FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Sophie Fiennes, director of the film Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami.

Sophie Fiennes filmed Miss Grace Jones over a period of 5 years, from Jamaica to New York to Paris to a special gig in Dublin. The icon is there, the stage panther too, and the real woman finally appears. A feast for fans, a pleasure for all. Released over Europe in the next month, Italy too.

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami: Over-the-top, uninhibited, disquieting and androgynous: Grace Jones embodies all these adjectives. The polyhedral Jamaican artist reveals her most intimate side as a lover, daughter, mother, sister and even grandmother, and lets us discover what hides behind the unique and strong image she has moulded onto herself.

The post Sophie Fiennes – Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Peter Mackie Burns and Valentina Brazzini, director and producer of the film Daphne.

Peter Mackie Burns and Valentina Brazzini, respectively director and producer of Daphne, talk at our mikes about the genesis of this film. A sincere and moving (and funny too) portrait of a single girl in London. A normal life story for an outstanding film.

Daphne is thirty-one years old and leads a frenetic life, juggling her job at a restaurant in a fashionable part of London, her social life, and the men who fall hopelessly in love with her, despite all the signals she sends them. The cynical detachment she has developed toward life seems to be all-purpose, but happiness is another matter. This stalemate is unblocked when someone tries to kill a store manager: the girl witnesses the event and that forces her to fight the inevitability of a change which has become imperative.

The post Peter Mackie Burns, Valentina Brazzini – Daphne #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Jenny Suen and Christopher Doyle, directors of the film The White Girl.

Christopher Doyle pairs up with Jenny Suen on this tale about a girl with a skin, so pale that she’s called the white girl. In her village she feels like she is invisible, but she will eventually understand her value. An intense but dreamy film about acceptance, self affirmation and escape. A four-hands direction that was complex in the creation but easy in the making.

The White Girl lives a marginalised life in the last fishing village in Hong Kong. When she meets Sakamato, a young artist fleeing from fame, something inside her changes. In the meantime, the threat of gentrification looms over them…

The post Jenny Suen, Christopher Doyle – The White Girl #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Bharat Nalluri, director of the film The Man Who Invented Christmas.

Bharat Nalluri’s eyes still glimmer when he talks about the making of his film about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. And he has all the reasons in the world to glow as the film is a feast for the eyes and the heart, funny, moving and enormously entertaining. Definitely a new Christmas classic for the years to come.

The Man Who Invented Christmas:  After a string of successful novels, Charles Dickens has had three flops in a row. With the needs of his burgeoning family and his own extravagance rapidly emptying his pockets, Dickens grows desperate for another bestseller. Tormented by writer’s block and at odds with his publishers, he grasps at an idea for a surefire hit, a Christmas story he hopes will capture the imagination of his fans and solve his financial problems. But with only six weeks to write and publish the book before the holiday, he will have to work feverishly to meet his deadline.

The post Bharat Nalluri – The Man Who Invented Christmas #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Zefrey Throwell, director of the film Flames.

Zefry Throwell was in love with Josephine Decker. They chose, for a project commissioned by a museum, to film their love story, with its ups and downs, not an easy task, and in retrospect not a smart move. But the honesty of the film is undeniable and their relationship changed and transformed through the obligations that making a film requires.

Flames:  Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker fall in love with overwhelming intensity and force. The two artists decide to film their relationship, a kind of therapy which will lead them to also relive their most painful moments. When love ends, it seems natural that the filming should end, too, but the two former lovers decide to continue, discovering much about their rapport and about themselves.

The post Zefrey Throwell – Flames #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Graham Skipper, director of the film Sequence Break.

For his first feature film Sequence Break, actor turned director Graham Skipper chooses the 80’s atmosphere to direct an “analogic film” which is essentially a love story between two “antiques”, Oz and Tess, surrounded by an arcade, video games and dreams about the future. The film screens at the 35th Torino Film festival in the dark and irreverent section Afterhours. The Sequence Break in the film is indicated as the higher purpose of the protagonist and Skipper reveals how this is somehow the main message of the film: to not follow in life the path that has been imposed to us by society and structure. “Everybody gets an IT moment”, says Tess to Oz in a conversation. Graham Skipper describes the two IT moments of his life and his cinematographic influences.

Sequence Break:  A reclusive video arcade repair technician, Oz, has his reality fractured when a mysterious new arcade machine appears in his shop and a beautiful young woman enters his life.

The post Graham Skipper – Sequence Break #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Brian O’Malley, director of the film The Lodgers.

Brian O’Malley tells us all about his new film, a gothic tale set in rural Ireland. A new territory for him after his previous film Let Us Prey, that was more of a classical horror film. A script that enticed him, which he worked on changing a little but moulding the atmosphere in a way that it keeps you hooked.

The Lodgers:  Ireland, the 1920s. Edward and Rachel are a couple of orphaned twins who live in their family’s decrepit estate. Even though they are in a remote place, they are not alone. There are sinister presences in the house that strictly regulate the twins’ lives by imposing three simple rules they must never break. Rule one: Edward and Rachel have to be in bed with the door shut by midnight. Rule two: no one can cross the hedges and access the house. Rule three: the twins can never leave the house for good. Breaking one of the rules would anger the spirits of their ancestors. Just before their eighteenth birthday, Rachel meets a young war veteran and feels immediately drawn to him: he represents a chance to escape the family curse. But Edward doesn’t take kindly to the turn of events and slips into madness. His sister will have to confront the supernatural presences by herself if she wants to finally be free.

The post Brian O’Malley – The Lodgers #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Gillies MacKinnon, Petros Markaris and Santiago Mitre, members of the Jury at the 35th Torino Film Festival.

Gillies MacKinnon, director and artist, Santiago Mitre , director and screenwriter, and Petros Markaris , writer, are part of the Official Jury of the 35th Torino Film Festival. How is it for them judging other people’s work? How do they feel about it and how do they think they will take on this duty?

The post Gillies MacKinnon, Petros Markaris, Santiago Mitre #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Nicolas Wackerbath, director of the film Casting.

Nicolas Wackerbath tells us the peculiar way he used to create this film: no screenplay, just improvisation, long continuous shots of one hour and then editing. The intensity we get comes from this strenuous method, which definitely worked.

Casting:  One week before shooting starts, the main protagonist has yet to be cast. Vera is about to make her first TV movie, a remake of Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, and takes her time looking for her ideal cast. While the producer and the crew become desperate, an actor in the crew, Gerwin, is happy about the extra work. He earns his money as fixed casting partner and exchanges lines with the famous applicants for the role. When the male lead leaves the production, Gerwin senses his chance to get a fresh start as an actor.

The post Nicolas Wackerbath – Casting #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Armando Iannucci, director of the film The Death of Stalin.

Armando Iannucci, director of The Death of Stalin, tells us about the birth of this incredible and great film. Taken from a graphic novel, it is a comical and hysterical trip into the structure of absolute power and the stupidity that often surrounds it. With an incredible cast that will blow you away.

The Death of Stalin:  1953 seems like any other year during Stalin’s mandate: confident (but not overly so) of his power, he continues to order the murder or deportation of dissidents, to suppress freedom of expression and to make sure the circle of people revolving around him toes the line. One morning, when he is found lying on the floor, his coterie panics… And obviously, the race to become his successor begins. Who will win out over the others: Khrushchev, who is more like a Mafioso than a politician; the loose cannon Molotov; mild-mannered Zhukov; or evil Beria?

The post Armando Iannucci – The Death of Stalin #TFF35 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.