FRED Film Radio - English Channel

After "Plan 75" , Chie Hayakawa is back in Cannes, at the 78th edition, in competition with "Renoir.

The film depicts an entrancing poetic journey about resilience, the healing power of the imagination and a traumatized family struggling for connection.

The protagonist is a 5th grade girl, Fuki, who is trying to make peace wit the idea that her father is dying of cancer.

A coming of age story that Chie Hayakawa took inspiration from her own experience when she was little. She says: “While the surrounding plots and circumstances are entirely fictional, the emotions of vague fear and guilt, the breadth of imagination, and the innocent awe felt toward toward fine works of art are drawn from my own youthful emotions”

Pauline Loquès, a former student in Literature and Law who first quenched her thirst for writing by turning to journalism, then trained as a screenwriter, has developed a distinctive signature since her first film, the 30-minute short "La Vie d’une jeune fille", on a young woman about to celebrate her hen weekend who learns upon arrival that her fiancé doesn't want to get married anymore, and can't bring herself to tell her girlfriends. In "Nino", her debut feature, screened in competition at the 64th Critics Week, and in the running for the Caméra d'or of the 78th Cannes International Film Festival, not only does she work from a similar premise, but she also confirms her interest in small, simple things and her desire to depict her characters as earnestly as possible. Loquès tells us more about the echos between her film and Agnès Varda's "Cleo from 5 to 7", about approaching reality through small, daily things and the deceptive essence of the uneventful, as well as about Nino's trajectory, suspended time, a certain cup, and the choice of Théodore Pellerin to play the title character, amongst other things. Time, space, movement, and what happens "I don’t know why, but I like all the movies which take place in one day, one weekend, or three days, because you can’t avoid time – which sometimes goes fast, and sometimes can feel very slow... When nothing happens, what happens? Nothing big happens, but there's things happening inside you, around you. [...] Life always continues, I mean when he gets out of the hospital, life is still in movement. He’s alive amongst other lives, it’s not like there's a brutal stop. There's always movement all the time, even small movements, but in different spaces in the hostile city… The spaces are different so the conversations are different, so the atmosphere is different, which creates different connections." On the camerawork    "We were searching for the distance between Nino and the other people, all the time. Sometimes he is inside himself, and sometimes he feels very far away from himself. Sometimes he feels very close to people, and sometimes very far, and that’s how we chose to film the movie, following his feelings towards himself and others. It was all about that distance and that closeness."

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.

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.

Inspired by his mother's friends and her love for them

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.

Fierce and unapologetic

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.

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.

Humanizing the Inhuman

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.”

The Banality—and Network—of Evil

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.

A System That Protects Monsters

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.”

Cinema’s Moral Responsibility

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.

Wes Anderson is back in Cannes Competition for the fourth time with"The Phoenician Scheme".

His first time was in 2012 with "Moonrise Kingdom", then there was "The French Dispatch" and finally, two years ago, Asteroid city.

"The Phoenician Scheme", as every Anderson’s film, can count on a numerous cast led by Benicio Del Toro in the role of “Zsa-Zsa” Korda, one of the richest men in Europe and including newcomers Mia Threapleton as Korda’s nun daughter Liesl and Michael Cera as the Norwegian entomologist Bjorn.

Returning on a Wes Anderson’s film set are, among others, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Ayoade, Bill Murray and Rupert Friend.

As he did in the past, with The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson goes back to exploring family ties, now from a father’s point of view as he tells a story of a father and a daughter who actually learn to build a relationship, how to consider each other “family”.

In this family, as confirmed by Benicio Del Toro and Michael Cera, enters Bjorn and they form an unusual trio.

About the role of protagonist Zsa-Zsa” Korda, Anderson wrote: “Del Toro was the only actor I ever imagined the part, at least in the modern era. The kind of character who might have been played by Anthony Quinn, or maybe Lino Ventura, or Jean Gabin."

Benicio Del Toro and Michael Cera comment the vintage look of this film that might have been made in Hollywood’s old era.

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 (Ella 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 Ella 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”.

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.

"The Phoenician Scheme" marks Wes Anderson’s fourth time inn competition in Cannes .

The film sees Mia Threapleton pairing up with Benicio Del Toro in a father-daughter’s story set in the 1950s.

The new feature film follows the magnate “Zsa-Zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro), one of the richest men in Europe, and his daughter Liesl, an aspiring nun played by Mia Threapleton in a spy mission’s adventure to accomplish Zorda’s plan to expand and save his empire.

Along this mission, they will be joined by a Norwegian entomologist played by Michael Cera, will meet Prince Farouk, played by Riz Ahmed, in his first Anderson film and will be interrupted many times by terrorist and long time friend of Zorda’s, Sergio (Richard Ayoade).

We met Mia Threapleton, Riz Ahmed and Richard Ayoade to know more about their experience on the set of Wes Anderson and to hear their description of his universe.

Belgian director Valéry Carnoy, highly praised at international festivals for his short films “My Planet” and “Titan“, presented his debut feature, “Wild Foxes”, starring the up and coming young actor Samuel Kircher (known for his stunning performance opposite Léa Drucker in Catherine Breillat‘s “Last Summer“), at the Director’s Fortnight.

This arresting, both realistic and poetic film, revolving around a reflection on the way teenage boys are still led to build their minds and bodies according to an idea of masculinity inextricably tied up with patriarchy, invisible pain, friendship, and the need for a teenager to escape what has been imposed on him to grow up into who he really is or wants to be, is also a contender for the Caméra d’or of the 78th Cannes Film Festival.

On masculinity in a community of teenage boys who are also training to become boxers

“It was important for me to talk about virility/masculinity, and all the injunctions that go with it, and about what is it to be a man, I mean what is it to be a man today, because in a patriarchal society, it’s always a big deal.“

On the choice of becoming a boxing champion

“When you’re a teenager and you train at a sport at a very high level, there is the question of when you decided to do this and in the film, it happened when he was very young, so he didn’t really decide to do this. And boxing at a competitive level, it’s hard: you have to punch other people and you have to get the punches… And he got friends thanks to that, and because he’s good, he got even more friends, and popularity, but he didn’t really decide that that was what he wanted… It’s just the others who decide for him…And suddenly, because of the accident and all the psychological things happening to him, he understands that he doesn’t want to punch someone else, but because of the male pressure, because of all the things happening to him, because he is good, he has to keep going and going and this is very unfair, because he understands that as a teenager, he is not that and it’s not that what he wants to do… I thought all this struggling would make for a good script.“

About the encounter with Yas, a taekwondo student who also plays the trumpet in secret

“Yas wants to practice taekwondo, and she wants to make music: she just wants to be happy. She’s another kind of kid, she’s a bit of a guide for Camille, because she shows him that he doesn’t need to take himself too seriously: he can just be himself. That’s why this is an initiatory film, because Camille understand Yas and follows Yas, and discovers another way to be that the others don’t understand.“