FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Christine Eloy, general manager of Europa Distribution at the 66th Berlinale

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the image

Christine Eloy, general manager of Europa Distribution was present at the European Film Market (EFM) of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, also to mark the celebration of the 10 years of activity of the European Network. The idea behind the foundation of Europa Distribution was to establish a creative place where distributors from different countries could talk with each other, share experiences and question methods and instruments. This idea and this goal has not changed, but it is obviously constantly adjusting to the advancements of the digital era and developing new ways to distribute European films and test new audiences.

EUROPA DISTRIBUTION is the association of independent film distributors, created in 2006. With more than 140 leading independent distributors representing 28 countries in Europe and beyond, it serves as the voice of the sector and acts as a network and a think tank. Since its creation, Europa Distribution has accompanied and reinforced the integration and collaboration process between its members through brainstorming and training sessions and information.

The network’s aim is to strengthen the existing ties to improve the curation, promotion and distribution of independent films. Ursula Meier (Silver Bear 2012 for Sister) is the President of Honor of the Association. The Board of Administration, chaired by Jakub Duszynski (Gutek Film / Poland) & Laurent Dutoit (Agora Films / Switerland) is composed of 13 independent European distributors, representative in terms of nationality, type of structure, and cultural diversity.

The post Christine Eloy, general manager of Europa Distribution #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Ali Abbasi, director of Shelley, from the Panorama section of the 66th Berlinale

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Ali Abbasi presented Shelley in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. FRED caught up with him to talk about it, and he explained his choice of the psychological thriller/horror genre as a metaphor, a device that allowed him to treat the complicated topic of surrgoate motherhood with a distant and impartial point of view.

SHELLEY: Young Romanian woman Elena arrives in the Danish countryside to work as a housekeeper for a recovering Louise and her husband Kasper. It’s an eerie feeling, being deep in a dense forest, far away from modern life. Especially since the isolated house is still and somber without electricity, according to Louise’s wishes. Elena adjusts quickly to her new routine of household chores, tending to chickens and helping fragile Louise. The two women grow closer, but the more they know one another, the more each finds the other stranger. Louise is devastated being unable to bear children after a horrifying miscarriage. Desperate for a child of her own, Louise offers Elena a generous financial deal to be the couple’s surrogate mother. Elena kindly accepts, and the money will help her return home sooner to her own small son. Elena’s pregnancy brings joy to the home of Louise and Kasper, but only briefly. The couple are troubled by Elena’s atypical cravings and aloof behavior. Bizarre hallucinations and unbearable sensations drive Elena to believe that something is frightfully wrong. The life growing inside of her is taking shape too fast, upsetting the lives of everyone like an evil force…

The post Ali Abbasi, director of “Shelley” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Christine Vachon, producer and co-founder of Killer Films from the 66th Berlinale

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the photo

Producer and co-founder of Killer Films, Christine Vachon, has produced some of the most impressive and celebrated American films of the last few decades. Among them, Carol, I’m Not There, Still Alice and Far from Heaven. FRED caught up with her in Berlin, where she was in attendance to support the presentation of her latest production, Goat by Andrew Neel, which was featured in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.

The story of Goat is quite interesting. Its screenplay was based on a book by Brad Land, and written by David Gordon Green, who had originally intended to direct it. It was only 10 years later that Vachon, along with producer David Hinojosa, decided to shake the dust of it and offer the role of director to Neel.

Anticipation for the film is quite high, not only given the great body of work that she had produced in the past, but also considering the success of some of her more recent production such as Carol. We talk about Carol with her, and she reveals that the 6 Oscar nominations that the film earned, she did not expect but very much hoped for. Taking the opportunity of interviewing such an influential producer, we also ask her about the differences between American and European independent productions, as well as the selection critaria to find great movies to produce.

Listen to our interview with Andrew Neel, director of Goat – FRED English channel

CHRISTINE VACHON is an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award winner who co-founded indie powerhouse Killer Films with partner Pamela Koffler in 1995. Over the past decade and a half, the two have produced some of the most celebrated American indie features including Far from Heaven (nominated for four Academy Awards), Still Alice (Academy Award winner), Boys Don’t Cry (Academy Award winner), One Hour Photo, Kids, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Velvet Goldmine, Safe, I Shot Andy Warhol, Camp, Swoon and I’m Not There (Academy Award nominated). In television, Vachon recently executive-produced the Emmy and Golden Globe winning miniseries Mildred Pierce for HBO and an upcoming series on Amazon based on the life of Zelda Fitzgerald. Other recent work includes: Kill Your Darlings, Magic Hour, Carol directed by Todd Haynes and Wiener-Dog written and directed by Todd Solondz.

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PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Doris Dörrie, director of the film Fukushima, Mon Amour from the Panorama section of the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Doris Dörrie presented her new film Fukushima, Mon Amour in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Here, director Doris Dörrie returns to Japan, where her previous film Cherry Blossoms. This time, she does so through foreign German perspective, rather than a Japanese one. To cite the director’s own words, Fukushima, Mon Amour is a story of two women whose backgrounds are so completely different, and yet who are both caught in their own past, and who learn together to free themselves from their personal memories. The title is a homage to Alain Resnais’ masterpiece Hiroshima, Mon Amour.

