In the Encounters section of the 73rd Berlinale Film Festival, the new film by Tatiana Huezo, The Echo. The director tells us through the eyes of the children who live in a small village in Northern Mexico, a hidden and unknown world to most, but in which great universal truths can be seen again. Tatiana tells us why she decided to tell this story, what she discovered while shooting at El Eco, and what her intentions were.

The Echo: A young mother runs across a mountain meadow with her children and they save a sheep from drowning. A girl cares for her elderly grandmother so tenderly that you want to cry while another practices being a teacher with just the right tone of voice, her dolls lined up before her as willing pupils. The fathers are mostly absent: as construction workers or tradesmen, they rarely share their daily lives with their families. In El Eco, a remote village in northern Mexico, life consists of the most elementary things. Being a child here is an intense experience from day one, involving nature, animals and people. But also love, intimacy, illness and death. And education – at least for the younger generation.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, directors of the film White Plastic Sky.

With their first feature animation film, White Plastic Sky, at the 73rd Berlinale in the Encounters section, Hungarian filmmaker duo Sarolta Szabó and Tibor Bánóczki talk about a dystopian future where the human race is trying to survive. As our world has changed during the years the duo worked on the film project, the directors talk about how close to our Poly-Crisis reality the film feels.

White Plastic Sky: 2123. Faced with diminishing resources, the human race can only survive through a trade-off: at the age of 50, every citizen is gradually turned into a tree. When Stefan discovers that his beloved wife Nora has voluntarily signed up for donating her own body before her time, he sets out on an adventurous journey to save her at all costs.

To discover more about the Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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