FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Sarah Bradbury interviews Claire Binns, festival programmer of the 2019 Sundance London.

Ahead of this year’s Sundance London Claire Binns, festival programmer, talks us through bringing the best of Utah’s film selection to central London at the Picturehouse cinema, this year’s theme of risk and highlights of the programme plus the work Sundance does to nurture new filmmakers and promote diversity, centering around the hashtag #whatnext.

Sundance Institute and Picturehouse will present a programme of feature films, short films and panel discussions for the Sundance Film Festival: London 2019, taking place 30 May – 2 June at Picturehouse Central. The festival will present 12 feature films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., selected for London by the Sundance Institute programming team in collaboration with Picturehouse. The festival will open with the UK gala of Late Night (Nisha Ganatra), written by and starring Mindy Kaling alongside Emma Thompson. The festival will close four days later with the UK premiere of Penny Lane’s Hail Satan?. In 2018, the London festival asked “#WhatNext?” in response to ongoing inequality in the film industry and presented a line-up of films brimming with female-driven stories. By continuing to champion underrepresented voices and empower brave artists, this year’s Sundance London will showcase innovative cinema and encourage filmmakers, audiences and the wider British film community to embrace everything that the provocation ‘Risk Independence’ entails. The festival honours its commitment to gender parity by featuring an equal number of male and female directors in this year’s feature film selection, allowing a range of British, Australian and American filmmakers to tell their authentic stories. Alongside the opening and closing night films, the festival will present a selection of fearless filmmaking: The Nightingale, a striking revenge drama starring Aisling Franciosi and Sam Claflin, marks Jennifer Kent’s anticipated follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut, The Babadook; Time Out gala film, Animals (dir. Sophie Hyde, whose debut 52 Tuesdays won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic at Sundance 2014 and features in this year’s repertory strand) is an unpredictable tale of female friendship starring Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat; and Bart Freundlich’s After the Wedding, a female-driven reimagining of Susanne Bier’s Academy Award-nominated Danish film, features Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams in leading roles. In addition, breakout American star Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians; Ocean’s 8) stars in Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, and Daniel Scheinert, co-winner of the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for Swiss Army Man, directs The Death of Dick Long. As in previous years, the London edition will support British talent with the return of local filmmaker Shola Amoo (A Moving Image), whose short film Dear Mr. Shakespeare played at the 2017 festival. Amoo’s latest feature, The Last Tree, an unconventional coming-of-age story of a British-Nigerian youth, will receive its European premiere over the festival weekend. In addition, British writer Sam Bain (Peep Show, Four Lions) writes Corporate Animals, directed by Patrick Brice (Creep) and starring Demi Moore and Ed Helms. Together with closing night film Hail Satan?, the festival’s documentary features share equally bold and daring perspectives: The Brink, directed by Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, winner Special Jury Prize – Documentary at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival) follows former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon as he expands his far-right campaigning from the United States across the globe, and Ask Dr. Ruth, directed by Ryan White (The Case Against 8, winner of the U.S. Documentary Directing Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and part of the Sundance London 2014 programme), is a portrait of one of America’s most famous sex therapists. Completing the line-up is Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller and winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing at this year’s festival in Utah, a never-seen-before immersive portrayal of the 1969 moon landings. Alongside the inspiring film selection, the festival will also highlight the work of industry pioneers with a series of panel discussions, Q&As and special guest appearances. As well as providing audiences invaluable insight into the filmmaking process, this year’s special events programme will focus on breaking boundaries and defying expectations, as our speakers discuss what risk-taking means to them. The 2019 festival continues the Sundance tradition of supporting original work from both emerging and established independent filmmakers through two short film programmes, including a branch dedicated to UK productions. In an exclusive repertory strand, “Triple Threat”, the festival will present three films from the Sundance archive. Complementing the number of complex, contradictory and compelling female characters who appear in the festival’s feature selection are renowned titles from previous Sundance Film Festivals: 52 Tuesdays (2013), Sophie Hyde’s debut feature in which a young woman complicatedly comes of age against the backdrop of her mother’s gender transition; David Michôd’s iconic Australian crime thriller Animal Kingdom (2010), featuring Jacki Weaver as the ruthless matriarch of a crime family ready to go to any lengths to protect her empire; and Lee Daniels’ Oscar-winning debut Precious (2009), starring Gabourey Sidibe as a young woman seemingly trapped by her surroundings who discovers a way out of a life of poverty and abuse on her own terms. Festivalgoers will have a special chance to catch an unannounced title with the festival’s third Surprise Film – last year’s choice was Bart Layton’s American Animals. Following popular wins for Bo Burnham’s critically acclaimed Eighth Grade and the Academy Award-winning Icarus, audiences will again have the opportunity to cast votes after screenings, with the Audience Favourite award being announced at the close of the festival.

