FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Jan Speckenbach, director of the film Freedom.

Director Jan Speckenbach talks about his latest film, Freedom, part of the international competition line-up of the 70th Locarno festival. Speckenback provides us with priceless insight on his method of working and his approach to dealing with the driving concept of the movie, which, as the title suggests, is freedom: a complicated topic and a complicated term. The director made some specific stylistic choices to strengthen this take on the topic through his story about a family coping with the sudden, unwarranted departure of the mother/wife, particularly focusing on the parallel stories of the wife and the husband (played respectively by Johanna Wokalek Hans-Jochen Wagner).

Freedom: a mother goes away, leaving her husband and their two children in limbo. She is driven by a force she cannot ignore: freedom. In Vienna, Nora wanders through a museum, succumbs to a flirtation and then thumbs a lift to Bratislava. Nora conceals her origin behind small lies, changes her appearance, finds work as a chambermaid and makes friends with the young Slovak woman Etela, a stripper, and her husband Tamás, a cook. Meanwhile, in Berlin, Philip tries to keep his family and job as well as his affair with Monika going. Against his own convictions, he, a lawyer, defends a xenophobic youngster, struggles with the role of single parent. Philip finds an – albeit unconscious – ear for his worries in the figure of a coma patient… The freedom Nora is longing for becomes Philip’s chains.

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

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Hlynur Palmason, director of the film Winter Brothers.

FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Hlynur Palmason, director of Winter Brothers, screening at the 70th Locarno Festival in the international competition. Hylnur Palmason was born in Iceland but studied filmmaking at the Danish National Film School. Winter Brothers is Palmason’s debut feature film so the director unveils the genesis of this project, his influences and his desire of telling a story of two people, their search for love, their struggle through life. The two brothers are both outsiders but in a very different way and it’s Emil the one who is bullied the most although his brother is also facing loneliness. Finally Palmason comments on the similarities between the dynamics and essential elements of his film with the ones composing the typical Western genre.

Winter Brothers: a brother odyssey set in a rural chalk-mining community during a cold winter. We follow two brothers working in this harsh environment focusing on the younger brother Emil, who distills moonshine made from stolen chemicals from the factory. Emil is an outsider, an oddball, who made a conscious choice for loneliness and is only accepted by the mining community due to his older brother Johan. Emil longs for passion, for being wanted and loved. When a fellow worker becomes sick, the moonshine and Emil are prime suspects. Gradually a violent feud erupts be-tween him and the tightly-knit mining community. Parallelly, Emil feels betrayed by his brother when he finds out that the neighbor girl Anna, the subject of his unfulfilled desires, chooses his older brother instead of him. Revenge, loneliness, and lack of love pervade this modern brother odyssey.

To follow the festival on facebook, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Elliott Crosset Hove and Simon Sears, actors of the film Winter Brothers.

The first film to be screened in the international competition at the 70th Locarno Festival is Winter Brothers, the debut film of danish director and visual artist Hlynur Palmason. The film is a brother odyssey, a tale of two brothers, two outsiders fighting against each other and struggling through life. Emil and Johan are respectively played by young actors Elliott Crosset Hove and Simon Sears. Strangely, the two already worked in the same TV series, the first season of Follow the Money but had never crossed paths during the shooting so they only met for Winter Brothers. The two actors describe their roles, the dynamics in the relationship between two brothers and reveal some details about a very intense and hard fighting scene between them. Is it a tale of two young men and their lack of love or a cold and white western film? In the interview, the actors’ opinion.

Winter Brothers: a brother odyssey set in a rural chalk-mining community during a cold winter. We follow two brothers working in this harsh environment focusing on the younger brother Emil, who distills moonshine made from stolen chemicals from the factory. Emil is an outsider, an oddball, who made a conscious choice for loneliness and is only accepted by the mining community due to his older brother Johan. Emil longs for passion, for being wanted and loved. When a fellow worker becomes sick, the moonshine and Emil are prime suspects. Gradually a violent feud erupts be-tween him and the tightly-knit mining community. Parallelly, Emil feels betrayed by his brother when he finds out that the neighbor girl Anna, the subject of his unfulfilled desires, chooses his older brother instead of him. Revenge, loneliness, and lack of love pervade this modern brother odyssey.

To follow the festival on facebook, click here.

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PODCAST | Melita Cameron-Wood interviews Marie Pons, dance film producer at All We Can Do Is Dance and dance critic.

