FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Viktor Kossakowsky, director of the film Gunda.

Viktor Kossakowsky goes back to the memories of his childhood to build a narrative touching and visually epic ( with an astounding black and white), and with a universal animalist meaning. The reasons of these choices in this talk with Angelo Acerbi at Berlinale 70.

Gunda:  Gunda is the protagonist of this gentle black-and-white documentary triptych. She takes care of her little ones, accompanies them on a journey of discovery and then takes a break to recharge her batteries. She tentatively approaches the camera. Does she know what her fate is? What might she be thinking? What does she think of us? Gunda is one of several hundred million pigs that inhabit the planet, alongside a billion cattle, represented in the film by two gracefully mooing cows, and over 20 billion chickens, exemplified here by a one-legged chicken stumbling its way through the world. Whether rooting through the mud, swatting away flies or searching for worms, they all are heroes. And film essayist Victor Kossakovsky is and remains adamant: after this film meat consumption is impossible. His indignation about the ignorance of humans in general and the degradation of these creatures in particular flows into his conceptually minimalist, but visually brilliant meditation. Gunda is an intimate portrait. An intervention in the form of a modest gesture. A film that ascribes majestic greatness to the underdogs. And makes us think. In the very least.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Radu Jude, director of the film Uppercase Print.

Radu Jude talks with Angelo Acerbi about his unusual documentary that mixes tv original footage fro Roumanian tv of the 80’s and a live reading if the documents of the secret ( not anymore) file of the secret police about the writings in chalk against the government that appeared on the walls in a town in Roumania and the kid who did them. An important film to remember the past.

Uppercase Print:  In 1981, chalk slogans written in uppercase letters started appearing in public spaces in the Romanian city of Botoşani. They demanded freedom, alluded to the democratic developments taking place in Romania’s socialist sister countries or simply called for improvements in the food supply. Mugur Călinescu was behind them, who was still at school at the time and whose case is documented in the files of the Romanian secret police. Theatre director Gianina Cărbunariu created a documentary play based on this material. Besides showing a production of the play, Radu Jude also uses archive footage from Romanian TV from the era. This dialectical montage creates an image of a dictatorial surveillance state, drawing on the authorised popular entertainment of the Ceaușescu regime in the process in order to unmask it. Cooking shows alternate with interrogations, transcripts of wiretapped phone calls with recommendations to exercise instead of taking sedatives. This not only shows what amazing finds can be unearthed in archives, but also how such materials can be used today to talk about yesterday with thoughtfulness and insight while avoiding the pitfalls of re-enactment.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Julia Fidel, Head of Berlinale Series.

Julia Fidel is the Head of Berlinale Series, the section of the Berlin Film Festival dedicated to tv serial productions. She tells FRED what she was looking for while selecting, and she talks about the importance of tv series in terms of narrative, of freedom of expression and also of financial investments and productivity.

To discover more about the 70th edition of Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews David France, director of the film Welcome To Chechnya.

David France had the nerve to shoot during 18 months on one of the safe houses use to hide lgbtqi people before fleeing Chechnya, following the “gay purge” that the government started in 2017. This is still happening, with a more difficult pace, and this film could help to ignite attention to the issue again. David talks with Angelo Acerbi about how he worked, how he edited and the personal involvement with the people he met.

Welcome To Chechnya:  In 2017, the LGBTQI* community, human rights defenders and allies all over the world were shocked by the devastating news of crimes being committed in the Russian republic of Chechnya. In a coordinated action, the authorities were rounding up gay and bisexual men and women, and taking them to illegal prison facilities where they were tortured and forced to out others, with the result that they were either executed or released to their families where they were often subjected to “honour killings”. In an interview, Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov denied all accusations, claiming that there are no queer people in Chechnya. David France’s film is the first documentary about those who have come together to save lives – both their own and those of others. This film is a raw, emotionally arresting account of the enormous risks and setbacks but also the victories won against an ultra-conservative society and government. Following rescue operations undertaken by several courageous activists, the film is meticulous in unveiling reality in today’s Chechnya as it unfolds, and excels at making palpable the fear and the hope in the fight for survival.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post David France – Welcome To Chechnya #Berlinale2020 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Carlo Chatrian, Berlinale Festival Director.

Carlo Chatrian talks with Angelo Acerbi about his first edition of Berlinale as director : his idea of festival, the value of Berlinale as a whole composed by important parts and the intention of offering the widest and most comprehensive selections of films, through the addition also of a new section as Encounters to the original slate.

To discover more about the 70th edition of Berlin International Film Festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Bill Ross and Turner Ross, directors of the film Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets.

Bill and Turner Ross always worked togehter: they are a four-hand entity that creates, directs and edits their films. In this specific case, editing has been a gigantic effort, the material was a lot , and the narartive sometimes improvised, but the idea of the final film was clear in the minds of both directors. Let’s hear it form their voices, in this interview with Angelo Acerbi at Berlinale 70.

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets: In their films, the brothers Bill and Turner Ross often train their camera on simple people leading far from glamorous lives. In this film they find their protagonists in the shadow of the glitzy world of Las Vegas, in a bar called Roaring 20s, which is on the brink of closure. Always observing, but nonetheless in the thick of it, they accompany the last 24 hours in and around the bar, enabling the viewer to immerse themselves in a microcosm that might well be found in many places in the world but that nobody likes to look at too closely. This is a place where people know and help each other, where they feel understood, can have it out with each other and reconcile again. The film uses methods of the documentary to achieve an unobtrusive proximity that makes us feel as if we too are taking a seat among the regulars at the bar, partaking in Michael’s philosophical excesses, listening to Shay’s tearful expressions of love, and experiencing for ourselves the caring familiarity of this place. In the end, when the last customers stagger out of the bar, we’ve grown fond of them all and have to wonder what their next day will be like and what life holds in store for them.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Niklas Pollmann interviews Ivan Ostrochovský, director of the film Servants (Sluzobnici).

