FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Sarah Adler and Roy Miller, actors of the film The Cakemaker.

Sarah Adler and Roy Miller star in The Cakemaker, directed by Ofir Raul Graizer. The film was screened at the 2nd International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Roy Miller plays Oren, a german man married to a woman in Israel, Anat, who engages in a romance with a dough maestro working in a cake shop in Berlin, whom he meets with regularly on his business trips to the German capital. Sarah Adler plays Anat. We never see the two of them share the screen together for, as Miller says in his description of the character, a film’s turning point is marked by his passing, which then connects the lives of his wife with his German lover. As explained in this interview, The Cakemaker was a film in which the actors had to connect and experiments with sides of themselves that had nothing to do with their private lives: Miller had to handle the challenge of portraying a tender and physical romance with another man despite himself being straight, while Adler tells us that she does not resemble her character in her private life at all and that it is what she goes through that she could understand. This in turn prompts the question of whether the fact of being taken out of your comfort zone in playing a role for the screen is a good thing because it allows you to experiment and explore parts of yourself you did not know existed. Adler also shares with us that she was approached by the director long before it was being made. The Cakemaker, in fact, as the director himself tells us in our interview with him, took eight long years to make, and Adler was initially approached years before it was finally shot.

The Cakemaker:  Thomas, a young German baker who runs a popular pastry shop in Berlin, is having an affair with Oren, a married man from Israel who has frequent business visits to Germany. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking answers about his death. Disguising his relationship to Oren, Thomas infiltrates the life of his late lover’s widow Anat who owns a small café in the city and starts to work for her. As his traditional cakes and cookies bring the establishment to life, Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a far deeper way than he ever anticipated.

The post Sarah Adler, Roy Miller – The Cakemaker #IFFAM2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Shekhar Kapur, ambassador of the 2nd International Film Festival & Award Macao.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur presided the jury of the inaugural edition of the International Film Festival & Award Macao last year. This year, he returns as a festival ambassador and as one of the programmers of the festival’s Crossfire section, which promotes a cultural exchange between Western filmmakers choosing an Asian genre film and Asian filmmakers choosing a Western genre film to screen during the festival. Kapur chose Stanley Kubrick’s celebrated 2001: A Space Odyssey and tells us why. He also talks about about how his impression of the evolution of the festival. For instance, one of the things he singles out about it is that here, unlike other festivals that he goes to during the year, he can meet people who are not established; he says that when you are an established director, you don’t have much time to meet people because there is always something to do, meetings to attend, interviews, etc. This is something he misses as, he says, “the system starts to be boring” after a while. Besides this, Kapur tells us that he gets positive vibes from the International Film Festival & Awards Macao because he feels there is “a huge desire to make a success of it,” not only in financial terms but also in a cultural term. Kapur also shares with us that he would love to direct a Chinese film and reveals that he is in the early process of setting something up. In his answers, he also shares with us some very interesting and thought-provoking views on cinema in general.

To discover more about the International Film Festival & Award Macao, click here.

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Ram Nehari, Moon Shavit and Nitai Gvirtz, director and actors of the film Don’t Forget Me.

“It is a dark rom-com”, this is how Ram Nehari presents his film Don’t Forget Me written by his protagonist Nitai Gvirtz. The film is the main competition winner of the 35th Torino Film Festival and tells the love story between a girl trying to heal from anorexia and a guy with trouble fitting into life. Ram Nehari and Nitai Gvritz reveal that the script is very particular and detailed as it is based on Nitai’s high school best friend’s story and on what Moon Shavit went through dealing with anorexia and eating disorders. Gvirtz describes how they were always sitting down before starting to shoot, trying to find a drive to the film and to make the story as true as possible. The director and actors define the film dark, hardcore and funny as it deals with very heavy topics but face them with irony and in a comic way.

Don’t Forget Me:  Tom, who suffers from an eating disorder and is recovered in a clinic, has gotten her menstrual cycle back. When the doctor tells her it’s a good sign because it means her condition is improving, she panics: the idea of gaining back the kilos she lost scares her to death. It seems like a day to forget but when she meets Neil, a trombone player with socialization problems, everything changes: the two feel a strong connection that is sealed by their shared desire to escape everything which is considered socially acceptable.

For the page of the film on the Festival website, click here.

The post Ram Nehari, Moon Shavit, Nitai Gvirtz – Don’t Forget Me #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Sean Baker, director of the film The Florida Project.