Marie Pons works as a short dance film producer and dance critic. She is passionate about improvised dance and the way in which the camera can be used in an equally improvisatory fashion to capture this unique form of movement. She explains how short dance films are a relatively new form and her excitement at the room for experimentation and innovation that they provide. We met at Lago Film Fest, where her recent film Ocean’s Memories (directed by Bertrand Guerry and Thibault Ras) was screened as part of the Moving Bodies section of Lago Film Festival. Marie Pons is interested in collaborating with local dancers in European towns and cities in order to create a selection of European dance films that incorporate improvised dances and unique locations. This project is always looking for people who might be interested in working together with the team and Marie encourages people to get in touch if they feel there is some common interest. Ocean’s Memories is an exploration of four dancers’ interactions with the outside world. As the name suggests, the beach and the ocean provide a scenic backdrop for the dancers’ movements. The ocean tide comes back and forth, just like memories are written and then gone with time. The imprint of our memories is outlined and then fades away inexorably. Ocean’s memories unfolds as an encounter between a dancer and a musician, musing along on a deserted beach. In the cold light, in the wind, by the water and the golden sand, the elements mix to accompany their vivid choreography. As the dancers and the landscape carry us away we are swept into the swirl of moving bodies and moving images, leaving us in anticipation of what the world of dance films will bring us.

Ocean’s Memories: four dancers emerge on a beach. The movements of nature and the human body combine in wondrous harmony. A physical exploration of love, loss and the power of the elements takes us on an unexpected journey.

For the official website of the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Emer Reynolds, director of the film The Farthest.

Director Emer Reynolds talks about her latest documentary feature, The Farthest. The film had its Irish premiere at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh and, as Reynolds tells us in this interview, it brings together her love of space travel and her love of films. The director also tells us that she was always very aware of the story of Voyager, the little spaceship that was shot off into space in the late 70’s – “a very spacey age” – with the aim of, among other things, reaching out to “occupants of interplanetary crafts” by carrying a Golden Records bearing recordings and images of Earth. In this interview, she talks about the various elements that led to the final film, from the stunning cinematography and special effects to the clever use of archive footage, and the contributions of the people who played key roles in the Voyager mission, and more.

The Farthest: it is one of humankind’s greatest achievements. More than 12 billion miles away, a tiny spaceship is leaving our solar system and entering the void of deep space – the first human-made object ever to do so. Slowly dying within its heart is a nuclear generator that will beat for perhaps another decade before the lights on Voyager finally go out. But this little craft will travel on for millions of years, carrying a Golden Record bearing recordings and images of life on Earth. In all likelihood, Voyager will outlive humanity. The Farthest will celebrate these magnificent machines, the men and women who built them and the vision that propelled them farther than anyone could ever have hoped.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

The post Emer Reynolds – The Farthest #FilmFleadh2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Gerard Walsh, director of the film Release.

Director Gerard Walsh talks about his latest feature film, Release, which was presented at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh. In this interview, Walsh tells us about his interest in mixed martial arts and “redemption films,” and how they influenced the film. He also tells us that the style and story of Release were very much influenced by his earlier short film, Bound. Walsh also tells us about the journey of making the film and the various challenges he encountered along the way. “I like to have the pressure on,” he says.

Release: after spending several years locked up for armed robbery, disgraced boxer Andrew Keating is granted early release. As he struggles to find his purpose in life, he finds the sport of mixed martial arts and begins to thrive, but when his criminal past rears its ugly head, Andrew must face his demons in order to live his life.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews James Creedon, director of the film Thanks to Your Noble Shadow.

Director James Creedon talks about his documentary, Thanks to Your Noble Shadow. The film was shown during the 29th Galway Film Fleadh. Thanks to Your Noble Shadow looks at the life of Jennie O’Sullival, one of Ireland’s last Catholic missionary nuns. She spent 75 years in Japan before returning to her native land. Just after her 100th birthday, she decided to have her memories recorded by her younger cousin, James. In this interview, Creedon talks to us about the journey of the making of Thanks to Your Noble Shadow – one that, as he says, totally transformed him as a person. The film, he explained, evolved during production. Here, he also discusses some of the themes dealt with in the film, such as mortality and the Catholic religion. He also tells us about the use of archive footage in Thanks to Your Noble Shadow and the challenges of making his first feature.

