FRED Film Radio - English Channel

“Mapa a Panataria“ es una obra de danza-teatro creada por el coreógrafo Chevi Muraday y la actriz Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, en la selección del London Spanish Film Festival- 

El documental trata de un espectáculo, “Pandataria“, que una compañía de teatro està al punto de estrenar en el teatro romano de Mérida.

Pandataria es también el otro nombre de Ventotene, una isla perteneciente al archipiélago de las Pontinas, en el mar Tirreno, donde los romanos desterraban a las mujeres adúlteras, poderosas e independientes, y donde, siglos más tarde, Mussolini encarcelaba a sus opositores.

Declaró Cayetana Guillén-Cuervo que “Pandataria, el espectáculo, nace de la necesidad de gritar por la libertad, la dignidad humana y el respeto a todos. Desde la necesidad de abrazar la diferencia, la diversidad, de hablar de los excluidos. Porque todos lo hemos sido en algún momento de la vida. Lo que teníamos entre manos era tan potente, que vimos necesario hacer un seguimiento del proceso creativo, que reflejara a su vez las historias de superación de un elenco tan inclusivo como diverso”. 

The post “Mapa a Pandataria”, entrevista con la actriz Cayetana Guillen Cuervo y el director Chevi Muraday appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Leigh, the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Golden Lion at Venice, teams up once again with Jean-Baptiste, whom he previously directed to an Oscar nomination in “Secrets & Lies“.

The film had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim before arriving in San Sebastián, where Leigh competes for the first time for the Golden Shell. 

“Hard Truths“ is set to release in Spain on January 10, 2025.

The post “Hard Truths”, interview with director Mike Leigh and actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

 This debut feature, produced between the UK and Portugal, is competing for the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF). 

“On Falling“ was hailed by Indiewire as “a quietly devastating debut showcasing a new master of emotionally sophisticated social realism” following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The post “On Falling”, interview with director Laura Carreira appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Tyburski’s debut feature, “The Sound of Silence“, premiered in competition at Sundance 2019.

His short film “Palimpsest” won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2013, and in the same year, he was named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker magazine.

 Tyburski is also no stranger to the San Sebastian Film Festival, having participated in its Culinary Zinema section in 2014 with his documentary short “Brooklyn Farmer“.

The post “Turn me on”, interview with the director Michael Tyburski appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Ethan Hawke is one of the main guests of the 20th Lucca Film Festival.

Protagonist of a masterclass with university students, audience and press, the actor, director, writer and musician received the Golden Panther Award for his achievements.

To celebrate him, Lucca Film Festival showcased a very effective selection of the titles that made his acting and directing career.

From Peter Weir’s drama Dead Poets Society (1989), a critical success starring Robin Williams as the protagonist which launched his career as an actor to the Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy that he also co-wrote the screenplay of, along with his co-star Julie Delpy.

Among his films as director, the festival presented “Blaze, Seymour: an Introduction” and his latest work, “Wildcat“, as an italian premiere.

The film stars Hawke’s daughter, actress and songwriter Maya Hawke in the role of American novelist Flannery O’Connor.

When asked which moment of his life he’s the most nostalgic about, Ethan Hawke answers: “I get nostalgic about basically everything, strangely even about the darkest period in my life because I was growing”.

The post Ethan Hawke, interview with the actor-director awarded at the Lucca Film Festival appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

During the London Spanish Film Festival, Fred Film Radio spoke with Simón Casal, the mind behind the gripping and provocative political thriller “Artificial Justice“.

Casal gave us an insight into the extensive research he undertook to fully understand the current state and impact of artificial intelligence across different sectors, but particularly justice, to craft his near-future world and story.

He also shared how his feature sits within the broader genre of sci-fi, where our fears around the impact of technology on our lives have long been made manifest, from the likes of “Minority Report” to “Black Mirror“, plus other reference points that informed his movie’s look and feel, such as the noir-meets-sci-fi sensibility of “Blade Runner“.

In the same way the movie opens with a referendum on whether AI should be allowed to replace judges in the judicial system, Casal too wants to ask his audience which way they would vote given the chance, and if some aspects of the law should stay in the hands of humans, so that decisions can be made with empathy and humanity.

The post “Artificial Justice”, interview with director Simón Casal appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Fred Film Radio heard from director Patricia Font about her movie “The Teacher Who Promised the Sea” (“El maestro que prometió el mar”), adapted from a book by Francesc Escribano, presented on the penultimate night of the 2024 London Spanish Film Festival.

