FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Mayye Zayed, director of the film Lift Like a Girl.

A conversation with filmmaker Mayye Zayed on her new documentary, Lift Like a Girl, from the 2020 Cairo International Film Festival. The film talks about female weightlifters trained by Captain Ramadan, a larger-than-life trainer and his outdoor gym in Alexandria. It was also the only documentary presented in Cairo’s main competition program and awarded with a prize for best first or second feature, as well as the audience award. In this conversation, Zayed talks about what attracted her about the project, what filming a charismatic figure like Captain Ramadan was like, her interest in both documentary and fiction filmmaking and more.

Lift Like a Girl: For over 20 years, Captain Ramadan coached world-class weightlifters in Alexandria, Egypt. A larger-than-life character in his own right, Ramadan led his daughter, one of Egypt’s most famous athletes, Nahla Ramadan, to become a world champion, and trained Abeer Abdel Rahman, the first Arab woman to become a two-time Olympic medalist. Mayye Zayed’s observational documentary dives into the training of Ramadan’s new protégé: the determined Zebiba (which means “raisin”), who dreams of lifting on the level of Captain’s past stars.

The post Mayye Zayed – Lift Like a Girl #CIFF42 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Amir Ramses, director of the film Curfew.

A conversation with Amir Ramses, director of Curfew, presented at the 2020 Cairo International Film Festival. Ramses is also the artistic director of another major Egyptian international film festival in El Gouna. His new film, Curfew, explores a troubled mother-daughter relationship within the course of one night in 2013. In doing so, he also challenges some of the taboos of Egyptian society. In this interview, Ramses talks about his interest in challenging these taboos. He also talks about the making of the film, including the challenges of working within a restricted narrative period of time and the interesting way in which he achieved the chemistry between his two leading actresses that was required.

Curfew: On the morning of one day of 2013, a mother is released from jail after years of imprisonment. In just 24 hours, the curfew imposed on the whole country gives her a rare opportunity to break free from the shackles of her mysterious past. Director Amir Ramsis decides in his new film to give his favorite character, Yahya Shukri Murad, which is inspired by veteran director Youssef Chahine, a perfect ending. The character can be considered a silent witness to deterioration inflicted on the family. He embarks on a thorny adventure to reconcile with the past.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Bruno Smadja, founder of the Mobile Film Festival.

A conversation with Bruno Smadja, founder of the Mobile Film Festival. In this interview, he talks about the history of this festival and its mission statement, including how it shatters the barriers posed by the film industry standards by showcasing films shot on mobile phones and from all corners of the globe. He also focuses on this year’s edition, sharing the winners with us and also expanding on its driving theme about women’s empowerment. In addition, Smadja also talks about how the festival has evolved in recent times and plans for its continued growth in the future.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Evi Romen, director of the film Why Not You. 

A conversation with Evi Romen, director of Why Not You, presented at the 2020 Torino Film Festival. The film marks Romen’s directorial debut and explores the life of a young man struggling with drug addiction and confusion about his own identity, as well as his life in a small Northern Italian community. In this interview, Romen talks about the origins of her interest in her exploration of small communities, the link between addiction and the challenge of overcoming confusion about one’s self, as well as the challenges she encountered in working on her feature debut as a director.

Why Not You: Mario, a young dancer living in a small village in South Tyrol has to face the loss of his beloved best friend Lenz, victim of an attack in a gay club in Rome.

The post Evi Romen – Why Not You #TFF38 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Wissam Tanios, director of the film We Are From There.

A conversation with Wissam Tanios, director of We Are From There, a documentary screened at this year’s Cairo International Film Festival. In the film, Tanios documents the before, during and after stages of his Syrian cousins’ emigration to Europe. Tanios discusses the origins of his interest in filmmaking, the decision to document his relatives’ story and how both the protagonists’ opposite personalities impact the film, as well as the cultural backdrop of the documentary and more. In addition, Tanios, who was born and lives in Beirut, shares some thoughts about the Beirut Explosion aftermath and how it has impacted him personally.

