FRED Film Radio - English Channel

"Lesbian Space Princess" is a queer animation film, from Australia written, animated and directed by Leela Varghese and Emma Hound Hobbs. we are in a fantastic world of princess, spaceships that talk, queerness and fun, on a quest to save her lover that  Princess Saira undertake with help from some friends. There is a lot to talk about and to laugh about with the two directors we met on the day of their Berlinale premiere.

We wanted to fill a space in the queer film world

The reason that brought Leela Varghese and Emma Hound Hobbs to make "Lesbian Space Princess" was the will to fill a void into the world of queer cinema: it has never been a feature animation film so queer and filled with queer references and they wanted to be the first doing that. plus the fun of depicting all the aspects of the queer humor in an animation manga-styled film was an additional motor for both.

"Sandbag Dam" is a Croatian drama by Čejen Černić Čanak included in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlinale 2025. The film is a rare example of lgbtqi+ film coming out of Croatia and it starred two young and promising actors who embodies the two longtime lost young friends and hidden lovers who meet again, in a village that is always under the risk of flooding.

The insecurity of the village reflects that of one of the characters

Čejen Černić Čanak points out that the setting fo the film in a village always on a verge of being flooded is a direct reminder of the situation the character of marco (played by Lav Movosel) is experiencing: being attracted to his friend Slaven (played by Andrija Žunac) and not being able to tell it out loud. Always at risk, himself too.

A film on self acceptance and the fear of rejection

Lav Movosel, playing Marco in "Sandbag Dam", tells us about his character that is torn, between his role in the village, his public persona, and the way he feels inside towards his friend, openly gay and therefore sent away by his family. Andrija Žunac has a take on his character: he is stronger and more grounded because he is out. Both actors were aware of the importance of their roles towards a community that needs, in Croatia especially, good and positive representation.

After presenting "Boyhood" at the Berlinale in 2014 with Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke is back in Berlin to present their new collaboration "Blue Moon".

Narrating one night in the life of legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart, the project had been in Linklater and Hawke’s plans for almost 12 years but they had to wait until Ethan Hawke could be and look old enough to play the artist. 

As he leads the whole film, talking for 100 minutes without a pause, Ethan Hawke explains that it all came from rehearsing a lot. 

In the film Lorenz Hart gives a very interesting advice to a young aspiring writer and director (who will turn out to be George Hill): "Beware of romance, friendship is what endures."

Ethan Hawke admits that is his favorite line as it fully represents the joy of sharing this film and the experience at the Berlinale with his long time friend Richard Linklater.

"Night Stage" is the third feature film written and directed by Felipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, two queer film directors from Brazil, here at  the Berlinale for their third time. The film has been included on the Panorama section, and runs for the Teddy Awards as best feature film.

Going back to more daring and unapologetic filmaking

Faelipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon made some daring choices in their new film "Night Stage". The world is getting prudish and making an erotic thriller like this is the right way for the directors to re-appropriate all imagery of sexuality and desire that were hidden even in the lgbtqi+ movies.

A dedication to the 70's and the 80's

"Night Stage" owes a lot to the imagery and aesthetics of independent film of the 70's and the 80's. Cinematography is a clear homage to that, and also the free feeling of the sexual encounters of the twp lead characters is a direct consequence of the influence of the filmmaking of that era

Lucile Hadžihalilović  comes to the Berlinale 2025 , in competition, with her new film "The Ice Tower" starring Marion Cotillard. the film is a personal take on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen, that was a favourite of the director when she was a kid. With extreme aesthetics and a dark sense of beauty, the film is daring and intriguing. We talked with the director on it and with Marion Cotillard for her portrait of a cold and heartless woman, at least it seems...

Setting the film in the 70's was a narrative necessity

Lucile Hadžihalilović reveals that her choice to set "The Ice Tower" in the 70's came from the need of using some of the simplicity and possibility of belief that was still typical of  those years, when we lived  without internet and social media and cellphones , where we could still believe in the magic of unknown things and iconic personalities.

Building a personal fake back story to the character

Marion Cotillard reveals how she built the character of the cold Cristina, in " The Ice Tower". Marion invented in her head a detailed back story for her character, that neither the director or anybody else knew, made of failures, pains, victories and losses, so that she had a basket of emotions  to pick from when acting. All of this knowing how dark, and cold and merciless her character needed to be.

