FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Sam Ellison, director of the film Chèche lavi.

An interview with director Sam Ellison, who talks with us about his documentary Chéche lavi, which had its world premiere at the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Chéche lavi talks about two Haitian migrants who find themselves stranded at the US-Mexico border with no way forward. Ellison tells us he considers this a political film, and we ponder on what a political film is, and whether the human element of Chéche lavi helps carry the message and spark up a debate about migration within the current discourse.

Chèche lavi: Everything sold, everything left behind. A long journey via Brazil and Peru, in order finally to ride into Mexico in the cargo hold of a truck. Ready to embark on a new life in the USA. But then there’s the wall. Haitian refugees Robens and James face unpleasant surprises in Chèche lavi, even though director Sam Ellison doesn’t show all of the misery. His portrait of two young men on the verge of a future to dream of is honest and subtle. While the camera and music create the mood of a feature as we see Trump’s impenetrable wall being built, James and Robens tell us calmly and factually what they are going through. One is toiling to earn enough money, the other just to get admitted to the USA. Disappointment and resignation continue to vie for attention. The film doesn’t take sides on where these men are basically better off.

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The post Sam Ellison – Chèche lavi #IFFR2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Bani Khoshnoudi, director of the film Fireflies.

An interview with Bani Khoshnoudi, director of Fireflies, shown at the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Fireflies tells the story of a young Iranian gay man in Veracruz and the impact the relationships and friendships he forms in this place of transition have on his life and situation. In this interview, Khoshnoudi discusses the themes of violence and displacement, her influences and how her style favours subtleness. She also mentions that, being an Iranian filmmaker, Fireflies is her first film in Mexico, where she has now lived for some years, but how it was important for her to still have an Iranian element within the narrative.

Fireflies: Ramin, an Iranian immigrant in Mexico, carries his past on his back: literally, in the form of welts. In Fireflies, a Skype conversation reveals that he has left his boyfriend behind in Turkey. Early on in this immigrant drama, Ramin tries to return to Europe, but the high cost stops him. Or is it something else? Ramin single-mindedly steers his own course, even though he could easily join forces with a fellow immigrant, or a woman with a broken heart just like his Luciérnagas deals not only with immigration but also with issues of commitment: two not entirely unrelated issues. Is Ramin’s restless nature the result of the homophobic culture he grew up in? Director Bani Khoshnoudi leaves a lot unexplained, for her audience to chew on afterwards.

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The post Bani Khoshnoudi – Fireflies #IFFR2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Elmar Imanov and Anar Imanov, director and co-writer of the film End of Season.

An interview with director Anar Imanov and his brother Elmar Imanov, who co-wrote End of Season with him, the film which they presented at the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The two reveal that this film was interestingly born out of a desire to portray an everyday family situation, but also out of a frustration with their unsuccessful attempt to get their previous project funded. We also talk about End of Season‘s sense of humor, their work with the cast and the impact of their perspective as Azerbaijani people who have lived in Germany for 20 years.

End of Season: A small family in Azerbaijan is on the brink of running its course. Son Machmud feverishly seeks a home of his own; mother Fidan wants her life back after years of service to the family; father Samir just wants to be left alone. Three free spirits orbiting each other, ignoring the annoyances as much as possible. However, a dramatic incident during a trip to the beach painfully highlights the hairline fractures in their existence. Azerbaijan-born director Elmar Imanov lives and studied filmmaking in Germany and his debut opens with a brief homage: a melancholy cover of Nena’s 99 Red Balloons. Imanov uses this family as an astute metaphor for what happens when freedom becomes the only goal, but then serves as cover for alienation and mutual incomprehension. The film masterfully navigates between the three characters and portrays them as complete strangers and inseparable ‘partners in crime’ at once.

The post Elmar Imanov, Anar Imanov – End of Season #IFFR2019 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Ico Costa, director of the film Alva.

An interview with Ico Costa, director of Alva, which had its world premiere in the Bright Future strand of the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The protagonist of the film is a man who lives in the Portuguese countryside, commits a crime and goes back to the hills. Little is known about the whys and the hows, but as Costa tells us here, he wanted to get inside the man’s head. The film in fact focuses on him, and in this interview we also talk about his choice of filming in 16mm, using nonprofessional actors and what type of an experience he would like or expect his audience to have when watching Alva.

