FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Pia Zemljič and Marko Mandić, actors in Nightlife by Damjan Kozole from the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

A man lies naked on the street one night; a bloody mess, covered in bite and almost lifeless. This is the result of a horrific accident that occurred under strange circumstances. This is a starting point for the story of Nightlife, the film by Damjan Kozole, that had its world premiere in the official competition of the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This is also a story that was inspired by a true, nationwide news story in Slovenia.

In this interview with two of its leading actors, Pia Zemljic and Marko Mandic, respectively playing the wife and friend of the victim, talk about their characters, how they first became involved with the project and how they adapted to the realism that really drives this tale. In their answers, we also discover some of the ways in which things happened on set and their personal reactions to the film and its dealing with morals and ethics.

NIGHTLIFE: The lives of a wealthy married couple radically change in an instant. While the husband is in critical condition after an accident that occurred under strange circumstances, the wife tries to understand the situation and to salvage what she can… In this constricted, small-scale drama by a renowned Slovenian filmmaker, Pia Zemljic excels in the role of the resourceful wife.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Žiga Virc, director of Houston, We Have a Problem! from the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

“More than a provocation, this film is like a wake-up call,” director Ziga Virc says about his film Houston, We Have a Problem!, which was presented at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This is a film where mostly fake facts are presented in a way that feels like a traditional modern way documentary feature. So much so that it is, indeed, hard to figure out where the real ends and the imagined side of the film begins.

The story concerns a major, and somewhat implausible, Yugoslav involvement in the Cold War’s Space Race, and the rise in the tension in the relationship between the U.S. and Yugoslavia. The wake-up calls Virc refers to is that relating to information and things written online, and how such news is propagated in the modern world dominated by social media. The dangers of such practices, Virc adds, makes it even more worrying than the way propaganda was back in the days of Yugoslavia under Tito’s regime because, back then, people could tell what was propaganda, whereas things are a lot more deceitful in these days. In this interview, we also discuss the film’s occasional use of humour and archive footage and much more.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!: Tito, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Clinton in a narrative docu-fiction about Yugoslavia’s hitherto secret space program, which aimed to put American astronauts on the Moon and thereby win the Cold War. Can eyewitnesses unravel the web of lies, dirty political games, and conspiracy theories?

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Clemens Pichler, director of Diorama from Future Frames at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Clemens Pichler, director of Diorama, was selected for this year’s edition of EFP’s Future Frames at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This is a film that plays with conventional narrative structure, expanding it. We ask him about the genesis of the film and even whether there is any specific reason for making the film. The answer starts off with “filmmaking itself,” which is quite inspiring. In addition, Pichler shares with us his experiences at Future Frames and future plans, ambitions and projects.

DIORAMA: Diorama is a nightmarish trip through a couple’s memories and projections at the end of their long on/off relationship. The film depicts the the couple’s quest for the one true love, which, however, remains unfulfilled. A sparse desert landscape provides the surreal setting where Kolja and Rocio confront each other with memories of the darkest and manic moments of their time together. For them, the desert is not only a travel destination they never made it to but also represents a place of longing and hope. For an instant, a change of perspective and a chance to reconnect seems possible. However, the past has a firm grip on them and will not let go. Fond memories of the crazy-romantic beginning of their relationship are overcome by desires and anxieties. The cautious quest for new beginning ends as disaster – again. During their encounter in the unreal desert, their thoughts are haunted more and more by images from the past.

For more information on Future Frames, go to http://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/future_frames.php

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Felix van Groeningen talks about Belgica and being Future Frames mentor at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Felix Van Groeningen returns with his follow-up to the acclaimed The Broken Circle Breakdown. Music is still a central feature in his latest feature Belgica, as is the theme of family and most importantly brotherhood. We ask him about these themes and he reveals that the story was inspired by personal memories and recollections about periods in his life. He described Belgica as a “melancholic look at nightlife.”

In addition to presenting his film in the Horizons section of the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Van Groeningen was invited to be the mentor of this year’s Future Frames. He specifies, however, that he didn’t teach the young filmmakers and participants in Future Frames. It was more like an exchange. He got to watch their films, and as he said, he was “totally amazed” by them.

BELGICA: Brothers Frank and Jo haven’t seen each other for years but they become much closer when Frank starts working in Jo’s bar. Belgica fast becomes a club for the in-crowd where all life’s troubles are quickly forgotten in the dark of night. A dynamic, emotive and masterfully shot movie in which both characters and their audience go flat out. But will they survive it?

For more information on Future Frames, go to http://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/future_frames.php

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Julia Furer, director of Julien from Future Frames at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Julien is the documentary by Julia Furer, selected as part of EFP’s Future Frames platform, intended to highlight the works of up and coming talented filmmakers from Europe. We talk about this documentary and her experience at Future Frames. We also ask her about whether she sees herself a documentary filmmaker or whether she thinks she will ever try her luck at fiction works. On top of this, she reveals some of her influences as a filmmaker, a dreaded question that nevertheless highlights that her influences do not only come exclusively from cinema and the world of film, but also, for instance, photography.

JULIAN: Julian has been living in an old warehouse for twelve years, building harpsichords. When he faces eviction from his live-in workshop, he is confronted with the fact that he has neglected himself as a human being; he is suddenly aware of his life-style, and of the ever more pressing questions about his future and his purpose in life.