Sean Baker talks with us about The Florida Project, closing night film of this edition of the Torino Film Festival. A chat about his love for outsider characters, for people on the fringe of the world. We talked about kids and working with them and on the shooting format to use, that changes everytime as every story requires its own.

The Florida Project: Orlando, Florida. Moonnee is six years old and lives with his young mother at the Magic Castle Hotel, a cheap motel inhabited by penniless families who can’t afford a real home. But the atmosphere is anything but desperate: despite the daily difficulties and the problems which are always lying in wait, Moonee and his little friends have countless adventures, as they explore the terra incognita of theme parks and shops. Watching over this group of little pests and their stricken families is Bobby, who runs the dilapidated motel.

The post Sean Baker – The Florida Project #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Jacopo Chessa, director of the Torino Short Film Market.

Jacopo Chessa is happy about the results of the 2017 edition of the Torino Short Film Market. More countries, more films and a larger number of decision makers. Three awards and a general response that paid back for all the work done.

The post Jacopo Chessa – Torino Short Film Market #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Sophie Fiennes, director of the film Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami.

Sophie Fiennes filmed Miss Grace Jones over a period of 5 years, from Jamaica to New York to Paris to a special gig in Dublin. The icon is there, the stage panther too, and the real woman finally appears. A feast for fans, a pleasure for all. Released over Europe in the next month, Italy too.

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami: Over-the-top, uninhibited, disquieting and androgynous: Grace Jones embodies all these adjectives. The polyhedral Jamaican artist reveals her most intimate side as a lover, daughter, mother, sister and even grandmother, and lets us discover what hides behind the unique and strong image she has moulded onto herself.

The post Sophie Fiennes – Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Peter Mackie Burns and Valentina Brazzini, director and producer of the film Daphne.

Peter Mackie Burns and Valentina Brazzini, respectively director and producer of Daphne, talk at our mikes about the genesis of this film. A sincere and moving (and funny too) portrait of a single girl in London. A normal life story for an outstanding film.

Daphne is thirty-one years old and leads a frenetic life, juggling her job at a restaurant in a fashionable part of London, her social life, and the men who fall hopelessly in love with her, despite all the signals she sends them. The cynical detachment she has developed toward life seems to be all-purpose, but happiness is another matter. This stalemate is unblocked when someone tries to kill a store manager: the girl witnesses the event and that forces her to fight the inevitability of a change which has become imperative.

The post Peter Mackie Burns, Valentina Brazzini – Daphne #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Jenny Suen and Christopher Doyle, directors of the film The White Girl.

Christopher Doyle pairs up with Jenny Suen on this tale about a girl with a skin, so pale that she’s called the white girl. In her village she feels like she is invisible, but she will eventually understand her value. An intense but dreamy film about acceptance, self affirmation and escape. A four-hands direction that was complex in the creation but easy in the making.

The White Girl lives a marginalised life in the last fishing village in Hong Kong. When she meets Sakamato, a young artist fleeing from fame, something inside her changes. In the meantime, the threat of gentrification looms over them…

The post Jenny Suen, Christopher Doyle – The White Girl #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Bharat Nalluri, director of the film The Man Who Invented Christmas.

Bharat Nalluri’s eyes still glimmer when he talks about the making of his film about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. And he has all the reasons in the world to glow as the film is a feast for the eyes and the heart, funny, moving and enormously entertaining. Definitely a new Christmas classic for the years to come.

The Man Who Invented Christmas:  After a string of successful novels, Charles Dickens has had three flops in a row. With the needs of his burgeoning family and his own extravagance rapidly emptying his pockets, Dickens grows desperate for another bestseller. Tormented by writer’s block and at odds with his publishers, he grasps at an idea for a surefire hit, a Christmas story he hopes will capture the imagination of his fans and solve his financial problems. But with only six weeks to write and publish the book before the holiday, he will have to work feverishly to meet his deadline.

The post Bharat Nalluri – The Man Who Invented Christmas #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Zefrey Throwell, director of the film Flames.

Zefry Throwell was in love with Josephine Decker. They chose, for a project commissioned by a museum, to film their love story, with its ups and downs, not an easy task, and in retrospect not a smart move. But the honesty of the film is undeniable and their relationship changed and transformed through the obligations that making a film requires.

Flames:  Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker fall in love with overwhelming intensity and force. The two artists decide to film their relationship, a kind of therapy which will lead them to also relive their most painful moments. When love ends, it seems natural that the filming should end, too, but the two former lovers decide to continue, discovering much about their rapport and about themselves.

The post Zefrey Throwell – Flames #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.