FRED Film Radio - English Channel

Izabela Wyppich – participating teacher – New Horizons Summer Academy

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Izabela Wyppich, school teacher who participated in this year’s edition of the New Horizons Summer Academy at the 15th New Horizons International Film Festival.

The Summer Academy is a programme that aims to instruct teachers in the art of filmmaking, with the hope that they will one day be able to pass on their new found knowledge to their pupils and students. But Izabela is now a veteran of the programme, having been an attendee at the festival for ten years. She hence tells us that she has learnt a lot through the programme and shares with us her experience of discovering something new – archive documentary, which is what she chose to undertake this time around.

We then reflect upon this very organic form of documentary filmmaking as a great possible activity that could be included in the school programme and the many benefits of film education in general.

NEW HORIZONS SUMMER ACADEMY: T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS International Film Festival in Wroclaw presents the work of cinema visionaries, uncompromising artists who have the courage to forge their own path regardless of prevailing fads, and to tackle key issues using their own unique language. During the festival, teachers and cultural mangers from all over Poland can participate in film workshops designed especially for them – the New Horizons Summer Academy. After T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS festival finishes, the most interesting films are screened in selected Polish cities as part of the New Horizons Tournee, and then are released for distribution.

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Kirsten Bonnén Rask – Tutor and partner – FILMS FOR KIDS.Pro

FRED’s Matt Micucci meets Kirsten Bonnen Rask, general manager of the Norwegian Somorsk Filmsenter, writer and educator.

We interview her as the main international partner of the Film For Kids.Pro in its inaugural edition in Poland, that culminates with the pitching session which takes place during the course of the New Horizons International Film Festival. We also interview her in her role as a tutor.

She tells us about the challenges of getting financial backing for making the ambitious project a reality, and provides us with an overview of how the project worked.

On top of this, Kirsten examines the current state of cinema for a young audience, and mentions the opposite states of filmmaking for such an audience in the two countries of the projects – Poland and Norway.

FILMS FOR KIDS.Pro: The first program in Europe dedicated solely to the development of films for young audiences.

Our goal is to support the production of ambitious movies for children aged 5-12 years, based on the highest artistic and production standards of European, and in particular Norwegian, cinema.

We will work on ideas brought by participants and develop them from a short synopsis through first draft to a second draft of the screenplay (approximately 90-pages long). In parallel we will work with their respective producers on a strategy for financing, promoting and distributing those movies. All elements of the program are focused specifically on cinema for children.

More information: www.filmsforkidspro.eu Supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-financed by the Polish funds. Participation in the whole program is free of charge (tutoring, lectures, transportation, accommodation and board, and also participation in film festival screenings).

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Monika Palka – participating teacher – New Horizons Summer Academy

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Monika Palka, a school teacher and one of the participants of the New Horizons Film Academy, which takes place annually at the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival.

Monika shares with us her thoughts and experiences of learning about filmmaking during this intensive course, in which teachers from Polish schools learn about the art of making films. She also reflects upon the importance of the Summer Academy in the optic of promoting the importance of including film in the school program, and the benefits that could results from young students being involved in filmmaking activities.

NEW HORIZONS SUMMER ACADEMY: T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS International Film Festival in Wroclaw presents the work of cinema visionaries, uncompromising artists who have the courage to forge their own path regardless of prevailing fads, and to tackle key issues using their own unique language. During the festival, teachers and cultural mangers from all over Poland can participate in film workshops designed especially for them – the New Horizons Summer Academy. After T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS festival finishes, the most interesting films are screened in selected Polish cities as part of the New Horizons Tournee, and then are released for distribution.

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Agata Budzynska – participating teacher – New Horizons Summer Academy

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Agata Budzynska, school teacher and participant in the New Horizons Film Academy, which takes place annually during the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival.

This is her first time attending the academy, and so we take the opportunity to tell her what it was like not only to be taught the language of cinema but also to discover all the technical aspects that come with it. On top of this, Agata also tells us what she thinks would be the benefits of including film in school the school year.

NEW HORIZONS SUMMER ACADEMY: T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS International Film Festival in Wroclaw presents the work of cinema visionaries, uncompromising artists who have the courage to forge their own path regardless of prevailing fads, and to tackle key issues using their own unique language. During the festival, teachers and cultural mangers from all over Poland can participate in film workshops designed especially for them – the New Horizons Summer Academy. After T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS festival finishes, the most interesting films are screened in selected Polish cities as part of the New Horizons Tournee, and then are released for distribution.

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Liz Garbus / Lisa Simone Kelly – director / daughter of Nina Simone – What Happened, Miss Simone?

FRED’s Angelo Acerbi meets Liz Garbus, the director of What Happened, Miss Simone? and Lisa Simone Kelly, daughter of the great Nina Simone. The film was presented in the Panorama Dokumente section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Talking with Liz Garbus and Lisa Simone Kelly talk about this powerful, enlightening and relieving documentary. The fact that some harsh truths are revealed about the private life of Nina Simone, an absolute icon of the history of music in such a direct and simple way is equally as touching as it is shocking, but what they wanted to do in this film was also set a new starting point for all Nina Simone fans to understand completely the greatness and pain of the life of such an irreplaceable artist.

