FRED Film Radio - English Channel

At the 78th Festival de Cannes, we met with director Kirill Serebrennikov and actor August Diehl to discuss their new film, “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele“. A Cannes Premiere at this year’s festival, the film goes beyond the individual horror of one man’s crimes to explore the systems and silences that made his disappearance possible.

The film follows Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi doctor known as the “Angel of Death,” as he evades justice by escaping to South America. But Kirill Serebrennikov is quick to clarify: “The idea that each war criminal deserves the punishment doesn’t work, unfortunately. Because they avoided it easily.” Instead, the film opens a space for viewers to confront the uncomfortable proximity between monstrosity and humanity.

For August Diehl, portraying Mengele was a deep ethical challenge: “At the beginning I thought—why should I do the embodiment of evil?” But the turning point came with a chilling realization: “It is easy to say these people are monsters… but the real problem is that they’re humans.”

Referencing philosopher Hannah Arendt, the team delves into the banality of evil, presenting Mengele not as a cinematic villain, but as “weak, vulnerable, and banal.” As Diehl notes, “There is nothing admirable in this. He’s not a man with vision.”

But as Serebrennikov emphasizes, the real story is larger than the man himself: “Mengele is not the main point of it… it’s about the people who made Mengele possible.” The film becomes a portrait of collective complicity—those who took bribes, ignored documents, or quietly looked away.

Serebrennikov and Diehl are clear: The Disappearance of Josef Mengele is not just a historical narrative, it’s a warning. “Evil is somewhere very close to us,” Serebrennikov warns. “We need to protect ourselves against this terrible nightmare.”

In Diehl’s words: “War is the best possibility for the people like Mengele to grow up. Mengele is not unique… people like him exist right now and will exist in the future.”

So what is the role of cinema when confronting evil that looks ordinary? For both director and actor, it’s about breaking the silence. “We’re not here to excuse,” they agree. “We’re here to remind.”

By offering no redemption or catharsis, “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele” forces its audience to look directly at the quiet architecture of horror and the very human hands that built it.

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The young Diego Céspedes arrives in Cannes with his first feature film “The Mysterious Glaze Of the Flamingo“, a wonderfully intense and unpredictable tale of inclusion, acceptance and resilience in a small queer community in Chile. The film, developed also through the Torino Film Lab programme, has been included in the Un Certain Regard selection.

Diego Céspedes recalls his childhood days that inspired “The Mysterious gaze of the Flamingo“. His mother, a hairdresser, had gays friends and colleagues who were part of Diego’s life as well. When AIDS broke and many of them died, Diego’s mother was shocked and started to be obsessive with him about it. This deep love and huge concern were the starting points for the creation of the story of the film , and the building of such strong characters as Flamingo.

The queer family described in “The Mysterious Gaze of  the Flamingo” is utterly fierce. They keep fighting stupid hearsay that wants them the cause of the plague, and are unapologetic about their lives. Diego Céspedes finds these features very common to the queer people in Chile and in the world and the creation of such a varied family is his dedication to the fights that were fought by the community.

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21 years after co-directing “Take out“ with Sean Baker, director and producer Shih-Ching Tsou is competing, at Cannes 78, at the Semaine de la critique with “Left-Handed Girl“.

The film, produced, co-written and edited by Sean Baker, is Shih-Ching Tsou’s first solo project. A family story inspired by a  vivid memory, says Shih-Ching Tsou: “my grandfather once told me not to use my left hand because it was the devil’s hand”.

 “Left-Handed Girl“, as the title suggests, is a female lead story set in Taiwan and it follows a single mother and her two daughters trying to make it in Taipei.

Shih-Ching Tsou starts from “the left hand’s belief” in order to dismantle it in favor of women taking their own path despite their fear of judgment or rejection.

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Italian director Mario Martone is back in Cannes’ competition with “Fuori“.

Last time he competed with “Nostalgia“. “Fuori” stars Valeria Golino in the role of writer and author of “The Art of joy“, Goliarda Sapienza along with Matilda De Angelis and Elodie in the role of two inmates the writer befriends during her brief incarceration.

Based on two books by Sapienza, “L’università di Rebibbia” and “Le certezze del dubbio“, the film follows Goliarda in the Rome summer of 1980, living her best life with a rediscovered freedom.

Matilda De Angelis plays Roberta, a woman Goliarda meets in jail. A charming and strong character that Sapienza might have really meet  although it might also come from her imagination.

De Angelis became internationally known in 2020 because of her role in the limited series “The Undoing” acting alongside  Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. After that she has become the star of two TV series: “The Law According to Lidia Poët“, on Netflix and “Citadel: Diana“ on Prime Video. In 2018, she was selected to represent her country, Italy,  at the Berlinale Shooting stars.

In collaboration with the European Film promotion (EFP), founder of the Shooting stars programme, we interviewed Matilda De Angelis among the 16 former Shooting Stars in the Cannes line-up this year.

The EFP is a network of film institutions from 37 European countries, bringing European films and talent to the attention of the international industry and media and the Shooting stars project brings ten promising, versatile European acting newcomers to the Berlin International Film Festival each year.

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For her debut feature, “Love Letters“, at the Cannes’ Semaine De la Critique, Alice Douard chose Canadian actress (and director) Monia Chokri and Ella Rumpf.

Set in 2014, the film tells the story of Celine (Rumpf) who’s about to have a child with her wife who’s pregnant but, in order to be recognized as her daughter legal parent, she has to undergo scrutiny and paperwork to officially adopt.

Love letters is inspired by Alice Douard’s real story with her wife so, as Rumpf confirms, the journey the couple has to embark in the film, is a pretty detailed and emotional one.

