FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Milo Rau, director of the film The New Gospel.

A conversation with Milo Rau, director of The New Gospel, a special presentation of the Giornate degli Autori, the independent and parallel strand of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. The film is a hybrid between the filming of a version of the Gospel and the fight for the rights of the migrants exploited in agrarian work in Southern Italy, set in the city and environs of Matera. In this film, Rau talks about his experience of filming there, how he met the political activist Yvan Sagnet who is a central figure of The New Gospel, the influence of Pier Paolo Pasolini (who filmed his classic The Gospel According to Matthew There) and more.

The New Gospel: What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his disciples be? And how would today’s society respond to the return of the Son of God? With The New Gospel, Milo Rau is staging a “Revolt of Dignity”. Led by political activist Yvan Sagnet, the movement is fighting for the rights of migrants who came to Europe across the Mediterranean to be enslaved on the tomato fields in southern Italy and to live in ghettos under inhumane conditions. The director and his team return to the origins of the gospel and stage it as a passion play of an entire civilization.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Lili Horvát and Natasa Stork, director and actress of the film Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.

In conversation with director Lili Horvát and actress Natasa Stork, who presented the film Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time within the program of the Giornate degli Autori, the independent parallel strand of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. Together, they talk about the idiosyncratic portrayal of love and the film’s theme of accosting the a scientific, medical aspect to a psychologically dense narrative. They also share their thoughts on whether we live in a world where communication between people is more challenging and about loneliness, which too is a central aspect of the movie.

Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time: Márta, a 40-year-old neurosurgeon, falls in love. She leaves her shining American career behind and returns to Budapest to start a new life with the man she loves. But she waits for him at the Liberty Bridge in vain – he does not appear at their rendezvous. Márta starts to search for him desperately, but when she finally finds him, the love of her life claims that they have never met before.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Chaitanya Tamhane and Aditya Modak, director and actor of the film The Disciple.

A conversation with director Chaitanya Tamhane and actor Aditya Modak, who presented the film The Disciple in competition at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. The film revolves around the transcendental world of Indian Classical Music and given that Modak is also a foremost contemporary interpreter of the music, we ask him to share with us how he would introduce it to anyone who is not familiar with it. We also talk about the importance of the setting of Mumbai for the film and for the director to talk about the theme of the relationship between the disciple and the guru within this film’s narrative.

The Disciple: Sharad Nerulkar has devoted himself to becoming an Indian classical vocalist, a lifelong quest in which few succeed. Initiated into this centuries-old tradition by his father, he follows his dream with sincerity and discipline, committing himself entirely to his artistic journey. As he strives to attain the highest level of his craft, Sharad traces his way through the hallowed mysteries and rituals of past musical legends. But as the years pass, Sharad will be forced to negotiate between the complex realities of life in contemporary Mumbai and his chosen path, leading him to find his true voice in music and in life.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Nathan Grossman, director of the film Greta.

A conversation with Nathan Grossman, director of Greta, a documentary on the young, influential activist Greta Thunberg presented out of competition at the 77th edition of the Venice International Film Festival. Grossman talks about how he hopes the film will humanize the iconic Greta, countering the way in which she has been talked about in the media up to now. We also talk about what prompted him to begin documenting her and whether he believed that the movement she inspired would get as big as it actually did. Aside from that, Grossman shares his own thoughts on climate change and whether activism contributes to political decisions and stances taken in the best interest for the survival of our planet.

Greta: In August of 2018, Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old student in Sweden, starts a school strike for the climate. Her question for adults: if you don’t care about her future on Earth, why should she care about her future in school? Within months, her strike evolves into a global movement. Greta, a quiet Swedish girl on the autism spectrum, is now a world famous activist. The team behind Greta has been following the young activist from her very first day of school strike.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Kaouther Ben Hania, director of the film The Man Who Sold His Skin.

A conversation with director Kaouther Ben Hania, who presented her latest film, The Man Who Sold His Skin, in the Orizzonti section of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. In this interview we talk about some of the driving elements of the film, including her views on the contemporary art world where the film is set and the true story that inspired it, as well as the theme of migration and the parallels between love and freedom.

The Man Who Sold His Skin: Sam Ali, a young sensitive and impulsive Syrian, left his country for Lebanon to escape the war. To be able to travel to Europe and live with the love of his life, he accepts to have his back tattooed by one of by the World’s most sulfurous contemporary artist. Turning his own body into a prestigious piece of art, Sam will however come to realize that his decision might actually mean anything but freedom.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Merawi Gerima and Dennis Lindsey, director and actor of the film Residue.