FUKISHIMA, MON AMOUR: Young German woman Marie (Rosalie Thomass) escapes to Fukushima to change her life. Working with the organization Clowns4Help, she hopes to bring joy to 2011 nuclear disaster survivors, some still living in emergency shelters. Marie soon realizes she‘s absolutely unsuited to the task of making tragedy less weari- some. But instead of running away, Marie decides to stay with cantankerous old Satomi (Kaori Momoi), the last geisha of Fukushima, who of her own accord has decided to retreat back to her ruined house in the formerly radioactive Exclusion Zone. Two women who couldn‘t be more different, but who – each in her own way – are trapped in the past and must learn to liberate themselves from guilt and the burden of memory.

The post Doris Dörrie, director of “Fukushima, Mon Amour” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Alex Gibney, director of Zero Days in competition at the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Alex Gibney returns to FRED’s airwaves to talk about his latest documentary feature titled Zero Days. Gibney says that the topic of a possible, or possibly current, cyber war thus far has been the most complicated subject for him to cinematically unfold.

Click here to listen to Alex Gibney’s masterclass at the 2016 Berlinale Talents, titled “To the Dark Side: Investigative Documentary” – FRED Extra channel

ZERO DAYS: Alex Gibney’s Zero Days is a documentary thriller about warfare in a world without rules— the world of cyberwar. The film tells the story of Stuxnet, self-replicating computer malware (known as a “worm” for its ability to burrow from computer to computer on its own) that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target. It’s the most comprehensive accounting to date of how a clandestine mission hatched by two allies with clashing agendas opened forever the Pandora’s Box of cyberwarfare. Zero Days is a cautionary tale of technology, power, unintended consequences, morality, and the dangers of secrecy. By bursting through the secrecy, Zero Days hopes to signal the importance of this issue and break ground on the debate.power.

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PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews director Udi Aloni, actor Tamer Nafar and actress Samar Qupty on the film Junction 48 from the 66th Berlinale

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Presented in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, Junction 48 stars real life rapper Tamer Nafar, who wrote the screenplay inspired by his own personal experiences as part of the Arab hip-hop scene in Tel Aviv. This is a story of love and struggles, and it speaks to young people with the hope of making a change.

JUNCTION 48 is the love story of two young Palestinian hip-hop artists who use their music to fight against both the external oppression of Israeli society and the internal repression of their own crime-ridden, conservative community. It depicts a new generation of young Arabs who seek normality through their love and music – and against all odds.

The post Director Udi Aloni, actors Tamer Nafar and Samar Qupty on “Junction 48” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh and Ehsan Goudarzi, actors of the film A Dragon Arrives! (Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad!) by Mani Haghighi, presented in competition at the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh and Ehsan Goudarzi are the three protagonists of Mani Haghighi’s A Dragon Arrives!, in competition at the 66th Berlinale. The actors reveal that they were honored to be cast for this film and to be working with Mani Haghighi, so they allowed him to guide them through this cinematic experience.

Click here to listen to our interview with Mani Haghighi, director of the film A Dragon Arrives! – FRED English channel

A DRAGON ARRIVES: An orange Chevrolet Impala drives across a cemetery towards an abandoned shipwreck in the middle of a desert landscape. It is the 22nd of January, 1965. The day before, the Iranian prime minister was shot dead in front of the parliament building. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself. The walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes and strange symbols. Can they help Police Inspector Babak Hafizi in his investigations? Will they shed any light on why there is always an earthquake whenever somebody is buried in this desert cemetery?

The post Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh and Ehsan Goudarzi, actors of “A Dragon Arrives!” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Cynthia Nixon, actress of the film A Quiet Passion by Terence Davies from the 66th Berlinale

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Cynthia Nixon plays the leading role in Terence Davies‘ new film, A Quiet Passion, on the life of Emily Dickinson. The film was presented at the 66th Berlinale as a Special Gala, and also stars Jennifer Ehle and Keith Carradine. Nixon comments on the reasons why she accepted to portray the American poet and the comedic approach used by Davies in the screenplay and the film.

A QUIET PASSION is the life story of the celebrated American poet Emily Dickinson, from her youth as a headstrong schoolgirl to her reclusive adulthood where poetry was solace.

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PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Andrew Neel, director of Goat from the panorama section of the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Co-written by Andrew Neel, David Gordon Green and Mike Roberts and based on the acclaimed memoirs by Brad Land, Goat provides a searing portrayal of masculinity, violence and brotherhood. Christine Vachon and David Hinojosa of Killer Films were the ones who suggested Neel should direct Goat, which they were planning to produce, as they were working together on a different project.

Click here to listen to our interview with Nick Jonas on his role in the film Goat – FRED English channel

GOAT: Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old boy enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of “brotherhood” tests the boy and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.

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PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Nick Jonas, actor in the film Goat by Andrew Neel, presented in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlinale.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

The whole story of Goat focuses on the theme of masculinity and what it stands for in today’s world. Nick Jonas plays the role of the main character Brad (Ben Schnetzer) in the film, who tries to help his brother regain his masculinity by urging him to pledge his same fraternity. Jonas talks to us about how he fell in love with the screenplay from the moment he read it, and how he hopes that Goat will raise a conversation on the topic it deals with.

Click here to listen to our interview with Andrew Neel, director of the film Goat – FRED English channel

GOAT: Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old boy enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of “brotherhood” tests the boy and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.

The post Nick Jonas, actor in the film “Goat” #Berlinale2016 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.