FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Samantha Sartori interviews Yu Gu, director of the film A Woman’s Work.

At Tribeca Film Festival we meet Yu Gu, a filmmaker and visual artist born in Chongqing, China and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Yu works in both narrative and documentary film, exploring themes of identity, migration, and the individual’s relationship to society. We talked about how she came across cheerleaders being exploited in the NFL and decided to make a movie, first meeting with a group of employment attorneys and then with the women organizing against the teams, starting with Lacy T. against the Oakland Raiders. There is nothing more American than football and cheerleaders, except for unfair treatment in workplace. This is David against Goliath; the fight of poorly-treated workers against the football teams with effectively unlimited amounts of money to defend themselves.

A Woman’s Work: Football and feminism collide in this documentary following former NFL cheerleaders fighting to end the wage theft and illegal employment practices that have persisted in the league for 50 years. In 2013, Lacy T., an Oakland Raiders’ cheerleader, found herself in a mountain of debt at her team’s behest in paying for beauty upkeep, transportation, and clothing while waiting for a single paycheck that would compensate her for less than the legal minimum wage. In 2014, she enlisted a group of all women labor attorneys, LVBH, to sue her team. NFL mascots and water boys are paid more than $60K per season, concession workers are paid the legal minimum wage plus gratuities, while most NFL cheerleaders were unpaid or paid below the legal minimum wage. Women make up nearly 50% of the audience, yet the NFL abuses the only visible women on their field. Lacy T.’s media blitz ignited four more cheerleader lawsuits. Beyond labor code violations, a culture of toxic masculinity was exposed in cheerleader handbooks setting archaic double standards and rules. On the heels of the #metoo movement, over a dozen more lawsuits were filed by NFL cheerleaders exposing myriad stories of sexual harassment. In the wake of lawsuits, minimum wage salaries have been quietly implemented across the NFL, several lawsuits have settled, and California legislation, proposed by an assemblywoman, was signed into law ensuring the fair treatment of cheerleaders of major league teams as employees.

To discover more about the film, click here.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

The post Yu Gu – A Woman’s Work #Tribeca2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews director Ira Sachs.

Ira Sachs came to Italy to Turin 23 years ago with his first feature film The Delta, winning the Best Feature awards at the Torino Gay and Lesbian Festival (now Lovers Film Fest). A lot has changed since then in the world, in the LGBT community and in the movie industry but his approach to filming never modified much, it implemented but did not drastically change. He tells us why.

The post Ira Sachs #LOVERSFF19 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Sarah Bradbury interviews Natasha Marburger, director of the London Independent Film Festival.

The director of the London Independent Film Festival, Natasha Marburger, sat down with us during the festival to tell us about the UK capital’s premier event for indie filmmakers, the importance of supporting first time filmmakers and broadening access to cinema and the highlights of the 2019 programme including short and feature film viewings, industry talks and networking events.

The London Independent Film Festival (LIFF) is the premier event for first and second-time film-makers, micro-budget and no-budget films in the UK. LIFF offers a fantastic opportunity for indie filmmakers to showcase their achievements, with spaces reserved for first and second time filmmakers and for films that have been overlooked by other events. LIFF presents the best of low-budget filmmaking from around the world, and mixes it up with relevant industry discussions and targeted social networking events. LIFF’s audience is London’s sizeable independent filmmaking community. It’s an indie film festival for indie filmmakers.

To discover more about the Festival, click here.

The post Natasha Marburger – London Independent Film Festival appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Samantha Sartori interviews Lise Friedman and Maia Wechsler, producer and director of the film If the Dancer Dances.

At the theatrical release of If the Dancer Dances we meet the director and producer Maia Wechsler and producer Lise Friedman, we talk about the idea to honor Merce Cunningham’s work, one of the most innovative and inspiring choreographers of modern dance in New York, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 90. If the Dancer Dances opens theatrically in New York (The Quad) on Friday, April 26th and in Los Angeles on Friday, May 3rd (Laemmle Music Hall), with a national release to follow.

If the Dancer Dances invites viewers into the intimate world of the dance studio. Stephen Petronio, one of today’s leading dance-makers, is determined to help his dancers breathe new life into RainForest (1968), an iconic work by the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. With help from three members of the former Cunningham company, the film tracks Petronio’s dancers as they strive to re-stage this great work, revealing what it takes to keep a dance – and a legacy – alive. Timed to coincide with Cunningham’s centennial, If the Dancer Dances is the first documentary on the subject of Cunningham’s work since his passing in 2009. Merce Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who stood at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 60 years. As a choreographer, teacher, and leader of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Cunningham had a profound influence on modern dance and earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts, including the National Medal of Arts and the MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship. Cunningham is also notable for his frequent collaborations with artists of other disciplines, including the musicians Radiohead and John Cage (also his life partner), as well as visual artists Andy Warhol, who did the décor for RainForest , the dance featured in If the Dancer Dances, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg.

