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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Sam Kelly, director of the film Savage.
An interview with director Sam Kelly, who presented his latest film, Savage, in the Thrill section of the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. The movie is set in New Zealand and explores the world of biker gangs via the story of one of its seargeants, spanning three decades. Kelly talks about the origins of the film, the fascinating research process and behind-the-scenes nuggets from the casting session. He also shares with us the challenge of balancing grit and compassion in a film that reveals sides of the violent world of gang life rarely ever seen.
Savage: What turns a man into a monster? This multi-stranded drama attempts to explain how a normal young boy named Danny became a fearsome biker by the name of Damage, who wears his gang membership as a full-face tattoo. Kicking off in the late 1980s, where an increasingly jaded Damage is propping up the gang’s divisive leader Moses, Sam Kelly’s debut flashes back to the 1960s, when Danny is remanded in custody for thievery, then cruises through the 1970s as Danny finds his outlaw home. This journey of reflection is the spine of the film, which comes to a head when internal gang tensions boil over and Danny/Damage is embroiled in a murder plot. But is he really the killer they think he is?
The post Sam Kelly – Savage #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Maura Delpero, director of the film Maternal.
An interview with Maura Delpero, director of Maternal, presented in the Love section of the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. The film is a fascinating portrayal of motherhood set in a women’s refuge in Argentina – known as a hogar. Delpero shares with us the reason why she became interested in this particular setting for the story and how she aimed to represent the theme of motherhood – the precocious one of the adolescent mothers who live in the refuge, and the absence of motherhood of the nuns who run the refuge. Among other things, she also talks about her interesting research process during which she gathered all the information, the documentary influence and the way in which she worked with her cast.
Maternal: Lu is a disruptive, rebellious teenage mother. She lives with her daughter Nina in a women’s refuge, or ‘hogar’, run by a group of nuns in Buenos Aires. The arrival of Paola, a sympathetic Italian nun who takes a shine to Nina, coincides with Lu going missing. What ensues is a sensitively realised and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of life in a refuge. With its collection of diverse occupants who run the gamut from tough to vulnerable and who are invariably impoverished, as well as the predominantly elderly nuns who support them, the hogar is depicted with gritty verisimilitude. But there’s also genuine empathy here, aided in no small part by the quality of the performances. Understated and all too believable, this is a striking feature debut from Maura Delpero.
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The post Maura Delpero – Maternal #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
An interview with director Mariko Minoguchi, who presented her feature debut, Relativity, in the First Feature Competition strand of the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. The film is an ambitious portrayal of an event that illustrates, as Minoguchi herself puts it, fate or coincidence. Here, she talks about the very interesting and somewhat unusual way in which she decided to structure her narration. She also discusses the way in which she worked with Saskia Rosendahl, the lead actress of the film, to establish a trust relationship with which they could explore the difficult themes of the movie. Besides this, Minoguchi reveals to us some of the process that went into the making of and preparation for her film, including the writing stage, for which she chose the country of Taiwan.
Relativity: It’s love at first sight when Nora and Aaron first meet on a rainy day in an underground station. While she is a dreamer who believes in luck, he is convinced nothing happens by chance. Aaron’s fate is soon sealed, which changes Nora’s life in an instant. Her respite after this is Natan, a stranger who saves Nora’s life twice as she wanders aimlessly through the night – the only way she can numb her pain. Though Nora seeks Natan’s closeness, she can’t figure out what it is that connects them. Saskia Rosendahl (Lore, LFF 2012) gives a powerful performance, while debut director Minoguchi creates a romantic narrative of ambitious proportions, effortlessly looping between the present and past, all the while making clever use of cinema as an unfurling emotional landscape.
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The post Mariko Minoguchi – Relativity #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Rowan Woods, Industry Events Programmer at the BFI London Film Festival 2019.
Rowan Woods explains the ideas and the motivations behind the events planning for industry delegates at the London Film Festival, analysing also the effects the new developments of the film industry both in UK and more general in the European film market.
To discover more about the BFI London Film Festival, click here.
The post Rowan Woods – Industry Events Programmer #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
The Man Who Cuts Tattoos: To mark the beginning of adulthood and prepare for marriage, a young girl in an Edo village must undergo a painful rite of passage through scarification. The agony she endures for a loving union finds her questioning the process. Sometime in the future, unencumbered by the traditions that exist in present day Lagos, Michelle questions her tumultuous relationship with boyfriend America. Having recently found out she’s pregnant, with America pushing her towards an abortion and with her job on the line, Michelle also considers the sacrifices that are made for love. With a stunning depiction of provincial Nigerian life and the grit of urban existence, Michael Omonua’s bold debut effortlessly bends time and human experience in ways that push the potential of Nigerian cinema.