For more information on Future Frames, go to http://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/future_frames.php

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Ondrej Hudecek, director of Peacock from last year’s Future Frames at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

“One audience member at a festival described the film to me as ‘Barry Lyndon on crack’,” says director Ondrej Hudecek on his short film Peacock, who was a participant in last year’s program of the European Film Promotion’s Future Frames. We talk about the film, its inspirations and the reactions it received throughout the year of traveling through different festival since premiering at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival last year. But aside from this, we also take the opportunity of talking about Future Frames and his experience being part of the platform for up and coming talented filmmakers at the festival, what happened in the program and what he learned from it.

PEACOCK: Bohemia, 19th Century. Ladislav, the mischievous son of a landlord, terrorizes the village with cruel jokes. War breaks and Ladislav is forced to hide in a monastery, where he unexpectedly discovers his hidden desires. He returns home and befriends Jan, a sensitive young poet. Together they experience moments of undiluted happiness. However, passionate Ladislav soon becomes jealous and his endeavor to dominate Jan triggers a series of grievous events… A dramatic history of the rise of one of the most influential Czech writers, paved with flesh, bones and blood. A black comedy based on a true story, a queer literary encyclopedia, and a historical picture book in one.

For more information on Future Frames, go to http://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/future_frames.php

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Rebecca Figenschau, director of Elephant Skin from Future Frames at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

From Norway, Rebecca Figenschau, director of Elephant Skin; selected for the 2016 edition of EFP’s Future Frames. The film, therefore, screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Quite a personal film, and one in which Figenschau had to stay open to the unexpected and think sharply of different ways to solve the problem. We also talk about other things, such as the audience’s reaction to the screening (she called the Karlovy Vary audience an “excellent audience”), her experience at Future Frames and her future projects, ambitions and plans.

ELEPHANT SKIN: After a tough breakup, Johanna returns to her abandoned childhood home,aiming to create a safe nest for herself and her son. But shortly after they start to settle, her father shows up. Full of contempt over his daughter’s sensitivity, he starts to toughen up his grandchild, arguing that this is necessary for him to become a survivor in life. A power struggle between father and daughter begins, and Johanna is challenged to stand up for what strength means to her.

For more information on Future Frames, go to http://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/future_frames.php

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Roxana Stroe, director of A Night in Tokoriki from Future Frames at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

It started from a video of a homeless guy online and his dream of setting up his own disco. It became A Night in Tokoriki, and the film was selected as part of the programme of European Film Promotion‘s Future Frame, which highlights the works of up and coming talented filmmakers from the European territory. The film is directed by Roxana Stroe, and we caught up with her just before the screening of the film in Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Aside from talking about A Night in Tokoriki, her collaboration with Ana-Maria Gheorghe, and her future (“there’s always something in the works,” she says) we talk about her experience at Future Frames so far.

A NIGHT IN TOKORIKI: In an improvised night club called “Tokoriki” the whole village celebrates Geanina’s 18th birthday. Her boyfriend and Alin will give her a most surprising gift, one that nobody will ever forget.

For more information on Future Frames, go to http://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/future_frames.php

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Szabolcs Hajdu, director of It’s Not the Time of My Life, winner of the top prize at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Szabolcs Hajdu is one of the most exciting European filmmakers in modern times, and part of the excitement in his body of work can be seen in the varied nature of his body of work. It’s Not the Time of My Life, his latest film that had its World premiere in the official competition of the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – where it also won the festival’s top prize – is for instance quite different from the modern western Mirage, his previous feature that we previously interviewed the director for.

It’s Not the Time of My Life is a film about family and there was a special motive for Hajdu to explore such a personal theme, which resulted out of his wish to return to a type of filmmaker that did not try to communicate any weighty, political message. In fact, his concern was that he was turning into exactly that type of filmmaker too much. To encourage this personal nature of the film, which is the film version of a stage play he wrote produced and starred in, he brought in his own family to act the roles. In addition to being a celebrated and noteworthy filmmaker, Hajdu is a respected film educator and the wonderful, precise camera work was composed by 13 different DOPs who are students of his.

This winning ingredient expands the chamber piece format of the narrative, but as this interview reveals, Hajdu is equally as daring in his approach to theatre, given the fact that the play version of this film was brought to the stage in a fascinating way. Certainly one of the best films of the 2016 KVIFF.

IT’S NOT THE TIME OF MY LIFE: The renowned Hungarian filmmaker (White Palms, Bibliothèque Pascal) has come out with an intimate study of two families thrown together by circumstance to temporarily share an unusual apartment. This independent movie – outstanding for its inventive production, precisely limned characters, and performances that get under the skin – draws faithfully on the work of Cassavetes and Bergman.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Grzegorz Zariczny, director of Waves from the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Grzegorz Zariczny, Polish filmmaker with a documentary backgrounds, had the world premiere of his first fiction feature film in Karlovy Vary this year. He is also a man of a few words – although that might be the language barrier. Nevertheless, in those few words, he manages to encapsulate some of the spirit of his film Waves.

We caught up with Zariczny just after one of the screenings of the film. Upon asking him how it went, he replied “well, you know, it’s dark in the cinema so you don’t know what people are doing,” before voicing his disappointment at one person that walked out during the screening (out of a full house.)

 A film that treasures realism, it is still surprising to hear that Waves originated from an earlier documentary short made last year and featuring the two leading non-professional actresses of Waves as themselves. We also talk about the importance of the setting of the film, a smaller town in Poland dressed in post-Communist greys, and find out that it took the director two years of working on the film before shooting began.

WAVES: Ania and Kasia are hairstyling apprentices spending time between school, shifts at a salon in a deserted Kraków housing complex, and home where relations with parents are far from harmonious. The story of two likably headstrong girls on their way to adulthood was shot with an emphasis on authenticity, and it can’t help but recall the best work of the Czechoslovak New Wave.

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