FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra, co-directors of the film Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras).

Directors Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra talk about their film Good Manners, screened in the international competition of the 70th Locarno Festival. Good Manners plays with many elements of horror films, musicals, fairy-tales, naturalism, and the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, where the film is set. Among the topics discussed in this interview: their desire to show the city’s many identities; their interest in genre films; the acting, and more.

Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras): Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of Sao Paulo, is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana as the nanny for her unborn child. The two women develop a strong bond, but a fateful night changes their plans.

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra – Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras) #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Tommy Wirkola, director of the film What Happened to Monday?

Director Tommy Wirkola talks about his latest film, What Happened to Monday?, one of the films screened at Piazza Grande, the outdoor cinema screening venue of the Locarno Festival, during its 70th edition. The film, deals with contemporary fears and topics through a science-fiction narrative set in a not so distant future tackling overpopulation and famine with a sinister and strict “One Child Policy.” The story is that of seven sisters who are forced to live in the outside world as one single person, Karen Settman, each playing the role on one assigned day of the week. All seven sisters of What Happened to Monday? are interpreted by Noomi Rapace, and Wirkola tells us about how the actress took on this challenge. He also tells us about his interest in films that have both an entertaining value and thematic depth, and much more, how the “seven sisters” were originally meant to be “seven brothers” and how this change impacted the end result on What Happened to Monday?, and much more.

What Happened to Monday?: a heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her boss, a Hollywood starlet. As the assistant travels across Los Angeles to unravel the mystery, she must deal with a determined policeman. At the same time, her understanding of friendship, truth and celebrity is deeply questioned.

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Tommy Wirkola – What Happened to Monday? #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Bénédicte Prot interviews Mathieu Kassovitz, actor of the film Sparring.

A brief conversation with French actor Mathieu Kassovitz on his role in Sparring and on the Excellence Award he just received in Locarno. In actor-turned-director Samuel Jouy’s debut feature, Mathieu Kassovitz is Steve Landry, an ageing boxer who manages (despite his mediocre track record and the risks involved) to become the sparring partner of a champion (played by real-life boxing champion Souleymane M’Baye) in order to buy a piano for his daughter, and because he does love the sport, even though it is not quite clear whether he’s ever really ‘got IT’. With undeniable generosity, the French actor appears in Sparring to have dedicated himself body and soul to training in boxing, and to the construction of this irresistibly touching ‘loser’ character, who paradoxically gets less and less pathetic as his unimpressive career keeps dwindling down, thanks to Landry’s truly graceful acceptance of his shortcomings, and the loving family life underpinning it – for an important subplot in this touching film is his beautiful relationship with his very cool wife (Olivia Merilahti, who also composed some of the musics in the film), who loves him just as he his and is proud of him anyhow, as well as with his bright 10- or 12-year-old daughter Aurore (whose life is only beginning, as her name suggests, and for whom he has all the hopes in the world, as he is at the twilight of his failed dream). For this intelligent young girl, who sees everything and understands quite well what is at stake, her dad always comes out looking like a hero and someone who ultimately manages to open doors, without counting on chance or on anyone’s charity, and Kassovitz manages to embody beautifully this broken man who is indeed a hero, if unsung. The 2017 Moët & Chandon Excellence Prize Mathieu Kassovitz has just received, here at the Locarno Festival, is indeed a well-deserved honour.

Sparring: in his early forties, small-time boxer Steve Landry (Mathieu Kassovitz) has lost more bouts than he’s won. But before hanging up his gloves for good, he accepts an offer than many would turn down flat: being the sparring partner to emerging champion Tarek M’Bareck. One last chance to dazzle his wife and his children. Starring: Mathieu Kassovitz, Olivia Merilahti, Souleymane M’Baye, Billie Blain, Ali Labidi…

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Mathieu Kassovitz – Sparring #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Bénédicte Prot interviews Samuel Jouy, director of the film Sparring.

