FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Wu Ke-xi, actress and scriptwriter of the film Nina Wu.

When you write a film and you’re also the absolute protagonist of that story, that movie becomes way more than a film, it feels like your baby who just jumped into the world: That’s the feeling Wu Ke-xi perceived on the night of Nina Wu‘s premiere screening at the 72 Festival de Cannes in Un Certain Regard. Directed by Midi Z, the film sees Wu Ke-xi as the protagonist, an actress struggling with the psychological side effects of a demanding role. Wu Ke-xi stars in a film that uses the genre and its smart metaphors to depict the gender equality and sexual harassment issues women and artists are facing today so that Nina Wu becomes a #Metoo manifesto.

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 | Angelo Acerbi and Melanie Tebb talk about Cannes Classics.

Angelo Acerbi and Melanie Tebb have a talk, on a sometimes a little too noisy terrace on the Croisette, about the Cannes Classics section and the necessity and importance of showing classic films at festivals and not only. Thierry Fremaux is a big fan of and passionate about classics and this is why Cannes has the largest section on classic films in the whole world of film festivals. It is a demanding job too because, as you can understand from this talk, sometimes being able to show a film is a tricky road to make.

The post Melanie Tebb – Cannes Classics #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Debbie Honeywood and Kris Hitchen, actors of the film Sorry We Missed You.

Debbie Honeymoon and Kris Hitchen tell us the emotion of working with Ken Loach, the respect and affection they have for him, exactly in the same way he has for his actors, and the even stronger emotion of fulfilling a dream that was far away and barely possible to achieve.

Sorry We Missed You: Ricky and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash. An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self-employed delivery driver. It’s hard work, and his wife’s job as a carer is no easier. The family unit is strong but when both are pulled in different directions everything comes to breaking point.

The post Debbie Honeywood, Kris Hitchen – Sorry We Missed You #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho, directors of the film Bacurau.

Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho talk with passion about filmmaking, their film in competition in Cannes and the inevitable links that cinema has with politics, especially Brazilian cinema in this specific historical time.

Bacurau: With Bacurau, Kleber Mendonça Filho leaves behind the town of his birth, Recife, and explores the poor and isolated region of Sertao do Serido, accompanied by his production designer, Juliano Dornelles. The hardship of living off the land there has produced inequalities historically. Set in a near future, where the archaic and the hyper-modern merge, the film tells the story of the residents of Bacurau, who have just lost their matriarch, Carmelita, at the age of 94. In the depths of their bereavement, the residents realise that their village has suddenly disappeared from the map.

The post Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho – Bacurau #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Oliver Laxe, director of the film Fire Will Come.

Oliver Laxe knows perfectly the locations, the life and the pace of the Galician mountains where he shot Fire Will Come. His idea of cinema is clear in his mind, and he tells us also what inspires him and moves him when making a film.

Fire Will Come: Shot in the village of the director’s grandparents, the film follows Amador, who returns to his mother’s house after having been accused of and jailed for arson. Amador is just starting to settle into a peaceful life until a fire breaks out nearby.

The post Oliver Laxe – Fire Will Come #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Jessica Hausner, director of the film Little Joe.

Jessica Hausner decided to have her new film in English, because of the story (a futuristic timeless science fiction story about plant breeders and new species), but to play with genre rules, as well. She explains it with details in our talk with her at the Cannes Festival.

Little Joe: Alice, a single mother, is a dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a very special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ‘Little Joe’ but as it grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creations may not be as harmless as their nickname suggests.

The post Jessica Hausner – Little Joe #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Udo Kier, actor of the film Bacurau.

Udo Kier is among the lead characters of a weird ensemble film Bacurau, in competition at the Cannes Festival. In our talk he tells us about being involved in the film, his first impression of Brazil and the never-ending learning craft of acting.

