FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST |Matt Micucci interviews Mounia Akl, director of the film Costa Brava.

A conversation with Mounia Akl, director of the film Costa Brava, presented at the Orizzonti section of the 78th film festival. In this film, the life of a Lebanese family that has retreated to the wild to escape trauma and air pollution is disturbed when their little corner of paradise is invaded and a garbage landfill is built right outside their fence. In this film, Akl talks about the many themes of the film, discusses the role of family in modern society, the problem of air pollution in Lebanon and more.

Costa Brava: Growing up in Lebanon, I was surrounded by chaos and poetry. The country was always on the verge of an apocalypse, leading us to live fully and never sleep peacefully. This dichotomy is what Lebanon is, and who I have become. It has brought our society to a place of absurdity where people come to sterilize their homes to protect themselves. It has also armed us with limitless imagination, humor, and a visceral experience of life. Today however, even that escape is no longer possible, the dystopia has entered our hearts. I try to look at a family’s structure in hopes of mirroring the one of our society. Once this family is fractured, it can reinvent itself with less lies and more selfless love.

The post Mounia Akl – Costa Brava #Venezia78 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |David Martos interviews Ana Lily Amirpour, Kate Hudson and Benny, director, actress and dog of the film Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.

Ana Lily Amirpour, director, and Kate Hudson, lead protagonist [alongside with the dog Benny] visit FRED’s booth to talk about Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, in competition during the 78th Mostra de Venezia. They talk about their work together and how the character of Bonnie was built.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon: A girl with unusual powers has been locked up in a mental hospital for over a decade… one night when a blood moon rises she awakens her from an ancient slumber and breaks free to re-join modern-day civilization in the wet swampy streets of New Orleans. She makes her way barefoot and empty handed like a hungry newborn into the adventure and chaos of the French quarter, where she will cross paths with the many strange inhabitants of this hedonistic city, while searching to understand where she belongs in this world, and who is a real friend.

The post Ana Lily Amirpour, Kate Hudson, Benny – Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon #Venezia78 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |David Martos interviews Ed Skrein and Craig Robinson, actors of the film Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.

Ed Skrein and Craig Robinson, supporting actors in Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon -in competition in the 78th Mostra de Venezia- talk to FRED about their relationship with Ana Lily Amirpour during the shooting of the film. They also describe their characters and the process of choosing roles: which are the most appealing ingredients for them in a project or a script

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon: A girl with unusual powers has been locked up in a mental hospital for over a decade… one night when a blood moon rises she awakens her from an ancient slumber and breaks free to re-join modern-day civilization in the wet swampy streets of New Orleans. She makes her way barefoot and empty handed like a hungry newborn into the adventure and chaos of the French quarter, where she will cross paths with the many strange inhabitants of this hedonistic city, while searching to understand where she belongs in this world, and who is a real friend.

The post Ed Skrein, Craig Robinson – Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon #Venezia78 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | David Martos interviews Alex Carvalho, director of the film Salamandra.

Alex Carvalho, director of Salamandra, talks to FRED about being selected by the Settimana Internazionale della Critica in the 78th Mostra de Venezia. His first feature film, set in his hometown Recife, depicts how a woman -portrayed by Marina Fois- seeks for freedom after taking her of her dying father. Carvalho says this purchase of freedom is present in every character of the film.

Salamandra: In the wake of the years lost to the strain of her father’s care. Catherine feels smothered by the difference between her feelings and real life. She escapes to Brazil, hoping to reconnect with her sister. Finally unburdened yet still unable to overcome her anxiety, she stumbles into an improbable relationship with an attractive young man. Gil presents her a second chance to experience the time she might have lived had things been different. Determined to begin again, Catherine must decide whether to see her reinvention through to its violent and irrevocable conclusion.

The post Alex Carvalho – Salamandra #SIC36 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |Matt Micucci interviews Bogdan George Apetri, director of the film Miracol.

A conversation with Bogdan George Apetri, the director of Miracol from the Orizzonti section of the 2021 Venice International Film Festival. The film is split into two chapters and revolves around an investigation on a shocking event involving a young nun and an urgent matter. In this interview, Aperti talks about some of the themes discussed, including that of religion, which is quite prominent in the movie, and the style, as well as some of its details, including the constant presence of a sporadic presence of the radio throughout the film.

Miracol: A young nun sneaks out of her monastery to attend an urgent matter but never makes it back and a police detective’s investigation into her fate, uncovers clues and revelations that lead not only to the truth but a miracle as well.

The post Bogdan George Apetri – Miracol #Venezia78 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |Matt Micucci interviews Bianca Stigter, director and producer of the film Three Minutes: A Lengthening.