Patricia Font explained that although there are many films dealing with the Spanish Civil War, few delve into the ongoing search of many families for the remains of their loved ones who disappeared during this time.

A beautifully made and moving feature, Font shared how she juxtaposed and contrasted a fictional present with a reconstruction of the past, with a protagonist in the current day, Ariadna, searching for her great-grandfather who went missing during the War (played by the ever-excellent Laia Costa), providing a conduit to the historical era. While contemporary scenes are overshadowed by the weight of intergenerational wounds, trauma and death, the past is filled with colour, dynamism and life, the charisma of the titular teacher emanating from Enric Auquer off the screen.

Patricia Font talked through the way the few but shocking moments of violence are depicted, keeping the brutality of torture itself as implied rather than detailed, and the decision to end on a realistic yet poignant ending, letting the poetic words of one teacher’s students hang in the air.

Patricia Font  emphasised the importance of unearthing lost stories such as that of Antoni Benaiges as a way of keeping their memory alive and to help heal the wounds that remain in families and Spanish society more broadly as result of the horrors of history.

The post “The Teacher Who Promised the Sea”, interview with director Patricia Font appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Ruben Ostlund received the Stella Della Mole award at the National Cinema Museum in Turin and took for the first time outside Scandinavia, the installation The Square that inspired and preceded the making of the winning film at Cannes. Angelo Acerbi met up with him to talk about this, sociology, the grotesque and the taste for knowing how to laugh at oneself. And also what his net film will be about.

Art serves to change thoughts and subtleties, it can be done

Sociology is an interest and a cue for his films

For Ostlund, sociological curiosity is a necessity and an ongoing cue for his films. He tells us how he uses it and also where the inspiration for his next film comes from: a sociological experiment that he will adapt for the screen. Hear how.

The post Ruben Ostlund, Stella Della Mole Award at Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Torino. appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Fred Film Radio heard from filmmaker and historian Luis E. Parés during the London Spanish Film Festival about his documentary “The First Look” or “La Primera Mirada“.

Parés gave an insight into the painstaking process of viewing the entire archive created by students of a film school created during Franco’s dictatorship, which was nonetheless necessary due to Parés’ obsessive nature and thorough approach to his work. He shared what stood out to him on first seeing these images, showing a part of Spanish history not caught on camera before, from the extreme poverty that existed in the wake of civil war to the provocative political views, absurd humour and repression of sexual desire they explored, something otherwise forbidden during that time.

He explained that the fact the film school lacked funding and was seen as only the innocuous experimentation of students, their work went under the radar of government censorship, opening up a space of relative freedom to create subversive art and capture unseen parts of the country in inventive ways, telling a different story than the one told in mainstream channels and defying the otherwise pervasive oppression.

Parés further expressed his views about the importance of knowing and understanding Spain’s history, cinema history and the context in which older generations grew up in order to understand the present and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, something we are able to do most powerfully through cinematographical images.

The post “The First Look”, interview with director Luis E. Parés appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

During the London Spanish Film Festival, Fred Film Radio caught up with the co-directors María G. Royo and Julia de Castro on their blisteringly original wild trip of a road movie “On the Go“.

They shared how they deeply connected over the idea of an homage to 1980s movie “Corridas de alegría” while sat in a tax office, not least because it looked like a lot of fun was had making it. Staying true to the original, they shot on 16mm despite everyone telling them not to, needing to develop their own non-conventional methodology to make it work, often only shooting one take and only being able to see what they’d filmed days later.

We discussed the idiosyncratic voice of the feature, which Royo described as exploring the “fertile space between delirium and surrealism”, often shifting seamlessly between realism and fairytale-like otherworldliness, moments of tragedy and absurd humour, dealing with sex, relationships and queer identity in rebellious, fun and frank terms.

They further explained how they found a key thread for the film was the common ground the two shared about ambivalence and uncertainty about motherhood, with their two differing perspectives, presented in a raw, irreverent and playful way, creating the central conceit of the film. The movie also emerged as an ode to friendship, particularly intergenerational friendship, which isn’t often shown on screen.

Finally, they gave us a sneak peek into the epic and varied soundtrack, which featured both local artists and the likes of Nina Kravitz, and their hope to find distribution in and collaborate with the UK on productions in future.

The post “On the Go”, interview with co-directors María G. Royo and Julia de Castro appeared first on Fred Film Radio.