We Are From There: Jamil and Milad are brothers with very different personalities. Jamil is a get-up-and-go carpenter, following in his father’s footsteps. Milad is a sensitive trumpeter and dreamer. As their home country, Syria, sinks further into war, Jamil emigrates first to Beirut and then makes an illegal journey to Sweden. Milad stays in Damascus, but eventually can’t take it any longer and decides to leave to Berlin. Their cousin Wissam records their journey for over five years, bringing back childhood memories, while questioning the true meaning of home.

The post Wissam Tanios – We Are From There #CIFF42 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Cristiana Palmieri interviews Amin Palangi, Festival Director of the Persian International Film Festival.

Amin Palangi take us through the exciting program of the 9th edition of the festival, which includes features, documentaries and a section dedicated to short films.

Get a taste of the best of Persian-speaking cinema with a captivating program that will take you through the many faces of Persian heritage in four days of curated films. Acclaimed dramas, bright comedies, documentary masterpieces and a fabulous selection of short films are included in the program. The program is made exclusively of Australian premieres with the internationally acclaimed Son-Mother and Pari, the facetiously twisted comedy A Hairy Tale, the highly awarded documentary Sunless Shadows and much more!

To discover more about the festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Kate Reidy, co-director of Black Movie Festival.

A conversation with Kate Reidy, co-director of the Black Movie Geneva International Independent Film Festival. The upcoming edition of the festival is set to take place in January 22-31, 2021. Reid talks with us about the festival’s history and its mission statement. In addition to discussing how the festival is set to face the challenges posed by the pandemic, she also talks about some of the films that have been confirmed for the program for this upcoming edition and comments on its poster, recently publicly shared.

To discover more about the festival, click here.

The post Kate Reidy #BlackMovie2020 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews João Paulo Miranda Maria, director of the film Memory House. 

A conversation with João Paulo Miranda Maria about his new film, Memory House, from the 30th Torino Film Festival. The film explores the racial tensions of modern-day Brazil in his lush, haunting debut feature rooted in Brazilian folklore. In this interview, the filmmaker tells us more about the origins of this story and its cultural backdrop, as well as his experience of working with Cinema Novo icon Antonio Pitanga and more.

Memory House: Cristovam, a black man originally from a rural area in northern Brazil, moves to a city in the south, a rich, former Austrian colony, to work at a dairy farm. He is surrounded by xenophobic, conservative people and feels like a stranger in the community and alone. When he discovers an abandoned stone house full of objects that remind him of his origins, he decides to move into that place, where the memories slowly seem to come to life and push him toward a radical transformation. A magical debut that delves into Brazilian folklore tradition to depict today’s social and cultural tensions.

The post João Paulo Miranda Maria – Memory House #TFF38 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Eugen Jebeleanu, director of the film Poppy Field. 

A conversation with director Eugen Jebeleanu, director of Poppy Field, from the 38th Torino Film Festival. The film talks about a closeted gendarme struggling to keep his homosexuality hidden. In this interview, Jebeleanu talks about the queer rights situation in contemporary Romania that served as the backdrop for the story, the style of the movie including the use of uninterrupted takes, how his background in theatre shaped his approach to filmmaking and more.

Poppy Field: A young gendarme from Bucharest keeping his sexuality secret must intervene at a homophobic protest at a movie theatre.

The post Eugen Jebeleanu – Poppy Field #TFF38 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Braden King, director of the film The Evening Hour. 

A conversation with Braden King, director of The Evening Hour, from the 38th Torino Film Festival. The film tells the story of a nursing home aide becomes a small-time drug dealer, reselling his patients’ prescriptions. In this interview, King talks about what drew him to the Carter Sickels’ novel, which the film is based on, and the importance of the fading village in Appalachia where it is set. He also shares the reason why it has taken him almost a decade for him to direct his sophomore feature and more.

The Evening Hour: Dove Creek, West Virginia, was once a flourishing American mining town. Now, this post-industrial community is in decline. Cole Freeman works as a nursing home aide looking after the elderly, but he can hardly make ends meet even by dealing in illegal painkillers on the side. Like many of his generation, he is looking for a way out, but opportunities are few in this rapidly changing landscape. Cole belongs to a generation who feel trapped by a toxic combination of existential fear, lack of opportunity and powerlessness.

The post Braden King – The Evening Hour #TFF38 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.