Debut filmmaker Samuel Jouy explains what being a sparring partner means in boxing and why he was interested in focusing on this lesser-known category of boxers who are not the ones shining on the ring, and yet carry with them the same passion, even though they may have given up on some of their dreams. The actor-turned-director also describes his main character Steve Landry’s (Mathieu Kassovitz in a role that fits him like a boxing glove) rather graceful acceptance of his shortcomings and the loving family life underpinning it – for an important subplot in this touching film is his beautiful relationship with his very cool wife (Olivia Merilahti, who also composed some of the music in Sparring), who loves him just as he is and is proud of him anyhow, as well as with his bright 10- or 12-year-old daughter Aurore (whose life is only just beginning, as her name suggests, and for whom he has all the hopes in the world, as he is at the twilight of his own not-so-impressive career). For this intelligent young girl, who sees everything and understands quite well what is at stake, her Dad always comes out looking like a hero and someone who ultimately manages to open doors, without counting on chance or on anyone’s charitable help.

Sparring: in his early forties, small-time boxer Steve Landry (Mathieu Kassovitz) has lost more bouts than he’s won. But before hanging up his gloves for good, he accepts an offer than many would turn down flat: being the sparring partner to emerging champion Tarek M’Bareck. One last chance to dazzle his wife and his children. Starring: Mathieu Kassovitz, Olivia Merilahti, Souleymane M’Baye, Billie Blain, Ali Labidi…

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Samuel Jouy – Sparring #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews John Carroll Lynch, director of the film Lucky.

Character actor John Carroll Lynch’s debut feature film, Lucky, in competition at the 70th Locarno Festival, has been written by Logan Sparks and Drago Sumonja with Harry Dean Stanton, the protagonist, in mind. Harry Dean is Lucky as the titles say in the film. Carroll Lynch describes his first approach to directing and why he decided to tell this story for his debut behind the camera. There’s not only one Lynch involved in the film but two as John Carroll Lynch managed to have David Lynch play a small role as one of Lucky’s old friends. Lucky is a tale of life and death and analyzes how, even though, we often talk about death, it’s only when it comes towards us that we have to try and find a way to deal with it, face it and maybe welcome it with a smile.

Lucky: having outlived and outsmoked all his contemporaries who inhabited his off-the-map desert town, the fiercely independent Lucky, a 90-year-old atheist, finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self-exploration, leading towards the so-often unattainable enlightenment.

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post John Carroll Lynch – Lucky #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Aaron Katz, director of the film Gemini.

Director Aaron Katz joins us for an interview at our 70th Locarno Festival studio to talk to us about his latest film, Gemini, from the International Competition. Hollywood starlets, death, mystery, and the wrong person accused of the crime; they sound like the ingredients of a good old fashioned film noir. Indeed, Katz tells us about the influences from these and more films and waves. But Gemini is also a new film, based in contemporary times, and especially set in contemporary L.A. The city plays an important role in the movie, but it was the director’s intention to show parts of the city that are rarely shown in this type of film. Katz also talks with us working with his actors, the use of humour in Gemini, and more.

Gemini: a heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her boss, a Hollywood starlet. As the assistant travels across Los Angeles to unravel the mystery, she must deal with a determined policeman. At the same time, her understanding of friendship, truth and celebrity is deeply questioned.

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Aaron Katz – Gemini #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Bénédicte Prot interviews Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, co-directors of the film Let the Corpses Tan.

The inseparable Belgian duo behind Amer and The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears confirm, often completing each other’s sentences, how closely they always work together, both when they write and when they shoot their genre movies. They explain how they moved from giallo to this unbridled blood-profuse Italian-style Corsica-set western based on a novel from the 70s and featuring cult actor Bernie Bonvoisin, known for his gritty, disturbing humour. And indeed, the fun they had on the set of Let the corpses tan transpires in Cattet and Forzani’s cheerful interaction.

Let the Corpses Tan: the Mediterranean, summer: azure sea, sun beating down… and 250 kilos of gold stolen by Rhino and his gang who’ve found the ideal hideout in a deserted village, cordoned off from its surroundings by an artist suffering creative block. But when two cops turn up unexpectedly, this little paradise, formerly the site of orgies and wild happenings, will turn into a hallucinatory, brutal battlefield.

