FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews editor, actress and producer Dounia Sichov.

Editor, actress, and producer Dounia Sichov was at the 2018 East Doc Platform in Prague, where she hosted an open lecture titled “Let’s Play! A Journey into the Dynamics of Editing.” Sichov was kind enough to meet up with us at the Cervantes Institute, where this interview was recorded, to talk about her beginnings as a theatre actress and how she got into editing quite by chance: “It felt like I was making music with my computer.” Taking a queue from the name of her lecture, we ask her about “playing” while editing. She also tells us about the importance of trust in an editor’s relationship with the director, the extent to which a project takes over an editor’s life, the importance of keeping up with the technological advancements and innovations, and more.

Dounia Sichov is an international actress, editor and producer. She played with directors such as Catherine Breillat, Mikhaeel Hers, Denis Cote, Abel Ferrara, and in the last music video of Metronomy. She edited, among others, Atlas by Antoine D’Agata (screened IFF Rotterdam and FIDMarseille and more in 2014) as well as his video installation Odysseia, Departure by Andrew Steggall (selected in BFI London Film Festival), Mariupolis by Mantas Kvedaravicius (selected in Berlin Film Festival – Panorama 2016), Frost by Sharunas Bartas (selected in Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes 2017). Through her company, The Addiction, she produced Alive in France by Abel Ferrara (selected in Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes 2017) and Denis Cote’s, A Skin So Soft (selected in Locarno 2017, Toronto and NYFF). She’s currently directing a documentary about the history of trans-gender identity and producing next Jonathan Caouette movie.

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PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Peter Jaeger, CEO of Jaeger Creative.

An interview with Peter Jaeger, CEO of Jaeger Creative, who was a tutor at the 2018 East Doc Platform and hosted an open lecture titled “Working with Sales Agents in 2018 – What Has Changed and What You Need to Know.” The interview was conducted at Prague’s Cervantes Institute. Given his extensive background in the field, we take the opportunity to ask him to explain what it is that film sales agents do – or, as he calls them, “the invisibles.” Jaeger is now a consultant for the distribution and financing of film projects, and tells us that mistakes can very easily be made. For instance, they are often made during the financing stages of the film. We also ask him what how he thinks the developments in distribution and accessibility have shaped the film landscape and more.

Peter Jaeger studied a law and philosophy. He started as a film journalist and then became Sales & Marketing Director for a Filmagazine. As Marketing & Acquisitions Director for Benelux theatrical distributors, he handled over 100 films like Mulholland Drive, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. In 2004 Peter moved to Vienna and founded Autlook Filmsales GmbH, becoming CEO till 2014. Today he is a silent partner of Autlook, a jury member of the Flemish Film Fund & Vienna Film Fund, a distribution & marketing tutor/lecturer and is also creating a new initiative: Jaeger Creative.

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PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews the festival programmer Vanja Kaludjercic at the 2018 East Doc Platform in Prague.

Vanja Kaludjercic, current festival programmer at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, attended the 2018 East Doc Platform in Prague, where she hosted an open lecture simply titled “The Perfect Premiere.” We met her at the Cervantes Institute to talk about her role as festival programmer and previous work as a project market manager. Her lecture entailed highlighting issues that are left unsaid about where a new film should premiere, and in this interview she outlines the many things filmmakers should consider when making this decision. We also discuss the role of festival in the preservation of a traditional type of cinephilia and more.

Vanja Kaludjercic, a festival programmer and project market manager, started out working at the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia and the Slovenian Cinematheque before organizing several festivals and festival sections in Zagreb like the Human Rights Film Festival, the ZagrebDox Pro workshop, and Animafest Zagreb. After moving to Paris, she was in charge of acquisitions at Coproduction Office from 2008 to 2010. She managed Paris Project for two years behind the Paris Cinema International Film Festival, while from 2012 till 2015 she was part of Les Arcs European Film Festival as Head of Industry. In 2014, with Les Arcs FF team she has established a new project market in the French capital called Paris Coproduction Village. From 2013 to 2015, Vanja worked for HAF – Film and Financing Market in Hong Kong as a matchmaking consultant. She was part of CPH: DOX festival for two years (2014/15), as programming and industry consultant, and subsequently as head of studies for the production workshop CPH: LAB. In 2014 she joined Slovenia-based distribution company Demiurg as head of acquisitions. For the 2016 edition of Cinéma du réel in Paris she was a member of selection committee and head of ParisDOC. Vanja has been programming for Sarajevo Film Festival for the past 9 years, for which she currently works as a short film programmer. In February 2016, Vanja was appointed as Head of Holland Film Meeting, a project market of Netherlands Film Festival.