Ella Rumpf, who became well known to the festival audience by starring in Julia Ducornau’s debut feature “Raw“. She then was at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 with  “Marguerite’s Theorem” directed by Anna Novion. In 2020, she was selected to represent her country, Switzerland, at the Berlinale Shooting stars.

In collaboration with the European Film promotion (EFP), founder of the Shooting stars programme, we interviewed Ella Rumpf, among the 16 former Shooting Stars in the Cannes line-up this year.

The EFP is a network of film institutions from 37 European countries, bringing European films and talent to the attention of the international industry and media and the Shooting stars project brings ten promising, versatile European acting newcomers to the Berlin International Film Festival each year.

Ella Rumpf tells us about her memories from that Berlinale 2020, “right before the world changed”.

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Fatih Akin comes back to Cannes Film Festival, presenting out of competition his last movie “Amrum”. Our interview revolves around the production and themes of a film inspired by a friend’s childhood experiences during World War II. The director, initially hesitant, took on the project due to personal and professional commitments.

The film aims to portray the everyday struggles and human aspects of the war, contrasting with the usual spectacular depictions. It explores the complexities of love and humanity, using natural elements to emphasize human connections. “We are humans, but in the end, we are animals”, he says.

Than the director emphasizes the relevance of the film to contemporary Germany, highlighting the resurgence of far-right extremism and the importance of remembering historical atrocities to prevent their recurrence.

Fatih Akin emphasizes the growing importance of film festivals in today’s media-saturated world, where it’s increasingly difficult for films to gain attention amidst the abundance of content, including series. They argue that festivals are crucial for providing films with the attention and curiosity they need from audiences.

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Chilean director Sebastián Lelio is at the 78th Cannes Film Festival to present “La Ola” in the Cannes Premiere section.

The Oscar Winner for “A Fantastic Woman” is again portraying women, in a musical he produced with Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín and Rocío Jadue about the historic feminist occupation and massive protests in May 2018.

With a screenplay he wrote with acclaimed writers Manuela Infante, Josefina Fernández and Paloma Salas, the film relies on a cast of brilliant new faces such as Daniela López as the protagonist Julia, Lola Bravo as Rafa, Avril Aurora as Luna and Paulina Cortés as Tamara.

Mixing entertaining and political, the film not only talks and “sings” about the struggles women still have to face when it comes to redefining their relationship with men who are still carrying a patriarchal system but, at the same time focus on the Latin American situation which, in some cases, have still a lot of battles to fight and win.

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A quiet but powerful portrait of displacement, femininity, and the elusive meaning of home, Or Sinai’s debut feature Mama had its Special Screening at the 78th Festival de Cannes.

“Mama” follows Mila, a 50-year-old Polish immigrant who, after years working for a wealthy family in Israel, returns to her native village in Poland—and to the family she left behind. But the homecoming is far from simple. As Sinai explains, “She thinks she belongs to both homes… but actually, it’s not true.”

The film was inspired by Sinai’s real-life experience. “My mother has Parkinson’s, and a few years ago they took in an immigrant worker… I started talking to her, and she told me stories about her lover in Israel and her family in Ukraine.” Those conversations sparked a fascination with the inner lives of women often viewed only through the lens of sacrifice or service.

Sinai resists the typical narrative of the suffering caregiver. “We’re used to seeing immigrant women as poor, sacrificing… but Mila has desires, femininity. She didn’t let go of herself.” That emotional complexity is what makes Mama feel so layered. It’s not just about return—it’s about the haunting dissonance between who you were, who you’ve become, and who you pretend to be.

The production itself reflects Mila’s split identity. Sinai worked with separate costume and production design teams in Israel and Poland. “It didn’t make sense that an Israeli designer would build a Polish home, and vice versa,” she notes. The contrast between these worlds isn’t just visual—it’s emotional, cultural, and deeply human.

The houses in the film become symbols of belonging and illusion. “She has this illusion that she belongs to all of them, but slowly all of it collapsed.” Sinai once considered calling the film Home—but the eventual title, Mama, carries its own irony. “She wants to be the best mother but she doesn’t know how to do it. The word has this warmth… and Mila is the opposite of that.”

Sinai and cinematographer Matan Radin created a visual style that draws us into Mila’s emotional world. “We let the actors move freely, and only then built the camera around them,” she says. The result is an organic intimacy—sometimes raw, sometimes distant—that mirrors Mila’s inner tension.

Making “Mama”  wasn’t easy. The film was originally set in Ukraine before the war broke out in 2022. “Our co-producer went to the military. We lost funding. It was tough to believe in cinema again.” On top of that, Sinai directed in a language she didn’t speak. “I’m a control freak… but when I let go, it was beautiful. You don’t need the words—you feel the emotions.”

In a final reflection, Sinai touches on what “home” means to her now: “Especially now, with what’s happening in Israel… home is not so clear. But maybe it’s about being true to your instincts. About finding yourself.”

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French-Tunisian director and producer Erige Sehiri opened the Un Certain Regard section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival with “Promised Sky (Promis le ciel)“, a colourful and energetic tale on three Sub-Saharan women of different ages, backgrounds and situations – a pastor, a student, and an exiled mother, played by Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky and newcomer Déborah Christelle Naney, respectively – stuck in Tunis on their way to a (hypothetical) better life.

“Promised Sky” is Sehiri‘s second feature film after “Under the Fig Trees“, screened in Cannes in 2022, at the Directors’ Fortnight, and chosen as the Tunisian submission for the Academy Award for the Best International Feature Film. Before that, she made and produced, through her company Henia, various Tunisian author-driven documentaries, including her breakout feature documentary, “Railway Men” (2018).

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