FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Tim Sutton, director of the film Funny Face.

Tim Sutton explains what he had in mind while creating the film, writing it visualising a specific look, and aesthetics, to give us the unfamiliarity of a city where the two heroes live in solitude . Stunningly beautiful, demanding and fascinating, Funny Face is a film to remember.

Funny Face: What does romance look like in times of housing insecurity and shocking, widening wealth gaps? In a Brooklyn threatened by disfigurement as a result of real estate speculation, two young people meet in a late-night bodega. Saul and Zama are two orphans of unchecked capitalism brought together by circumstance, who thrive in spite of their differences and bring each other solace. Meanwhile, up in his ivory tower, the rich man responsible for their predicament struggles to find reasons to smile. This film takes a central, complex social issue – urban development and gentrification – and turns it into a universal metaphor for survival in times of displacement. Director Tim Sutton delicately explores how, in today’s “real” world, being a superhero means being able to recognise beauty and how, if it is truly impossible to defeat the oppressive greed of the powerful, we can at least help each other to survive it. In this way Funny Face is, without doubt, a very modern romantic tale.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Cosmo Jarvis and Dela Meskienyar, actors of the film Funny Face.

Through this chat with the lead actors of Funny Face, we get the real and deeper meaning of the film and the effects of the creative process the director applied in shooting the film. Two nice people, passionate and committed, Cosmo Jarvis and Dela Meskienyar discuss with Angelo Acerbi their performances in Funny Face, at Berlinale 70.

Funny Face: What does romance look like in times of housing insecurity and shocking, widening wealth gaps? In a Brooklyn threatened by disfigurement as a result of real estate speculation, two young people meet in a late-night bodega. Saul and Zama are two orphans of unchecked capitalism brought together by circumstance, who thrive in spite of their differences and bring each other solace. Meanwhile, up in his ivory tower, the rich man responsible for their predicament struggles to find reasons to smile. This film takes a central, complex social issue – urban development and gentrification – and turns it into a universal metaphor for survival in times of displacement. Director Tim Sutton delicately explores how, in today’s “real” world, being a superhero means being able to recognise beauty and how, if it is truly impossible to defeat the oppressive greed of the powerful, we can at least help each other to survive it. In this way Funny Face is, without doubt, a very modern romantic tale.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Cosmo Jarvis, Dela Meskienyar – Funny Face #Berlinale2020 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Nicolò Comotti interviews Stephen Maxwell Johnson, director of the film High Ground.

Stephen Maxwell Johnson talks to us about his highly anticipated return behind the camera: High Ground. High ground is a revenge thriller that uses the tropes of Western westerns to tell the real history of Colonial Australia and its barbaric intervention in order to tame and ultimately eradicate aboriginal culture. High Ground premiers worldwide here in Berlin, inside the Berlinale Special Gala section.

High Ground: After fighting in the First World War as a sniper, Travis, now a policeman in the vast empty spaces of Northern Australia, loses control of an operation that results in the massacre of an Indigenous tribe. When his superiors insist on burying the truth, Travis leaves in disgust, only to be forced back twelve years later to hunt down Baywara, an Aboriginal warrior whose attacks on new settlers are causing havoc. When Travis, now a bounty hunter, recruits as his tracker the young mission-raised Gutjuk, the only known survivor of the carnage, memories threaten to resurface and turn the white man from hunter into the hunted. Set in the 1930s, High Ground is inspired by true events. A frontier western about colonial violence and misunderstandings that deeply resonates in today’s Australia – and indeed all over the world – the film explores the nature of loyalty and the ability to distinguish freely between right and wrong, in opposition to the dogmas of the age in which you live.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Micheal Stutz, Head of Panorama at the 70th edition of Berlin International Film Festival.

Michael Stutz started as an intern in Panorama, then assistant of the historical director Wieland Speck; now he is in charge and he has perfectly clear in his mind the legacy he has to bring forward and the future that awaits Panorama. Let’s hear it form his voice…

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

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Bassam Tariq and Riz Ahmed, director and actor of the film Mogul Mowgli.

A very few people know that Riz Ahmed, british pakistani actor, known for TV series such as The night of and films like Venom or Nightcrawler, is also a rapper and musician. In Mogul Mowgli, debut feature by Bassam Tariq screening in competition at the 70th Berlinale, he finally combines these two worlds. Bassam Tariq and Riz Ahmed found each other in the eaxct moment when both of them wanted to explore the clash or the diffcult balance between keeping family traditions, culture, links and wanting a different life, a different and/or ambitious future. Mogul Mowgli depicts this contrast in a very balanced mix between a brutal reality and dreamlike moments.

Mogul Mowgli:  On the brink of his first international tour, Zed, a British Pakistani rapper, decides to fly home to the UK to visit the family he has not seen in two years. In the midst of trying to reconnect with his parents and rummaging through cassettes of Qawwali music, he is suddenly struck down by an autoimmune disease. As his condition worsens and his big breakthrough moment is in danger of vanishing into thin air, Zed descends into a physical and emotional crisis, amplified by vivid hallucinations. Long-buried childhood memories resurface with a vengeance, mingling with his father’s memories of fleeing India during Partition and confronting Zed with his repressed cultural heritage. Giving centre stage to incendiary rap lyrics and a striking central performance by actor Riz Ahmed, a rapper himself, Tariq’s debut feature film is a disquieting and electrifying exploration of male malady, family frictions, social mobility and transnational citizenship.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe, director and actor of the film Siberia.