To discover more about the festival, click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Babak Anvari, director of the film Wounds.

After Sundance Film Festival, Babak Anvari lands at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs of the 72nd Festival di Cannes with his second feature film, Wounds, after the success he had with his debut feature, Under the Shadow which was UK selection for the Foreign Language Academy Award in 2017. Anvari who consider himself a nerd, declares that the choice of the horror genre is terapeutic for him to try and transpose all his personal fears and demons into a film so to exorcise them in a way. The director talks highly about his protagonist, Armie Hammer who’s a film enthusiast and never afraid of a challenge. Wounds is based on the on the novella The visible filth by Nathan Ballingrud that Anvari adapted for the big screen.

Wounds: Will is a bartender in New Orleans. He has a great job, great friends, and a girlfriend, Carrie, who loves him. He skates across life’s surface, ignoring complications and concentrating on enjoying the moment. One night at the bar, a violent brawl breaks out, which injures one of his regular customers and causes some college kids to leave behind a cell phone in their haste. Will begins receiving disturbing texts and calls from the stranger’s phone. While Will hopes to not get involved, Carrie gets lost down a rabbit hole investigating this strange malevolence. They’ve discovered something unspeakable, and it’s crawling slowly into the light.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Fionn Whitehead, director of the film Port Authority.

After Dunkirk and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Port Authority by Danielle Lessovitz, screening at the 72nd Festival de Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section is Fionn Whitehead’s first romantic film. The actor unveils how he got on board of the film project and how he and danielle Lessovitz found each other as they were destined to cross path. Fionn Whitehead also reveals what kind of experience Port Authority was for him and how much he learned from this film’s journey.

Port Authority: On the steps outside New York City’s dizzying central bus station, Port Authority, a girl named Wye vogues with her siblings. Paul, a young drifter, watches her, transfixed by her beauty. After he seeks her out, an intense love soon blossoms. Wye introduces him to the ballroom community, an underground LGBTQ subculture, and to her house, a self- selected chosen family. But when Paul realizes Wye is trans, he is forced to confront his feelings for her and the social forces that seek to rupture their bond.

The post Fionn Whitehead – Port Authority #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Midi Z, director of the film Nina Wu.

Midi Z’s first genre film, Nina Wu is the adaptation of actress Wu Ke-xi’s script which is a mix between a #Metoo manifesto and a thriller-horror story about an actress going mad. Screening at the 72nd Festival de Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, the film has attracted Quentin Tarantino’s attention so that the director, in competition at the Festival with Once upon a time in….Hollywood, has attended the premiere screening of Nina Wu. Midi Z tells us about his first thoughts about the script, the difficulties he encountered in trying to finance a genre film and the collaboration with Wu Ke-xi.

Nina Wu: After eight years toiling in bit-parts, aspiring actress Nina Wu finally gets her big break with a leading role in a spy thriller set in the 1960s. The part is challenging, not least because it calls for full nudity and explicit sex scenes, and the film’s director is often hard on her. But both the industry and the press are confident that the results are sensationally good. On the brink of triumph, though, Nina’s psychological resolve begins to crack. She rushes back to her family home to deal with two crises: her father’s business has gone bankrupt and her mother has suffered a heart attack. She dreams of rekindling a close relationship with her childhood friend Kiki but is haunted by paranoid fantasies that a mysterious woman is stalking and attacking her. As Nina clings to memories of happier times, it seems that there is one crucial memory that she is repressing…

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST | Bénédicte Prot interviews Nicolas Bedos, director of the film La Belle Epoque.