Plot: Sometime after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King she is to be seen standing on a stage before an entirely Afro-American audience. Her hair is piled as high as a turban, there are enormous earrings swinging from her ears and she seems to be bewitching the crowd: are you ready to take up arms? Are you ready to kill? By this time Nina Simone was no longer merely the amazingly talented classical and jazz pianist and unmistakable singer politely presenting her version of ‘I loves you Porgy’ in the TV show ‘Playboy’s Penthouse’ moderated by Hugh Hefner, but a politically committed human rights activist capable of provoking – both in her public and private life. Making use of copious archive footage, documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus weaves the various phases of Simone’s life – right up to her final years in Europe when she oscillated between being broke, lonely and sick and a celebrated jazz festival star – into a detailed and atmospheric portrait of a driven artiste.

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Nicolas Steiner – director – Above and Below

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Nicolas Steiner, director of ABOVE AND BELOW, which was screened handpicked to be screened in he Variety Critics’ Choice section of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Having received a very positive reception on the international film festival circuit – particularly Variety that handpicked it for their features section at Karlovy Vary – with half of its festival run still to go, Nicolas Steiner takes time off his busy schedule to talk with us about his feature debut.

ABOVE AND BELOW tells the story of the life of fascinating individuals living lives on the margins of society. He does so in a very unique way that manages to stretch the boundaries of the documentary filmmaking form. We talk about his exceptional vision and the way in which he brought it to the screen, as well as his close collaboration with the many aspects that came together to make ABOVE AND BELOW possible – from the brave cinematography, to the intuitive editing and meticulous paid to sound and music.

ABOVE AND BELOW: A not-quite-documentary probing the damaged psyches of five characters floating on the margins of American society, whom the director filmed in their frequently shocking environments over a number of years. Unconcerned with sensationalism, the film presents a focused study that reveals its creator’s deft hand at social anthropology.

Click here to visit the official Facebook page of ABOVE AND BELOW

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Andrew Cividino – director – Sleeping Giant

FRED’s Matt Micucci interview Andrew Cividino, director of SLEEPING GIANT, which was featured in the Another View section of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

We talk with Andrew about how he tried to defy the conventionality of usual coming of age dramas about young teenage kids.

He also talks about where the inspiration for the film came from and about his opting for a more improvisational style and an intuitive cinematography that is open to the spontaneous action but also glorifies the sinister beauty of the Lake Superior setting in which the film takes place.

SLEEPING GIANT: Teenage Adam is vacationing with his parents at Lake Superior. There he meets cousins Riley and Nate, roughly his age, and they spend the endlessly dragging summer days together until boyhood rivalry changes the course of events. A powerful and engaging drama about a sensitive period of life, built upon authentic performances and a wonderfully shifting atmosphere.

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Alexis Alexiou – director – Wednesday 4:45

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews director Alexis Alexiou, who talks about his latest work WEDNESDAY 4:45, which had its European premiere in the East of the West competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Alexis tells us about using genre film, and more particularly film noir, to represent various themes. Among them, its use as a metaphorical representation of the tumultuous economic crisis that has violently impacted it in recent years, but also an identity crisis that has impacted its society for even longer than that.

WEDNESDAY 4:45: Thanks to the efforts of owner Stelios, musicians love his small jazz club in the heart of Athens and the place seems to be prospering. But an early demise threatens this island of quality music, and Stelios has a mere 32 hours to save his beloved nightclub – and himself. The movie’s tough shell (crime thriller) masks a bitter treatise on the Greek economic crisis.

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Sonia Bonspille Boileau – director – Le Dep

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Sonia Bonspille Boileau, whose feature directorial debut LE DEP was screened in the Forum of Independents Competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

We talk about Sonia about the struggles and challenges of making a first feature, particularly one that takes place in the course of one night and in one setting – the titular setting of the corner store.

We also discuss representation of aboriginal communities in today’s cinema, and she reveals her hopes and dreams of developing future projects within such cultural context by highlighting aboriginal issues within entertaining narrative structures.

LE DEP: One night Lydia is attacked as she’s preparing to close her father’s store, and in the next few hours she is forced to make a number of life-altering decisions. In her powerful psychological drama, the director demonstrates her sensitivity in depicting the world of the Innu community as well as the inner emotions of the young protagonist.

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Kim Ki-duk – filmmaker – Stop

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews the legendary filmmaker Kim Ki-duk from the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which hosted the world premiere of his latest film STOP out of competition.

In this film, Kim Ki-duk covers many roles beyond the direction. Screenplay, cinematography, art direction, editing…he did it all! We ask him whether this is his favoured approach to filmmaking and how he is able to be so prolific.

We of course also ask him about the theme that inspired this film – his fears of the growing number of nuclear power plants. He talks extensively about these fears and how he tried to present them in STOP.

STOP: A young married couple were exposed to radiation during the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor. The young woman is pregnant and she and her husband must decide whether or not to keep the baby. Their assumption that the child will be disabled is certainly realistic, and they both gradually succumb to madness. Kim Ki-duk’s latest film focuses on a highly topical issue.

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