To discover more about the film, click here.
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The post Michael Omonua – The Man Who Cuts Tattoos #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
A White, White Day: As time passes and seasons change in a remote Icelandic town, off-duty police chief Ingimundur (Ingvar Sigurðsson) doggedly works at renovating a new home and starting over, following his wife’s death in a car accident. Debilitated by grief, Ingimundur still has a warm and devoted relationship with his granddaughter, but is increasingly alienated from other people. An accidental discovery about his wife sees Ingimundur’s detective instincts click back into gear. But this is no standard police procedural. Director Hlynur Pálmason’s (Winter Brothers, LFF 2017) highly original and emotionally complex drama is also an exploration of the ravages of loss. Hypnotic images highlight the beauty and strangeness of Iceland’s breathtaking landscape, while Sigurðsson’s towering performance reveals the interior devastation of a man consumed by loss.
To discover more about the film, click here.
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The post Hlynur Pálmason – A White, White Day #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
The Friend: The tagline of Matt Teague’s autobiographical article from a 2015 issue of Esquire devastatingly reads: ‘His wife was just thirty-four. They had two little girls. The cancer was everywhere, and the parts of dying that nobody talks about were about to start. His best friend came to help out for a couple weeks. And he never left’. A sensitive adaptation of that piece, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s (Blackfish) The Friend is a deeply affecting study of love, with Affleck and Johnson as the Teagues and Jason Segel their closest friend Dane, the man who saved Matt’s life as his wife’s condition worsened. While Johnson is always a charismatic screen presence, this is essentially a portrait of male friendship, powered by two commanding performances. Segel (The Muppets, How I Met Your Mother) in particular brings warmth and charm to a soulful Dane. While viewers should expect tears from a film that tackles the notion of dying ‘well’ – if there is such a thing – this is also a drama about living, even when that seems unfathomable, through the love and support of friends.
To discover more about the film, click here.
The post Gabriela Cowperthwaithe – The Friend #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Rose Plays Julie: It’s during a term studying animal euthanasia that veterinary student Rose (Ann Skelly) decides to contact Ellen (Orla Brady), the birth mother who gave her up for adoption. But Ellen, who is now a successful London-based actress, doesn’t want to know. Undeterred, Rose will not be ignored. And curiosity leads her to discoveries that shake the fragile identity she has built for herself.
To discover more about the film, click here.
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The post Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor – Rose Plays Julie #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Walking With Shadows: Ebele Njoko (Ozzy Agu) has been running all his life. A search for acceptance and love from his family has led him to recreate himself as Adrian – respected father, husband and brother. When his mask is cruelly stripped away, Adrian’s world rapidly unravels. Adapted from Jude Dibia’s award-winning and critically acclaimed novel, Aoife O’Kelly’s articulate and sensitive film deftly discards the sensational for a depiction of queer Nigeria presented with care and incisive observation. The film is anchored by heartfelt performances from Ozzy Agu and Zainab Balogun as Ada, Adrian’s wife. Together, they explore a painful rift in a loving bond. Adrian’s quiet resilience throughout underlines the necessity for one to be self-loving, despite the cost.
To discover more about the film, click here.
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The post Aoife O’Kelly – Walking With Shadows #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
This Is Not Berlin: It’s 1986 and as Mexico’s capital goes World Cup-crazy, 17-year-old Carlos spends his days getting into schoolyard brawls and cruising around town with his rowdy pals to the thumping sounds of Judas Priest. But heavy metal guitar riffs soon give way to post-punk synths when Carlos visits subversive new-wave nightclub Azteca and finds himself immersed in a transgressive world of music, art, politics, drugs and sexual fluidity. Finally feeling like he fits in, the blossoming teen begins to forge his own identity and open himself up to a new and exciting world of untold possibilities. A coming-of-age tale with real bite, Hari Sama’s evocative homage to the anarchic spirit of adolescent rebellion exudes an infectious sense of energy, as well as a poignant pang of melancholy.
To discover more about the film, click here.
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The post Hari Sama – This Is Not Berlin #LFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
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