The actor, comedian and playwright Nicolas Bedos tells us more about his second feature film as a director after Mr. and Mrs. Adelman, this time only behind the camera.

La Belle Epoque: Victor, sixtysomething, has his life turned upside down the day that Antoine, a flourishing entrepreneur, offers him a unique new brand of entertainment. Using a combination of theatrical artifice and historical re-enactment, his company gives its clients the opportunity to delve back into the period of their choice. Victor decides to relive the most memorable week of his existence, 40 years earlier, when he met the love of his life.

The post Nicolas Bedos – La Belle Epoque #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Simone Soranna interviews Katsuya Tomita, director of the documentary Tenzo.

Katsuya Tomita, Tenzo‘s director, tells us how this project was born and explain us the relation between documentary film and fiction film.

Tenzo: To address the social crisis, Chiken – a buddhist monk – throws himself into various tasks such as a suicide helpline, in his temple in Yamanashi. In Fukushima, his old mate Ryûgyô – whose temple was wrecked by the tsunami – lives in a portacabin and works on construction sites.

The post Katsuya Tomita – Tenzo #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Simone Soranna interviews Sofia Bost, director of the film Dia de festa.

Sofia Bost presents her first short movie Dia de festa telling us the focus of her project and the emotions to be selected in Cannes.

Dia de festa: Mena lives alone with her daughter Clara. Today is Clara’s seventh birthday. Despite her limited financial resources, Mena still manages to organise a birthday party. But after a phone call from her mother, she becomes distraught and anxious.

The post Sofia Bost – Dia de festa #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Rebecca Zlotowski, director of the film An Easy Girl.

After presenting Planetarium at the Venice International Film Festival two years ago, Rebecca Zlotowski went back to shooting a more intimate and personal film: An Easy Girl. Inspired by the director’s illuminating encounter with Zahia Dehar, representing the “easy girl” archetype in the film, An Easy Girl is an entertaining and liberating coming of age story that manages to tackle very important topics such as the different perception we have about men and women when it comes to sex, relationships and money while giving the audience a relaxed and relatable film’s journey.

An Easy Girl: Naima is 16 and lives in Cannes. She has given herself the summer to choose what she wants to do with her life. Then her cousin Sofia, with her alluring lifestyle, arrives to spend the holidays with her. Together, they will share an unforgettable summer.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Zahia Dehar, director of the film An Easy Girl.

Zahia Dehar is the ultimate inspiration and the reason why Rebecca Zlotowski decided to shoot An Easy Girl, presented at the Quinzaine des realizateurs at the 72nd Festival de Cannes. In the film the actress plays Sofia, the protagonist’s cousin and the easy girl of the title as she fiercely represents the kind of woman who wants to be free and enjoy life’s pleasures while not being afraid of people’s opinions. Being called “an easy girl” becomes a compliment and Zahia Dehar a very sexy and charming feminist.

An Easy Girl: Naima is 16 and lives in Cannes. She has given herself the summer to choose what she wants to do with her life. Then her cousin Sofia, with her alluring lifestyle, arrives to spend the holidays with her. Together, they will share an unforgettable summer.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Melina Leon, director of the film Song Without a Name.

Song Without a Name, screening in the Quinzaine des Réalizateurs at the 72nd Festival de Cannes is a very personal film for its director Melina Leon as it is dedicated to her father, the journalist Ismael Leon and to his adventure in discovering child trafficking in Peru in 1981. He was among the founders of La republica, one of the largest newspapers in Peru and to his story revealing the dark past of Peru, Melina Leon shot her first feature film. The director describes how she worked on depicting her father’s tales and the particular black and white – 4.3 frame approach.

Song Without a Name: Georgina is a young woman from the Andes whose newborn daughter is stolen at a fake health clinic. Her desperate search for the child leads her to the headquarters of a major newspaper, where she meets Pedro Campos, a lonely journalist who takes on the investigation. Based on a true story.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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The post Melina Leon – Song Without a Name #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.