FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Reinhold Bidner and Karl Zechenter, artists and members of the Austrian artistic group Gold Extra.

An interview with Reinhold Bidner and Karl Zechenter, artists and members of the Austrian artistic group Gold Extra, who were among the experts and mentors at the 2019 East Doc Platform in Prague, Czech Republic. Gold Extra produces artworks in and in-between fine arts, performance, music and hybrid media. In this interview, Bidner and Zechenter talk about the possibilities of the medium of digital games and virtual reality, introducing Gold Extra’s approach to documentary games and non-fiction storytelling by using the example of some of their works.

The post Reinhold Bidner, Karl Zechenter #EDP2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews director Steven Simpson.

Steven Simpson talked at the Sofia Meetings about his case of self distributing world wide his last film, avoiding general distribution and the classic mechanisms that most of the times are non profitable for small films and independent producers. A hard and intense ride that made him completely rethink and bend the distribution options that the market offer.

The post Steven Simpson #SOMEET2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Debra Zimmerman, executive director of Women Make Movies.

Debra Zimmerman entered the organization Women Make Movies as an intern in the late 70’s. Her work there has been intense, fundamental and life changing both for her and for the women directors who, through the organization, managed to have their film made and distributed in the world. In our chat, we face the issues of a male dominated world such as the one of movie business and the big steps done so far, and of course the biggest yet to be done. Because the guard has to be always high…

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PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Tonislav Hristov, director of the film The Magic Life of V.

Tonislav Hristov won the Best Documentary Award at the Sofia International Film Festival. We talk with him about his winning film The Magic Life Of V, and also about his previous works especially The Good Postman, who was an international hit, which Tonislav have some interesting news about, to reveal.

The Magic Life of V: While trying to become more independent and to help her mentally disabled brother through live-role-playing, a young woman haunted by her childhood traumas learns how to face her own past.

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The post Tonislav Hristov – The Magic Life of V #SOMEET2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews producer Nik Powell.

Nik Powell was friend and business partner of Virgin Records, then founder with Stephen Woolley of Palace Productions (for films such as In Company of Wolves, Mona Lisa, The Crying Game), then CEO of Scala Productions, head of the National Film and Television School in London. He shares with us a little of his past successes and some pieces of experience.

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PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Mira Staleva, director of the 2019 Sofia Meetings.

Mira Staleva is the director of Sofia Meetings, the most important co-production market of Eastern Europe. We talk with her about the mission of the Meetings, the next potential developments and the philosophy behind it.

The post Mira Staleva #SOMEET2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Kamen Balkanski from Media Desk Bulgaria.

Kamen Balkanski, from Media Desk Bulgaria, talks with FRED about the importance of this market and the participation of his office to it. We talk also about the importance of the Media Program especially in the eastern regions, its recent issues and the potential upgrades.

The post Kamen Balkanski #SOMEET2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Francesca Raffi interviews Joel Snyder, President of Audio Description Associates and Director of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind.

Dr Joel Snyder talks about his professional experience as audio describer, audio description trainer, President of Audio Description Associates and Director of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind. Then, he tells us more about his book entitled The visual made verbal, A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, which offers an overview of the field, including its history, application to a range of genres, description of training techniques and much more. The book confirms that high-quality AD but, accessibility in general, crosses many domains and in his book, Dr Joel Snyder described the four Fundamentals of Audio Description that he had established: Observation, Editing, Language, and Vocal Skills. At ARSAD 2019, Dr Joel Snyder will present, together with his wife, Esther Geiger (LIMS Maryland Modular Certification Program, WACMA, USA), Audio description: Listening to Movement.