To discover more about the film, click here.

The post Lise Friedman, Maia Wechsler – If the Dancer Dances appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Cristiana Palmieri interviews festival coordinator Gina Rubiano.

Gina Rubiano explores the festival’s highlights of the two key programme strands: New Spanish Cinema and Cine Latino. Gina talks about Spanish and Latin American co-productions that have boosted Spanish speaking cinema, increasing the interest for Spanish speaking films on a global scale.

The festival opens with Javier Fesser’s critically acclaimed Goya Award-winning box office smash hit Champions (Campeones), and closes with a digital restoration of the firecracker comedy Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios), directed by leading Spanish auteur, Pedro Almodóvar, to celebrate the film’s 30th Anniversary.

To discover more about the Festival, click here.

The post Gina Rubiano #ASFF2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Marios Piperides, director of the film Smuggling Hendrix.

Marios Piperides shows us how a simple comedic stratagem can go a long way. In his feature Smuggling Hendrix, the quest to find a dog name Jimmy reveals the absurdity of bureaucracy and the indifference of the international community that allows a country such as Cyprus to be contended like a war zone for so many years.

Smuggling Hendrix: Yiannis doesn’t have much going for him, save for his adorable dog, Jimi, and his fast-approaching date to get out of Cyprus for good. But when Jimi wanders across the U.N. buffer zone and into the section of the island Turkey seized more than forty years ago, an unregulated state unrecognized by the rest of the world, Yiannis learns, bringing a dog back over the border is not as easy as walking straight home. He enlists a mismatched band of accomplices from every side of the Cyprus dispute to find a way to get Jimi back, while never leaving the land he calls home.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

The post Marios Piperides – Smuggling Hendrix #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Badger Skelton, actor of the film Two for Joy.

The talented Badger Skelton, a new face of British cinema, stops by to talk about his first experience on the set of Two for Joy, a powerful drama by Tom Beard. Shot entirely on 35mm film, Two for Joy is an intense and immersive family portrait on the devastating effects of depression. It stars Samantha Morton, Billie Piper, Bella Ramsey, Daniel Mays and, of course, Badger Skelton.

Two for Joy: A coming-of-age drama following a daughter, her mother and her wayward younger brother as their relationship reaches critical mass. A portrait of modern Britain seen through the eyes of a family in crisis which shines a spotlight on issues affecting marginal communities, including young carers, mental illness and national identity.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

The post Badger Skelton – Two for Joy #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews producer Eilon Ratzkovsky.

Eilon Ratzkovsky is an experienced film and TV producer with 25 years of history. He has a clear view on the world of film production and with his company Quiddity is providing high end content for TV series. He is the man to talk to if you want to know how to be a successful producer. And he shared some thoughts and suggestions with us.

The post Eilon Ratzkovsky #TorinoFilmLab appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews screenwriter and script editor Eszter Angyalosy.

Eszter Angyalosy is a book writer that shifted to screenwriting and consulting for movies and lately TV series. She talks with us about the differences of medias in terms of writing needs and the secrets about writing and developing the best TV series possible.

The post Eszter Angyalosy #TorinoFilmLab appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Nicolò Comotti interviews Marco Müller, festival director and head of the jury.

Marco Müller, here in Lecce as head of the jury for the Olive Tree Award at the Festival del Cinema Europeo in Lecce, talks with us about his look on Cinema nowadays, its new ways of being and looking, and the importance of film festivals today, especially as entities with a clear message and goal such as Alberto Lamonica’s Festival del Cinema Europeo.

Marco Müller will chair the Jury of the “Golden Olive Tree” Feature Competition composed by Guillame Calop, Pippo Mezzapesa, Ana Urushadze and Olena Yershova, which will award the “Cristina Soldano Award” Golden Olive Tree for Best Film, the Special Jury Award, the Best Cinematography Award and the Best Screenplay Award. 12 films, selected by Alberto La Monica and Luigi La Monica, will screen for the first time in Italy, presented by their respective directors or some of the actors, who will meet the audience after the screening.

The post Marco Müller #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.