Bacurau: With Bacurau, Kleber Mendonça Filho leaves behind the town of his birth, Recife, and explores the poor and isolated region of Sertao do Serido, accompanied by his production designer, Juliano Dornelles. The hardship of living off the land there has produced inequalities historically. Set in a near future, where the archaic and the hyper-modern merge, the film tells the story of the residents of Bacurau, who have just lost their matriarch, Carmelita, at the age of 94. In the depths of their bereavement, the residents realize that their village has suddenly disappeared from the map.

The post Udo Kier – Bacurau #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Andreas Horvath and Patricia Planik, director of the film Lillian.

Andreas Horvath, director, and Patricia Planik tell us the story behind Lillian, an unexpected road movie, in a way, that is inspired by the real story of a woman named Lillian who left USA on foot, in late 1800, to go back to her home in Russia. The preparation for the film has been a road trip that Horvath and Planik did for 8 months following the trails that the original Lillian walked, through different American states till Alaska, where she disappeared. An intense demanding experience for Patricia too, but also an enriching one, as she tells in this interview.

Lillian, an emigrant stranded in New York City, decides to walk back to her native Russia. She resolutely starts out on the long journey. A road movie straight across the USA into the freezing temperatures of Alaska. The chronicle of a slow disappearance.

The post Andreas Horvath, Patricia Planik – Lillian #Cannes2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Levan Akin, director of the film And Then We Danced.

Levan Akin is a Georgian director living in Sweden. With And Then We Danced, screening in the Quinzaine des Réalizateurs – The Director’s Fortnight at the 72nd Festival de Cannes, he manages to represent the conflict within his country of origin as the Georgian dance represents the “old” and the burgeoning love between two of the dancers would represent the new. Through the story of young LGBT+ people and their struggles Levan Akin use the occasion for showing the history and situation of Georgia today. On the International day against homophobia, And Then We Danced is not only an emotional and passionate love story but it also a very necessary film to show Georgia and the whole world that Love is Love.

And Then We Danced: Merab has been training since a young age at the National Georgian Ensemble with his dance partner Mary. His world is suddenly turned upside down when the charismatic and carefree Irakli arrives and becomes both his strongest rival and desire. In this conservative setting Merab finds himself having to break free and risk it all.

To discover more about the film, click here.

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Midge Costin, director of the film Making Waves: the Art of Cinematic Sound.

Director Midge Costin has been a Hollywood sound editor for over two decades and in Cannes Classics at the 72nd Festival de Cannes she brings the audience’s attention on the hidden power of sound design with Making Waves: the Art of Cinematic Sound, a documentary on the secrets of this field with interviews to famous directors like George Lucas, David Lynch, Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford and Ang Lee. Midge Costin explains the origins lf the film and the structure she used to highlight the importance of the sound art in cinema. The director comments on whole streaming platform VS cinema theatre’s hot topic and surprisingly enough, underlines how the sound department has not been affected by this change in a film’s fruition.

Making Waves: the Art of Cinematic Sound reveals the hidden power of sound in cinema – and our lives. Through film clips, interviews and verité footage, the film captures the history, impact and creative process of this overlooked art form through the insights and stories of legendary directors such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Barbra Streisand, Ang Lee, Christopher Nolan, Sofia Coppola and Ryan Coogler, and the sound men and women with whom they collaborate. Few have “ears to hear” or comprehend the emotional storytelling impact sound plays in so- called visual media. Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas have both declared that “sound is 50% of the movie” with Spielberg saying “our ears lead our eyes to where the story lives.” In Making Waves, we see and hear from the key players of sound design – including multi-Oscar winners Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now), Ben Burtt (Star Wars) and Gary Rydstrom (Saving Private Ryan) – who, in pursuing their art and desire to push the medium, are the very people who will go down in the history of cinema as developing sound into the immersive storytelling force it is today. Audiences will discover many unsung collaborators for the key creative artists they are, in a domain that has for too long been characterized as “technical.”

To discover more about the film, click here.

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