After presenting Tommaso at the latest Cannes Film Festival, Abel Ferrara is in competition at the 70th Berlinale with Siberia, starring his muse actor Willem Dafoe. Siberia is not only the place where Clint ( Willem Dafoe) goes to live to hide away from a life he has to elaborate on and process but is also a place of the mind where past and present’s ghosts come to hunt you and memories come to mind taking sometimes a darker turn. For the audience and the protagonist’s story Siberia can also become a desert, a concentration camp or a green grass where to jump and dance surrounded by children and dogs. In Abel Ferrara’s Siberia a fish can talk and friends can become monsters. Willem Dafoe and Abel Ferrara describe their way of working together and how they connected the dots of Abel’s stream of filmmaking consciousness.

Siberia: A man flees from one world to another that is strange and cold. Furs and fires keep him warm; a cave serves as his shelter. He is a broken man who wants to be alone. But even isolation does not bring him inner peace. Once again, he goes on a journey, this time into the self. He explores his dreams, confronts memories and seeks out visions. The rare encounters with other people are in languages he does not speak, determined by bodies that fascinate him, and by types of love he explores and then loses. His journey becomes a dance with demons, but time and again it flares up: light. In cinema history there have been many attempts to portray the mythical as something intimate, and the radical as a personal journey. But there is only one artist who is as wildly anarchistic, metaphysically mysterious, and at the same time god-obsessed and fanatical about the truth: Abel Ferrara, joining forces here once again with his acting alter ego, Willem Dafoe. While his previous film Tommaso explored the way desire plays out in families, in Siberia the (male) ego abandons all semblance of everyday life in a tumultuous montage. To expose and discover himself.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST| David Martos interviews Bill Nighy, actor of the film Minamata.

Bill Nighy, supporting actor in Minamata, a film included in Berlinale Special section of Berlinale 2020, talks to FRED Film Radio about this film, regarding the Minamata catastrophe in Japan. He also talks about his work with Johnny Depp and his vision on acting, directors and Brexit.

Minamata: War photographer W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities. Bill Nighy is the editor of LIFE Magazine, the outlet that sends him on his mission.

The post Bill Nighy – Minamata #Berlinale2020 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Akinola Davies Jr, filmmaker.

Akinola Davies Jr is one of the Talents of this year’s edition of Berlinale Talents. He shares with FRED’s listeners his background and experiences.

Akinola Davies Jr is multi-disciplined filmmaker and video artist. His work is situated between West Africa and the UK as he explores themes of community, race, spirituality, identity and gender, telling stories that bridge the gap between traditional and millennial communities.

To discover more about Akinola Davies Jr’s works, click here.

To find out more about Berlinale Talents activities, please click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Florian Weghorn, programme Manager of Berlinale Talents 2020.

The Berlinale Talents is about to start its 18th edition from February 22nd to 27th and is officially becoming an adult. 18 years are the ones defining the moment in which every person starts becoming a responsable member of society and this is why this year’s Talents’theme couldn’t be anything but “Collectives” as to highlight the importance of the team. Florian Weghorn, programme manager of the Talents since 2014, explains why it was about time to talk about working in a team and let our unique characteristics be an added value for the creative process. Through the years the Berlinale Talents has reached a Community of nearly 8,500 alumni and this year’s participants are 255, 126 women, 123 men and six that preferred to not state their gender: an amazing result, especially for the female participation in departments and categories that once were a man’s prerogative. Weghorn finally introduces the Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme, enabled by co-partner Mastercard.

The Berlin International Film Festival’s talent development programme for 250 emerging filmmakers and series creators from all over the world.

To find out more about Berlinale Talents activities, please click here.

To discover more about this year’s edition of Berlinale, click here.

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PODCAST | Rouzbeh Rashidi, director, editor and cinematographer.

Rouzbeh Rashidi is one of the Talents of this year’s edition of Berlinale Talents. He shares with FRED’s listeners his background and experiences.

Rouzbeh Rashidi (born in Tehran, 1980) is an Iranian-Irish filmmaker. He has been making films since 2000, at which time he founded the Experimental Film Society in Tehran. He has always worked completely away from mainstream conceptions of filmmaking, striving to escape the stereotypes of conventional storytelling. Instead, he roots his cinematic style in a poetic interaction of image and sound. He generally eschews scriptwriting, seeing the process of making moving images as exploration rather than illustration. His work is deeply engaged with film history. Rashidi moved to Ireland in 2004 and currently lives and works in Dublin. 2020 is the twentieth anniversary of EFS, and they have plans for a series of exciting projects and events to run throughout the year. These will culminate in an ambitious retrospective and exhibition that will take place in one of Dublin’s most respected galleries.

To find out more about Rashidi’s activities, please visit here.

To discover more about this year’s edition of Berlinale, click here.

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