Joel Snyder (Audio Description Associates, American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project, USA) & Esther Geiger (LIMS Maryland Modular Certification Program, WACMA, USA) “Audio description: Listening to movement”: in his introduction to the second edition of The Mastery of Movement, Rudolph Laban wrote: “What really happens in the theatre does not occur only on the stage or in the audience, but within the magnetic current between both these poles.” He suggests that the performers on stage form the “active pole of this magnetic circuit [and] are responsible for the integrity of purpose” in the performance that determines the quality of the “exciting current between stage and audience.” Laban’s focus here is on the skill of the performer in communicating with the audience. It is assumed that the audience is able to fully perceive that skill and experience that communication. But what if the exchange is interrupted, not by lack of clarity on stage, but rather by an audience member’s lack of access to that full perception. How, for example, can a blind person “see” a dance performance? This paper/presentation will discuss how audio description, enhanced by Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) fundamentals, provides access to the arts for people who are blind or have low vision. Describers observe, select, and then succinctly and vividly use language to convey the visual image that is not fully accessible to a segment of the population—new estimates by the American Foundation for the Blind now put that number at over 21 million Americans alone who are blind or have difficulty seeing even with correction. In the United States, the principal constituency for audio description has an unemployment rate of about 70%. With greater access to our culture and its resources, people become more informed, more engaged with society and more engaging individuals—more employable.

To check out ARSAD complete programme, click here.

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Eva Espasa, Senior Lecturer at the University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, Spain.

Starting from her presentation at the ARSAD 2019: “The audio description of blindness in films: visual pleasures or “blind nightmares”?”, Eva Espasa, Senior Lecturer at the University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, presents her work in collaboration with fellow colleague Montse Corrius, also Senior Lecturer at the University of Vic–Central University of Catalonia. At the 2013 edition of ARSAD, Eva introduced her abstract on the specificity of online training AD students, where she described several activities designed specifically for distance learning. With this particular experience in mind, Eva Espasa elaborates on the genesis of the 2019 research inspired by Georgina Kleefe’s 1999 book Blind Nightmares. Sight Unseen which looks at the stereotypical descriptions of blind characters in films and it extends its view on the different depictions of male and female blind characters.

“The audio description of blindness in films: visual pleasures or “blind nightmares”?”: Visual impairment has been portrayed in films mostly through stereotypical descriptions of blind characters, who not only allow us to analyse their representation in the film but also to provide a more general reflection on blindness, vision and, by extension cinema. Portrayals of diverse types of disability in the cinema are also stereotypical and extreme, showing characters who are either “evil avengers” (Norden, 1994) or “supercrips” (Hartnett, 2000). Current research has addressed the visions of disability and specifically of visual impairment in films. Quantitative studies have given a general account of the attention paid to blindness in films (relatively higher than to other types of disability), and have reported the negative stereotypes of blind or visually impaired characters (e.g. Norden, 1994). Qualitative studies have provided in-depth analyses from cinema, gender and disability perspectives. Some have explored the filmic reasons and social consequences of including blind characters in films. Gender analyses have pointed at the different depictions of male and female blind characters. Feminist film criticism and the notion of visual pleasure (Mulvey, 1975) have been used in Blind Nightmares by Kleege (1999), to denounce the depiction of blind characters in films as other, as objects to be looked at. Georgina Kleege reflects on how, by representing blind women, the cinema continues to present generally stereotyped positions in line with what Mulvey points out about the classic cinema. Moreover, women are still represented as more passive in so far as they depend, to an even greater degree than the sighted ones, on the other’s gaze. In the case of men, their visual impairement usually translates into a feminization and asexualization of the character. What, to our understanding, has been less explored so far is the role played by audio description in the depiction of blindness in films (cf. Thompson, 2018). It is important to see to what extent audiodescription challenges other perspectives. Does it add or 22 challenge stereotypes? To answer this question, this article will analyse visual impairment in a set of films that have been both previously analysed by film or disability studies, and that have been audio described. The analysis incorporates the notions of “visual pleasure” and of “normalism” (Rius, 2011). It intends, finally, to incorporate its findings into the reflection on audio description policies, ethics and practices.

To check out ARSAD complete programme, click here.

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PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews programmer Laurence Boyce.

An interview with Laurence Boyce, journalist and head of the programme for the live action section of PÖFF Shorts, the short film strand of the A-list festival Black Nights in Talinn, Estonia. Boyce was one of the mentors for the 2019 edition of East Doc Platform in Prague, Czech Republic, so we met him to discuss the world of short film, discussing such topics as the difference between making short films as opposed to feature films, where shorts fit into the context of a film festival and more. As an expert in the field, and the programmer of a short film strand, Boyce watches many short films during the course of the year, so we also ask him whether he has noticed any particular trends in recent ones, in terms of themes and topics.

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