Interview with Ivan Ostrochovský about his second feature film Servants, his cinematic language and the plans for his next feature film project.

Servants (Sluzobnici): Servants is a polit-thriller settled in a Catholic monastery in Czechoslovakia in 1980. It tells the story of two young seminarists and their role in the conflict between the Pacem in Terris organisation supported by the communist regime and the Roman Catholic church.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Dominga Ortuzar, producer and Talents Footprints Juror.

In 2019 She was a Berlinale Talents participant as a Chilean producer. A year has passed and Dominga Ortuzar with her Oro Films and her Cinemovil truck project is landing at the Berlinale Talents 2020 not only as an alumna but as one of the jurors of The Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme, enabled by co-partner Mastercard where about 50 Talents and Alumni from 36 countries have sent in extensive proposals for self-initiated social organisations, festivals and educational projects. This year’s jury also includes director and photographer Wim Wenders and Mastercard Europe’s Senior Vice President Marketing and Communication Jeannette Liendo and has selected three fellows.

“Hi! I’m Dominga from Chile, and I am a producer and distributor based in Santiago. After several professional experience during 6 years in the Ministry Of Culture, the National Network of Independent Cinemas and CinemaChile, I co-funded Oro Films. This 2019 we are shooting our two first features (both coproductions), and developing three more projects. At the same time, I run a project called Cinemovil: a truck that its transformed in a high tech climatized cinema room with 100 seats, traveling around the country screening great films.”

To discover more about Dominga Ortuzar, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Mathijs Wouter Knol, director of EFM – European Film Market.

The EFM – European Film Market is over and it’s time to talk about numbers and results. The EFM Director Mathijs Wouter Knol is happy to state that this year the market reached a new record: more than 11.000 visitors attended despite the sanitary measures anti-coronavirus which prevented industry professionals from China to visit Berlinale. This year’s Country in Focus was Chile and the decision was awarded with a great energy considering the active participation of chilean fimmakers, professionals and of course Cinema Chile which is always first in line to promote its country’s audiovisual industry. After spending virtually this year in Chile, Knol declares it’s time to go back to Europe so the Country in Focus for the 2021’s edition will be Italy. “It all starts here” is the EFM’s logline and that includes, according to Knol, the market’s commitment to investing in promoting both diversity and sustainability in all its activities such as the Sustainability program at the EFM Horizon or 5050 – a roadmap to the future.

The European Film Market is one of the top three meeting places of the international film and media industries. Its close links with the Berlinale as a public film festival, and its position at the heart of Berlin’s vivid creative economy, are defining characteristics of the Berlinale’s film market. Yet the EFM is more than just an agile marketplace for trading film and audiovisual content – it has also positioned itself as a platform for innovation and change. Over a period of eight days, around 10,000 representatives of the international film and media industries – primarily producers, buyers and sales agents, distributors and financiers – come together to network, exchange, inform themselves and do business. As the first major film market of the year, the EFM is in a strong position and serves as a compass, barometer and pacesetter for the new film year: new productions and developments, future-proof business models, contacts and contracts – it all starts here.
The EFM’s varied locations range from the beautiful Gropius Bau to elegant Marriott Hotel, modern Berliner Freiheit or the historic Zoo Palast. A professional infrastructure for exhibitors, state-of-the-art cinemas, numerous market premieres and outstanding service via close customer and partner relationships distinguish the film market as a first class trading platform. The EFM serves the diversity and breadth of requirements for its different participant groups, focusing on networking, exchange, information and the constant integration of new players. Our goal is to help you make the right connections. Together with our partners, we are building on the success of our networking initiatives that promote collaborations and provide platforms for productions in development. Whether you are a first-time filmmaker or a seasoned industry professional, our series of events, panels, screenings and talks make connecting at the market both relaxed and rewarding.

To discover more about the EFM – European Film Market, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Yoon Sung-hyun, director of the film Time to Hunt.

At the 70th Berlinale, Yoon Sung-hyun brings in Berlinale Special his dystopian thriller about a group of friends trying to find a better future in the worst way possible and being hunted by a mysterious killer as a consequence to their actions. Yoon Sung-hyun explains how despite the film being a mix of genres including a gangster movie, it is essentially a story about a friendship that means family. The director then comments how positive was the Oscar to Parasite in terms of the positive attention that brought to all South Korean cinema.

Time to Hunt:  When Jun-seok is picked up by his buddies Ki-hoon and Jang-ho after three years in prison, it takes him a while to understand how much South Korea has changed following the recent financial crisis. The glittering world of consumerism that he left behind has turned into a dark, post-capitalist desert, in which young men don’t really make any plans for the future anymore. The won is now worthless anything, and the cash loot from their last heist has disappeared into thin air. However, Jun-seok has brought a dream with him from his time in prison that he is determined to hold onto: he longs to escape with his friends to Hawaii, to the warmth and the turquoise sea, to start a new life there. To this end he persuades them to join forces for a risky raid on a casino. The trio has nothing to lose. The robbery succeeds. But what they didn’t expect was that it would incur the wrath of infinitely more powerful criminals. A chase through this dystopian world ensues. In Sa-nyang-eui-si-gan, Yoon Sung-hyun successfully transposes the classic thriller genre into the near future, at the same time delivering a powerful visual reckoning with the social realities of present-day South Korea.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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