Thanks to Your Noble Shadow: after 75 years in Japan, Jennie O’Sullivan has returned to her native Ireland. Just after her 100th birthday, this energetic, elderly nun agrees to have her memories recorded by her younger cousin, James. Over one year, they voyage together through the various episodes in her epic life story. It begins in the staunchly Catholic Ireland of her youth, which she left in 1935, and continues in Paris where the Order she belonged to was founded. Later in Japan, James discovers a wellspring of love for Jennie amongst a legion of adoring past pupils. What is it about this woman that sees past pupils travel thousands of miles to visit her in Ireland? Interspersed with archive footage of Ireland and Japan in the early 20th century, this biographical film weaves a journey through Irish and Japanese history as well as Eastern and Western spiritual traditions.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Katrina Costello, director of the film The Silver Branch.

Director Katrina Costello talks about The Silver Branch, her feature debut, which had its world premiere at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh. The film is a poetic documentary inspired by the wild landscape of the Burren in County Clare, Ireland. It is also driven by the words and presence of Patrick McCormack, a farmer and poet who has lived off the Burren like his descendants. Costello talks about the experience of making her first feature and what prompted it to make it about the Burren. She also discusses the aspects of her filmmaking journey through the movie, from the cinematography to the editing process, and shares with us her thoughts on the deeper themes concealed in The Silver Branch.

The Silver Branch is a philosophical vision-poem on the life of farmer/poet Patrick McCormack, descendant of the generations of farmers who have lived off the wild landscape of the Burren in County Clare. Patrick and his rural community are drawn into a divisive battle with the Government, leading him and a small group of friends to the Supreme Court to decide on the fate of this iconic wilderness. Through Patrick’s eyes, and in his words, this beautifully shot film immerses us in the exquisite texture of the natural world, bringing us a rare glimpse of a disappearing way of life with all its richness and roguery, and leading to a deep connection with the Earth and our ancestral wild spirit. And though it is centred around one man’s life and a bitter-sweet end-of-era evocation, it explores much deeper themes: the relationship between man and landscape, between tradition and spirit, between body and soul. The Silver Branch is a story of hope – hope that we as individuals can make a difference to our universe.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

The post Katrina Costello – The Silver Branch #FilmFleadh2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Robert Mullan, director of the film Mad to Be Normal.

Robert Mullan presented his latest film, Mad to Be Normal, at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh. The film talks about R.D. Laing, a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illness, and is particularly remembered for his radical LSD experiments in the 1960’s. Mullan talks about why he decided to make a movie about Laing, and the fact that he wanted to avoid stereotyping mentally ill people. He also talked about his collaboration with his cast – headed by David Tennant in the role of Laing, and featuring Elizabeth Moss and Gabriel Byrne – and crew. Mullan also discusses his personal opinion on Laing’s psychiatry, his upcoming project based on the life of James Joyce, and more.

Mad to Be Normal reveals the story of R.D. Laing, the famous psychiatrist and one of Scotland’s greatest ever minds. Working out of Kingsley Hall in East London throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Laing performed various daring experiments on people who were diagnosed as mentally disturbed. His revolutionary methods involved experimenting with LSD on his patients and practicing a form of self-­healing known as metanoia, causing outrage and controversy in the medical profession and radically changing attitudes and perceptions of mental health around the world.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Patrick Farrelly, co-director of the film Jaha’s Promise.

Patrick Farrelly presented his film Jaha’s Promise, which he co-directed with Kate O’Callaghan, at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh. This documentary talks about the life of Jaha Dukareh, a Gambian anti-female genital mutilation campaigner and activist her country of birth to confront the harmful tradition. Farrelly talks the challenges of making a documentary about this particularly delicate topic and approaching a documentary without knowing what the outcomes and developments of the story will be. Other topics discussed in the interview include the origins of the project, how Farrelly was able to connect with West Africa (a place he had never been to before), and more.

Jaha’s Promise is the story of a young woman’s battle against extraordinary odds to eradicate the practices that almost destroyed her life: child marriage and female genital mutilation. When Jaha was 15 she was brought to New York from her native Gambia to marry a middle-aged man she had never met before. Jaha escaped the ‘marriage’ and 10 years later returned home to launch a campaign that puts her on a collision course with her own family and society’s traditions. The documentary is the story of that struggle, a narrative of success and setbacks until she achieves a stunning victory that brings radical change to her society. For the girl who was powerless in the face of those who diminished and banished her, it is a moment when she feels close to recovering her identity, closer to finding peace.

For the official website of the festival, click here.

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