A conversation with Bianca Stigter, director of Three Minutes: A Lengthening, from the program of the 2021 Giornate degli Autori at the 78th Venice Film Festival. This is a one-of-a-kind experiement and investigation, the starting point of which is a three-minute amateur film shot in 1938 of a small Jewish Polish town. Topics discussed in this interview include the process of making such a unique film and of the investigation at large, as well as the importance of film as a document of past history and more.

Three Minutes: A Lengthening presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938 in a Jewish town in Poland and tries to postpone its ending. As long as we are watching, history is not over yet. The three minutes of footage, mostly in colour, are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk before the Holocaust. The existing three minutes are examined to unravel the stories hidden in the celluloid. The footage is imaginatively edited to create a film that lasts more than an hour. Different voices enhance the images. Glenn Kurtz, grandson of David Kurtz, provides his knowledge of the footage. Maurice Chandler, who appears in the film as a boy, shares his memories. Actress Helena Bonham Carter narrates the essay film.

The post Bianca Stigter – Three Minutes: A Lengthening #Giornate2021 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |Matt Micucci interviews Stefano Knuchel and Vittoria Fiumi, director and producer of the film Hugo in Argentina.

A conversation with director Stefano Knuchel and producer Vittoria Fiumi, who presented Hugo in Argentina at the 78th Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori. The film is part of a trilogy of documentaries Knuchel made about the groundbreaking Italian graphic novelist Hugo Pratt, and it focuses on his intense years in Argentina. In this interview, Knuchel and Fiumi talk about their first memories of becoming aware of Pratt. Knuchel also talks about trilogy of documentaries at large, what it is that makes Pratt such a formidable artist, shares details about the style of the film and more.

Hugo in Argentina : A promising Italian cartoonist lands in Buenos Aires in 1950, with the dream of reaching the United States, to discover that, for him, America will be Argentina. The country immediately overwhelms him with its massive economic boom and a cultural scene among the most vibrant in the world.

The post Stefano Knuchel, Vittoria Fiumi – Hugo in Argentina #Giornate2021 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |Matt Micucci interviews Harry Wootliff, director of the film True Things.

A conversation with Harry Wootliff, director of True Things from the 78th Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section. This is a tale of love and obssession based on a Deborah Key Davies. In this film, Wootliff discusses the themes of female empowerment and the blend of the real life and the imagined life in her movie. She also talks about working with lead actors Ruth Wilson (also co-producer of the film) and Tom Burke, and the wonderful chemistry they shared as True Things‘ lead couple.

True Things : It follows a young woman living on the fringes of society who becomes intoxicated by a stranger who overwhelms her quiet life.

The post Harry Wootliff – True Things #Venezia78 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST |Matt Micucci interviews Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, directors of the film Californie.

A conversation with Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, co-directors of Californie, presented at the Giornate degli Autori strand of the 78th Venice Film Festival. They talk with us about the origins of their creative partnership and the work on this film, which marks their scripted feature debut. Both come from a reportage and documentary background, which served them well on this project. They also share the story of how they met Jamila, the young Moroccan-born protagonist living in Torre Annunziata in Italy, who is the protagonist of Californie.

Californie : Jamila is an exuberant Moroccan girl with street smarts, who seems to have enormous potential to achieve great things – or else trigger mega-disasters. Californie follows her day in and day out from age 9 to 14, in the small town in southern Italy where she lives, to reconstruct the fascinating personal journey Jamila undertakes – setbacks and detours included – to find her place in the world.

The post Alessandro Cassigoli, Casey Kauffman – Californie #Giornate2021 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Jimmy Page, founder and member of Led Zeppelin

A myth on pur microphones: Jimmy Page talks with Angelo Acerbi about his life as a founder and member of Led Zeppelin, on the occasion of the world premiere of Becoming A Led Zeppelin, a documentary presented at the Venice Festival . It is a huge monument to the power, the myth and the never-ending influence that Led Zeppelin music has ( and had) over musicians since the late 60’s..

Becoming Led Zeppelin is a film that no one thought could ever be made. The band’s meteoric rise to stardom was swift and virtually undocumented. With unparalleled access to the group and their personal archives, their full support and never-before-seen footage, Becoming Led Zeppelin will immerse you in the sights and sounds of their early career. For all the millions of people who will never see the band live, this is as close as you will get to being there. Before the stairway and the dragon, before the gold and the girls, there were simply four men and their love of music. Becoming Led Zeppelin reveals their individual journeys as they move through the music scene of the 1960’s, playing small clubs throughout Britain and performing on some of the biggest hits of the era, until their meeting in the summer of 1968 for a rehearsal that changes their lives forever. Their four journeys merge into one as they set out to conquer America on a rollercoaster ride that culminates in 1970 when they become the number one band in the world.

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