The post Vanja Kaludjercic #EDP2018 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Alex De Ronde, director of the film Deaf Child.

Alex De Ronde finally decided that it was time to educate the hearing world. Thanks to his commitment, we have the chance to watch the amazing documentary Deaf Child, the story of his son Tobias, deaf since birth. Utterly subverting all the preconceptions and frankly the’ blissful ignorance’ that pervade any hearing person, Deaf Child is a striking film that will shape the audience’s view on the deaf community, as well as adjusting the innate arrogance that society has towards any of its minorities.

Deaf Child is a coming of age film by Alex de Ronde in which he portrays the life of his son, a charismatic young man who happens to be deaf. The film follows Tobias from the cradle to the present day through archive material and other personal footage.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Alex De Ronde – Deaf Child #TDF20 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Mohammed Siam, director of the film Amal.

Mohammed Siam joins us in Thessaloniki to discuss his latest feature Amal. Documenting six years in the life of a young girl in the midst of the Arab revolution, Amal is an accurate study about the disillusion that followed suit. A whole generation gave up on change, and is still coping with the uncertainty of a country with no clear future ahead. Primordial anger, fear and a single grain of hope are the only tangible feelings they have left. We, as an audience, experience this through the piercing eyes of Amal.

Amal:  Amal is 14 years old when she ends up on Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution, after the death of her boyfriend in the Port Said Stadium riot. During the protests, she is beaten by police and dragged across the square by her hair. This coming-of-age film follows her over the years after the revolution. As the film cuts between the unfolding current events and Amal’s rapidly changing life and appearance, we see her searching for her own identity in a country in transition. Amal is fiery and fearless, sinking her teeth into the protests and constantly lecturing her mother, who works as a judge. A girl among men, she also has to fight for respect and the right to take part, both in the street and in the rest of her life. In Egypt, even for a young woman like Amal—her name means “hope”—the choices open to her for her future are limited.

The post Mohammed Siam – Amal #TDF20 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Luis Lanchares, director of the film Sounds of Kibera.

Luis Lanchares is here in Thessaloniki with his documentary Sounds of Kibera, in the music section of TDF20. After spending some time with an NGO in Kenya’s biggest slum, Lanchares decided to document the beautiful commitment and talent that resides in a place that has been forgotten for too long. A documentary that shows that solidarity and community can really achieve the unthinkable, Sounds of Kibera is a joyful reminder that art and ambition will always be meaningful, when shared and lived with the people around us.

Sounds of Kibera:  Simon, Oyoo and Philip are three artists who live in Kibera (Kenya), one of the biggest slums of the world. Their new project, Made in Kibera, seeks to improve their community through the construction of the first professional sound studio inside the slum.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Luis Lanchares – Sounds of Kibera #TDF20 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Martin DiCicco, director of the film All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open.

Martin DiCicco opens up about what it really meant to make his first documentary All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open. A time-, money- and life- consuming personal act, All That Passes By  is for DiCicco so much more than simply a study of a railway imbued with the hopes and the endemic conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is a moment to raise intelligent and earnest questions on how to shape oneself along with the ideas that are carried within a film.

All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open:  Caucasus. While labourers from Azerbaijan are working on the construction of a new high-speed train line intended to bring glory to future generations, in Armenia, a station master has been awaiting, idle, the return of the trains for 20 years beyond a closed border, in an abandoned depot. In a landscape whose light and colours are reminiscent of the atmosphere of a Western, the men at work are filmed in a suspended time frame, struggling with their economic needs and their dreams for a better future. The social and political situation of this territory is developing between two countries that have a deeply troubled relationship but whose workers are in unison. Their harsh daily routine, filmed with a certain thoughtfulness, subtly reveals what makes it possible: moments of complicity. With wonderful sequences and an original narrative structure — fragments of magic appear through the editing (of images and sound) — All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open seizes the history and the present of a world crossroads.