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani – Let the Corpses Tan #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Bénédicte Prot interviews Denis Côté, director of the film A Skin So Soft (Ta peau si lisse).

Denis Côté, known for always moving from documentary to fiction and back, tells us how his latest feature A Skin So Soft (Ta peau si lisse) fits into his work and about the relationship he had to develop with his real characters to tackle their all-consuming passion in a way that would create what it ultimately always fiction.

A Skin So Soft (Ta peau si lisse): Jean-François, Ronald, Alexis, Cédric, Benoit and Maxim are gladiators of modern times. From the strongman to the top-class bodybuilder, to the veteran who has become a trainer, they all share the same definition and obsession with overcoming their limitations. They are waiting for the next competition, working hard in the gym and following extreme diets.’ (official synopsis) Beyond the impeccable, exquisite cinematography and the largely non verbal, almost musical treatment of the sound design, in both of which his hand and eye are clearly recognisable, in A Skin So Soft, Quebec’s Denis Côté pairs beautifully the vertical dimension of typological observation with a deeply human narration that unfolds quietly towards a somewhat dream-like conclusion.

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Denis Côté – A Skin So Soft (Ta peau si lisse) #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Alexander Fehling, actor of the film Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen).

Alexander Fehling plays one of the three protagonists of Jan Zabeil feature Three Peaks, screened in the Piazza Grande strand of the 70th Locarno Festival, the festival’s renowned outdoor screenings. Alexander Fehling plays the central father figure role in a complicated family portrait. He explains that this film was, for him, a labour of love, and tells us why. He also talks about how he was able to establish a level of closeness and intimacy with his co-stars, Bérénice Bejo and Arian Montgomery. The film is set in a spectacular (and spectacularly sinister) setting up in the mountains; he tells us that this is a setting he was not familiar with, and talks about the challenges of adapting to it.

Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen): Aaron invites his girlfriend Lea and her 8-year-old son Tristan on a trip to the mountains. What could be a starting point of a new life together, slowly turns into difficult territory as the three fight for their positions within the new family. High up in the Three Peaks region in the Italian Dolomites, Aaron and Tristan are faced with their ambivalent love for and deepest fears of one another, while Lea stands in between the two, trying to navigate this triangle. In his attempt to win the boy’s respect, Aaron takes him up the mountain and confronts Tristan with his continuous aggression towards him. When fog sets in and Aaron loses the boy, their power games reach a dangerous level…

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Alexander Fehling – Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen) #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Jan Zabeil, director of the film Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen).

Filmmaker Jan Zabeil directed Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen), screened at the 70th Locarno Festival at the Piazza Grande, the Locarno Festival’s spectacular and renowned outdoor screenings. The film Three Peaks (Drei zinnen) is quite appropriate, as its spectacular of the wild mountainous area, in which the film is set, are truly terrific. Indeed, the film deals with a delicate and complex family portrait gradually confronted with forces of nature, somewhat beyond its protagonists’ control. Zabeil talks about the importance of the setting in the movie, and the difficulties of shooting there. He also tells us that he always tried his hardest to keep a level of intimacy during the shoot; one of the ways he did this was by working with a small crew: as small, at least, as the harsh situations and difficult stunts allows. Among other things, Zabeil is happy to share with us his method of working with his actors, remarkable trio composed by Alexander Fehling , Bérénice Bejo , Arian Montgomery, and expresses his delight with the film Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen) being screened at Locarno’s Piazza Grande.

Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen): Aaron invites his girlfriend Lea and her 8-year-old son Tristan on a trip to the mountains. What could be a starting point of a new life together, slowly turns into difficult territory as the three fight for their positions within the new family. High up in the Three Peaks region in the Italian Dolomites, Aaron and Tristan are faced with their ambivalent love for and deepest fears of one another, while Lea stands in between the two, trying to navigate this triangle. In his attempt to win the boy’s respect, Aaron takes him up the mountain and confronts Tristan with his continuous aggression towards him. When fog sets in and Aaron loses the boy, their power games reach a dangerous level…

For the official page of the film on the festival website, click here.

The post Jan Zabeil – Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen) #Locarno70 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.