FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Maya Hawke, actress of the film Mainstream.

The audience fell in love with her thanks to her participation in Stranger Things and now Maya Hawke is the protagonist of Gia Coppola’s second feature film, Mainstream, screening at the 77th Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section. The actress and singer plays Frankie, a lonely and old fashioned girl desperately looking to find her place in the world and waiting to make a difference. Starring opposite Maya Hawke is Andrew Garfield playing a guy who is as lost as Frankie but in a magnetic and enigmatic way. Maya Hawke talks about her character focusing in particular on a scar on her character’s face: the key to her weakest point but also a soft way to connect with her and her past.

Mainstream: Just above Hollywood Boulevard lives Frankie, a young woman in her early 20s trying to navigate who she wants to be. With the death of Frankie’s father still lingering, Frankie knows she wants to do something of meaning but isn’t sure how and with the world in a current state of so much content and narcissism, it’s hard to not “compare and despair.” Stuck working as a bartender at a corner comedy club with her best friend Jake, Frankie questions what people today really value. It isn’t until she has a few cosmic run-ins with the mysterious Link, a man that seems to live life without rules that it inspires Frankie to lm him and upload his anti-mainstream rants onto the internet. Together, with the help of Jake, this unlikely band of outsiders rise to internet stardom. However, it’s hard to stay sane when the pressure of relevancy becomes important and new characters, like manager Mark, start making demands to bring in money. To make matters more complicated, Frankie and Link start getting romantically entwined. Frankie watches as Link becomes the epitome of everything he once denounced. It isn’t until Link publicly humiliates a young fan Isabel and Jake quits the team that Frankie really questions if she is also becoming the monster she helped create. A love story of being in love with someone who doesn’t love themselves set against the new emerging culture of today’s world.

The post Maya Hawke – Mainstream #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Michel Reihlac, co-director Venice VR Expanded.

Michel Reilhac is the best person to talk about VR, for his experience, his vision and passion for interactive storytelling . We analyse the 2020 edition of Venice VR, we listen to the narration of the evolutions of Vr filmmaking and the new frontiers of this fast-growing world of images and experience.

To discover more about this edition of Venice VR Expanded, click here.

The post Michel Reihlac – Venice VR Expanded #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Tommaso Frangini, director of the film Finis Terrae.

A conversation with Tommaso Frangini, director of Finis Terrae, presented at the Settimana della Critica (SIC@SIC), the parallel and independent strand of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. Here, Frangini talks about the autobiographical aspect of this story and the symbolic significance of the wilderness where it was filmed, among other things.

Finis Terrae: Travis and Peter are childhood friends. They decide to go on a camping trip to reconnect with each other, but the desolate nature which surrounds them will highlight their differences and the distance that separates them.

To discover more about the film Finis Terrae, click here.

The post Tommaso Frangini – Finis Terrae #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Alec Utgoff, actor of the film Never Gonna Snow Again.

A conversation with Alec Utgoff, lead actor of Never Gonna Snow Again, directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert, and presented in competition at he 77th Venice International Film Festival. Utgoff talks about the spiritual nature of the film and tells us whether he feels he is a spiritual person. He also shares his experience of working with the director, who left him room to explore and even improvise, and more.

Never Gonna Snow Again: A masseur from the East enters the lives of the rich residents of a bland, walled off community. Despite their wealth, the residents emit an inner sadness, a longing. The mysterious newcomer’s hands heal, his eyes seem to penetrate their souls. To them, his Russian accent sounds like a song from the past, a memory of their seemingly safer childhood. Zhenia, for this is his name, changes their lives.

The post Alec Utgoff – Never Gonna Snow Again #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Andrei Konchalovsky, director of the film Dear Comrades!.

A conversation with filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, who presented his latest film, Dear Comrades!, in competition at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. The film revisits a true event that occurred in the early ’60s in the Soviet Union and we ask him about the challenges of revisiting history in cinema. He also reveals the influence of Greek mythology and talks about the style of Dear Comrades!, sharing that it was inspired by the films of that period.

Dear Comrades!: USSR, Novocherkassk, 1962. Lyudmila is a member of the local Communist Party. She’s a staunch upholder of the Communist regime and ideals and despises any form of dissent. During a labour strike at the local electromotive factory, she witnesses the shooting on the protesters by the Army sent by the government to quell the strike: a massacre. An event that will change her vision of the world forever. The city is torn apart by riots, arrests, hasty convictions and by the curfew. Many people are injured and several ones are missing. Precisely in those days Lyudmila’s daughter disappears into thin air and the woman starts an anguished, dangerous and relentless search, in spite of the blockade of the city, the arrests and the attempt at a cover-up by the authorities. The movie is based on a true story that happened on June 2nd, 1962 in Novocherkassk and kept secret until the Nineties. The investigation was started in 1992. The victims were secretly buried in graves under fake names so they could never be found. Major suspects among the top Soviet officials were dead at that time. Culprits have never been convicted.