The post Martin DiCicco – All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open #TDF20 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, director of the film Muhi: Generally Temporary.

Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, despite her life-long experience in photojournalism, did not think that making a documentary would affect her life the way that making Muhi: Generally Temporary did. Muhi is a film that tackles the unbearable hardships and injustice that reign in Israel and Gaza. This time, there is no excuse. We live the strife for joy of Muhi, and the pain of his grandfather Abu Naim, their family only one hour away, the wall(s) standing between them. A deeply emotional and powerful story, Muhi engages with the audience in ways that are impossible to ignore.

Muhi: Generally Temporary:  For the past seven years Muhi, a brave and spirited Palestinian boy has been living in an Israeli hospital, unable to return to his home in Gaza. Caught between two worlds and two peoples, Muhi is raised in paradoxical circumstances that transcend identity, religion and the conflict that divides his world. His time at the hospital is running out and Muhi now faces the most critical choices of his life.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander – Muhi: Generally Temporary #TDF20 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Harris Mylonas, director of the film Searching for Andreas.

We sat down with Harris Mylonas to find out more about his decision to make the insightful documentary Searching for Andreas, a film that thoroughly analyses the figure of Andreas Papandreou. Mylonas decodes Papandreou’s history, a politician that was as divisive as decisive in Greek’s late 20th century. By doing so, the Greek director and academic hands us the tools to understand a much bigger picture, in order to pinpoint where all the mess and disaffection in today’s world politics actually come from.

Searching for Andreas:  The documentary Searching for Andreas is an independent production about the pitfalls of charismatic leadership and the limits of democratic politics under the pressures of economic globalization. Charismatic leaders often build personalistic parties and undermine political institutions, while their succession is fraught with difficulties. Searching for Andreas explores peoples’ reliance on such leaders. It examines the life and legacy of one of Europe’s most controversial leaders, Andreas Papandreou. Was he a socialist reformer or a populist manipulator? Regardless of what one believes about Andreas’ politics, Greece won’t emerge from the crisis until it confronts his legacy.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Harris Mylonas – Searching for Andreas #TDF20 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Franz Rogowski, actor of the film Transit.

Franz Rogowski is not only Germany’s 2018 Shooting Star but at the Berlinale he is the star of two films in competition: Transit and In The Aisles. FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets him during the presentation of Transit, so halfway through his exciting journey at the 68th Berlinale. In Transit, Christian Petzold’s new film, Rogowski is Georg, a man with no past who in a sort of imaginary future where German refugees are escaping to the States and to Mexico, steals a friend’s identity to change his life and destiny. As Georg starts to become a person the more he gets deeper into another person’s shoes, Rogowski explains his approach to the character and whether having to create Georg out of nowhere was easy or difficult. Rogowski then talks about Christian Petzold, their work together and Petzold’s abilities in a famous game in Germany.

Transit:  German troops are fast approaching Paris. Georg, a German refugee, escapes to Marseille in the nick of time. In his luggage, he carries the documents of an author, Weidel, who has taken his own life in fear of his persecutors. Those documents include a manuscript, letters and visa assurance from the Mexican embassy. In Marseille, only those who can prove they will leave, may remain. Visas for possible host countries, transit visas, and those scarce tickets for passage by ship are much needed. Georg has memorized Weidel’s papers and assumes his identity. He delves into the quasi-existence of flight: refugee chatter in the corridors of a small hotel, the consulates, cafes and bars that line the harbor… He befriends Driss, the son of his comrade Heinz, who died on the run. Why move on at all? Are new beginnings possible elsewhere anyway? Everything changes when Georg falls in love with the mysterious Marie. Is it devotion or calculation that has led her to share her life with a doctor, Richard, before journeying on in search of her husband? He’s said to have surfaced in Marseille in possession of a Mexican visa for him and his wife.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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