"Peter Hujar's Day" is the last title directed  by Ira Scahs, the acclaimed American director who was in Berlinale last year with "Passages". Starring Ben Whishaw who is again the lead in this new film. A day in the life of the famous photographer of  the underground and intellectual New York of the 70's, the most creative and rebellious moment of American culture, told directly by him in a recording session for a collective book , that never happened.

A fascination for him and that era only experienced at its end

Ira Sachs tells us he came to New York after mid-Eighties , the end of that era that is narrated in the film. "Peter Hujar's Day" glorifies and describes how a group  of people that shaped culture and imagery of a whole generation and beyond were friends or acquaintances , and how fascinating this was for a young aspiring film director.

The challenge of  transforming a conversation into a film

Ira Sachs had a big challenge to overcome: all he had was a book that transcript the conversation and it needed to be animated to be narrated on screen. The location became the key element to help doing that, and the different rooms the actors used, and their physical dynamics worked toward this objective.

Chinese writer, director and producer, Vivian Qu is back at the Berlinale to present in competition, "Girls on Wire". 

Renowned producer, she won the Golden Bear for her production "Black Coal Thin Ice" and at this 75th edition, as a director, she brings a women story. 

After "Angels wear white", presented in Venice competition in 2017, the director is again portraying two women, in particular two cousins who are trying to escape the dramatic fate that has been designed for them. 

As confirmed by Qu, the message of the film is crystal clear from the title: All women are "Girls on Wires" and the film aims to showing women’s strength and resilience in every situation.

Romanian director Radu Jude is back in the Berlinale competition with "Kontinental ’25". 

After winning the Golden Bear in 2021 with "Bad Luck Banging" or "Loony Porn", the director is again depicting social and political issues in present-day Romania but with a different angle. 

The film blends a sense of tragedy with elements of comedy while exploring also ethical issues like the feeling of guilt and the moral dilemma. 

With Eszter Tompa in the role of a bailiff feeling extremely guilty because an homeless man she evicted, killed himself, the film gets its inspiration from "Europe ’51" by Roberto Rossellini and "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock. 

As it narrated a woman consumed by guilt, searching for redemption, Europe ’51 was the catalyst for the development of Kontinental ’25''s plot. 

Psycho instead, was fundamental for the structure of the film, as the film changed its perspective and its protagonist, from the “victim” to the “killer”. 

The same thing Jude did by focusing first on the homeless man and then entirely on the bailiff Orsolya.

Danish actor Claes Bang is at the 75th Berlinale in the cast of the competition film by Johanna Moder: "Mother’s Baby". 

The actor who gained international recognition for his leading roles in Ruben Östlund's film "The Square" and Robert Eggers' film "The Northmann", plays Dr. Villefort, a gynecologist specialized in couples with fertility issues. 

A man who keeps his promises

As the film is deliberately narrated as a psychological thriller, while entering the world of taboos surrounding and what happens when having a child, Bang is either a representation of a certain kind of man, patronizing and the classical villain. 

The actor reflects on these two layers the film plays with and remarks that he chose this film project because of its depiction of the alienation one can feel when becoming a parent.

Michel Franco is back at the Berlinale with his new film "Dreams." 

The film marks the second collaboration with actress and producer Jessica Chastain with whom he realized his previous movie, Memory. 

By depicting a love story between a Mexican young dancer (ballet dancer and first time actor Isaac Hernández) and a philanthrope rich American woman played by Chastain, Franco shows his vision on the “wall” separating Mexicans and Americans and the perception of society towards immigrants and, on reverse, the more privileged ones. 

The films shows how the immigrants coming from Latin America (and generally speaking, the whole majority of people going to seek a better life in another country) are perceived as parasites and call criminals when it’s often exactly the opposite: it’s the small percentage of privileged ones that suck other people’s energy. 

“I’m interested in broken people and I don’t judge my characters, not even Jessica Chastain’s” says Michel Franco when talking about the starting point of the film. 

The internationally renowned Mexican director then proceeds to describe his collaboration with Chastain and his discovering ballet dancer and now actor Isaac Fernandez.