The post Andrei Konchalovsky – Dear Comrades! #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Julia Vysotskaya, actress of the film Dear Comrades!.

A conversation with Julia Vysotskaya, lead actress of Andrei Konchalovsky’s film, Dear Comrades!, presented in competition at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. The film is based on a true story and we ask her whether she feels her performance humanizes history, as well as whether she feels that one of the differences of this film to similars is that the protagonist is a woman. We also ask her about connecting with her character and about the meaning of the term “comrades.”

Dear Comrades!: USSR, Novocherkassk, 1962. Lyudmila is a member of the local Communist Party. She’s a staunch upholder of the Communist regime and ideals and despises any form of dissent. During a labour strike at the local electromotive factory, she witnesses the shooting on the protesters by the Army sent by the government to quell the strike: a massacre. An event that will change her vision of the world forever. The city is torn apart by riots, arrests, hasty convictions and by the curfew. Many people are injured and several ones are missing. Precisely in those days Lyudmila’s daughter disappears into thin air and the woman starts an anguished, dangerous and relentless search, in spite of the blockade of the city, the arrests and the attempt at a cover-up by the authorities. The movie is based on a true story that happened on June 2nd, 1962 in Novocherkassk and kept secret until the Nineties. The investigation was started in 1992. The victims were secretly buried in graves under fake names so they could never be found. Major suspects among the top Soviet officials were dead at that time. Culprits have never been convicted.

The post Julia Vysotskaya – Dear Comrades! #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Charles Dance, actor of the film The Book of Vision.

We learned to fear him as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones and now british actor Charles Dance, is at the 77th Venice Film festival as the protagonist of Venice Critic’s week opening film: The Book of Vision by Carlo Hintermann. In the film produced by Terrence Malick and debut feature by documentarist Carlo Hinterman, Charles Dance plays two characters, two doctors with a different approach to medicine, one belonging to the past and one acting in the present. The one from the past, John Ammuth can cure patients by listening to them, by reading their bodies and fantasies. This way he’s putting the basis for what we call today: narrative medicine. Charles Dance describes his roles and gives his opinion on this very interesting approach to medicine and more generally on how our minds can affect our bodies and how “we can make ourselves sick”. The actor also comments on the film’s depiction of the connection between life and death. Is there life beyond death? Do we really have to know? answers Dance. The secret, according to Dance is to be optimistic.

The Book of Vision: Eva, a doctor and student of the history of medicine, discovers a manuscript by Johan Anmuth, an 18th century physician. In his Book of Vision, Anmuth focuses on the feelings, fears and dreams of over 1800 of his patients, whose spirits still wander through the pages. Immersing herself in these tales and visions, Eva questions the separation of the past, present and future, while confronting the challenges of modern medicine and its limitations with respect to her own body.

The post Charles Dance – The Book of Vision #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Karel Och, director Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Karel Och is the director of the Karlovy Vary film festival. He is one of the eight festival directors invited by Alberto Barbera on the Opening Night of the Venice Film Festival. This symbolic appearance is the starting point of our talk about the state of the art of festivals and the possible near future, hopefully temporary.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Azra Deniz Okyay, director of the film Ghosts.

A conversation with Azra Deniz Okyay, director of Ghosts, presented at the International Critics Week parallel and independent strand of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. In this interview, Oykay talks about the socio-political situation that the film depicts, particularly in terms of the current generation and the young women in Turkey. She also talks about the dynamism of the structure of the film and the meaning behind it, as well as how Ghosts reflects the eclecticism and multiculturalism of the city of Istanbul.

Ghosts:  In Istanbul, a day on the verge of a country-wide power surge unfolds with four characters – a mother whose son is in prison, a young woman committed to dancing, a female activist-artist and a cunning middle man – all in a neighbourhood undergoing a process of gentrification for the “New Turkey”. Their stories intertwine along the day up until a drug deal incident, offering a roaring tale of the contemporary generation.

To discover more about the film Ghosts, click here.

The post Azra Deniz Okyay – Ghosts #Venezia77 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Sabine Verheyen, President of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament.

Sabine Verheyen, President of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament is at the 77t Venice Film Festival, at the Giornate degli Autori to host a panel on how to protect cultural and creative industries in times of crisis. On FRED the President explains in depth all the initiatives the European Parliament will overtake to help cultural and audiovisual companies to survive the crisis.

A stock of the situation for Europe’s audiovisual ecosystem during the past, very challenging months, and a look at the future, discussing ways to ensure immediate recovery, but also long-term competitiveness of this key industry.

To discover more about Protecting cultural and creative industries in times of crisis, click here.

The post Sabine Verheyen – Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament #Giornate2020 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.