A conversation with director Merawi Gerima and actor Dennis Lindsey, who presented the film Residue at the Giornate degli Autori, the parallel strand of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. In this interview, they talk about the film’s exploration of gentrification and the rage that fuels the movie. Gerima also shares thoughts on the distinctive style of the film and whether Residue is an autobiographical story, while Lindsey shares his thought on the challenge of cinematic representation.

Residue: When Jay arrives home, he finds his neighborhood gentrified beyond recognition. Demetrius, his childhood best friend, is missing, but none of the remaining black folks trust Jay enough to provide any answers. Jay’s frustration compounds as he also finds himself alienated in the city at large, attacked from all sides. Jay visits his last friend Dion in prison, but leaves feeling powerless and infuriated. Finally, a chance confrontation threatens Jay with the same fate as his friends.

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PODCAST | David Martos interviews Abel Ferrara, director of the film Sportin’ Life.

Our conversation with Abel Ferrara, presenting Sportin’ Life out of competition in the 77th Venice Film Festival, leads us to a reflection on the state of cinema, his motivations to shoot a documentary during the last Berlinale and the things he learnt during the 2020’s quarantine.

Sportin’ Life is the sixth incarnation of the international art project Self, curated by Saint Laurent’s creative director, Anthony Vaccarello. This project is an artistic commentary on society while emphasizing the complexity of various individuals through the eyes of artists who evoke the Saint Laurent attitude of confidence, individuality and self-expression. The documentary is an exploration into the sources and personal history of creativity, the essential life of an artist. Raw and sharp, it has the feeling of a moment in time that is still happening. Abel Ferrara’s intimate and lush look at his own life, his world refracted through his art – music, filmmaking, his collaborators and inspirations such as Ferrara’s early works and his creative partnerships with Willem Dafoe, Joe Delia, Paul Hipp and the musicians who inspired this work.

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PODCAST | David Martos interviews Filip Jan Rymsza, director of the film Mosquito State.

Filip Jan Rymsza, director of Mosquito State, out of competition in 77th Venice Film Festival, talks to FRED about this story of a man obsessed with mosquitoes, set on the verge of the financial crisis in august 2007. We explore some of the symbols in the film, like the mosquitoes seen as vampires or capitalism as a system that drinks our blood.

Mosquito State: August 2007. Isolated in his austere penthouse overlooking Central Park, obsessive Wall Street data analyst Richard Boca sees ominous patterns. His computer models are behaving erratically, as are the swarms of mosquitos breeding in his apartment, an infestation that attends his psychological meltdown.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Tilda Swinton, actress of the film The Human Voice.

With her appearance at the 77th Venice Film Festival as Golden Lion for lifetime recipient, Tilda Swinton confirms her divine being status. The actress is also the protagonist of Pedro Almodovar’s short film The Human Voice, freely based on Jean Cocteau’s piece of 1930 and presented out of competition at the Festival. Tilda Swinton describes the emotion of joining the Olympus of Pedro Almodovar’s muses as this might only be the first film the two shoot together.

The Human Voice: A woman watches time passing next to the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up, but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn’t understand that his master has abandoned him. Two living beings facing abandonment. During the three days of waiting, the woman only goes out to the street once, to buy an axe and a can of gasoline. The woman goes through all sorts of moods, from helplessness to despair and loss of control. She makes herself up, she dresses up as if going to a party, she considers throwing herself off of the balcony, until her ex-lover calls on the phone, but she’s unconscious because she’s taken a combination of thirteen pills and cannot answer the call. The dog licks her face until she wakes up. After a cold shower, revived by a coffee as black as her state of mind, the telephone rings again and this time she can answer. The human voice is hers, we never hear the voice of her lover. At first she pretends to act normal and calm, but she is always on the verge of exploding in the face of the man’s hypocrisy and meanness. The Human Voice is a moral lesson about desire, even though its protagonist is on the verge of the very same abyss. Risk is an essential part of the adventure of living and loving. Pain is very present in the monologue. As I said at first, it is about the disorientation and distress of two living beings who grieve their master.

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PODCAST | David Martos interviews Hiam Abbass, director of the film The Furnace.

Australian director Roderick MacKay comes to Venice Film Festival with his first feature film, The Furnace, set in the 1890’s. The filmmaker talks about the situation of Indian, Afghan and Persian workers that were taken to Australia by the British Empire in order to work handling camels.

The Furnace: 1897 Western Australia. To escape a harsh existence and return home, a young Afghan cameleer partners with a mysterious bushman on the run with two 400oz Crown-marked gold bars. Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace—the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown. The film is an unlikely hero’s tale, navigating greed and the search for identity in a new land. It illuminates the forgotten history of Australia’s “Ghan” cameleers, predominantly Muslim and Sikh men from India, Afghanistan and Persia, who opened up the Nation’s desert interior, thereby forming unique bonds with local Aboriginal people.

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