Alva: Henrique is a terse Portuguese smallholder who lives out in the hills, far from civilisation. We realise something is wrong in his life when occasional passers-by ask if there is any news about his daughters. The next day, he drives to a nearby village, follows someone and does something terrible. He then flees back to the hills. The almost entirely dialogue-free second half of the film focuses on Henrique as he hides out. We occasionally hear voices, or a helicopter swoops overhead. In the end, he returns to the village. Ico Costa explicitly uses an elliptic narrative structure, to allow viewers to form a man from the clay he puts in front of them. Who is Henrique? Can his deed be understood? Is he telling the truth when he says he didn’t want to hurt anyone? In the meantime, almost incidentally, the stunning beauty of the landscape passes by. Henrique washes himself in the waters of a river – a river called Alva.

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PODCAST| Sarah Bradbury interviews Philip Ilson, co-founder and artistic director of the London Short Film Festival.

The co-founder and artistic director of the London Short Film Festival, Philip Ilson, talks to FRED about the festival’s unique history, from its underground beginnings 16 years ago to the eclectic and wide-ranging programme screened from diverse venues across the UK’s capital it is today, what makes the medium of short film so special and exciting, and why he wants to ban the word “experimental”.

Broaching its sixteenth year, London Short Film Festival has been recognised as the premiere UK showcase for cutting edge homegrown and international short film. Renowned as the capital’s “cornucopia of new and beloved shorts from around the world” (CineVue) and for its consistently ambitious cross-arts programming, it strives always to platform emerging talent alongside the established with a 16 year old soft spot for the independent. The first significant date on the UK’s film calendar, each January sees diverse audiences of 10,000+ flock to LSFF helming some of London’s most historic cinematic venues, from the Institute of Contemporary Arts to BFI Southbank, Curzon Soho to Dalston’s Grade II listed Rio.

To discover more about the Festival, click here.

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PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Jasper Hokken, jury member at the SeeYouSound Festival.

Jasper Hokken talks about his role in the Soundies Videoclip Competition at SeeYouSound and the criteria followed to perform this duty (and his idea of a good videoclip). Then we moved our talk to documentary, specifically documentary shorts, and the whole concept of duration and content, an issue that is never talked about enough…

SeeYouSound International Music Film Festival 2019, the first festival in Italy dedicated to international cinema with a musical theme, returns with the fifth edition, which will be held in Turin from 25 January to 3 February 2019, at the Cinema Massimo of the National Cinema Museum.

The post Jasper Hokken #SYSV appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Luca Jacob, jury member at the SeeYouSound Festival.

Luca Jacob has a clear view about the role of music in films, that was shared by his fellow jury members for the Best Soundtrack award at Seeyousound Festival. Besides that, he has a real passion about music and connecting people who appreciate it, so he is working at WOMEX, the huge international meeting dedicated to contemporary world music, intended in the widest way possible. Let’s hear about this.

SeeYouSound International Music Film Festival 2019, the first festival in Italy dedicated to international cinema with a musical theme, returns with the fifth edition, which will be held in Turin from 25 January to 3 February 2019, at the Cinema Massimo of the National Cinema Museum.

The post Luca Jacob #SYSV appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST| David Martos interviews Rupert Everett, actor of the film The Happy Prince. 

Talking about the existence of a European film industry, Rupert Everett remembers the productions he’s been part of and why he thinks that The Happy Prince, his directorial debut, is quite a European one. The actor talks about his experience directing his peers in a set, too.

The Happy Prince: The untold story of the last days in the tragic times of Oscar Wilde, a person who observes his own failure with ironic distance and regards the difficulties that beset his life with detachment and humor.

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PODCAST| Sarah Bradbury interviews Gael Garcia Bernal, actor of the film The Accused.

We sat down with Gael Garcia Bernal in the margins of Marrakech Film Festival to discuss Gonzalo Tobal’s film The Accused, why Mexican filmmakers have dominated our screens over the last decade and why many of the characters he has played have a political edge to them. He also spoke about his latest directing project.

The Accused: For two years, Dolores has been awaiting trial for the murder of her best friend. The evidence against her is squarely challenged by the legal experts around her, but the waiting game is threatening to tear Dolores and her family to pieces.

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PODCAST| Sarah Bradbury interviews Viggo Mortensen, actor of the film Green Book.

Viggo Mortensen told us why he wanted to be involved with the film Green Book, how we worked to bring out the humour in his character and the story, particular through his on-screen chemistry with Mahershala Ali, and why he feels the film is so relevant right now.

Green Book: To give a concert tour in the Jim Crow-era American South, a black pianist (Mahershala Ali) hires a white bodyguard (Viggo Mortensen) as his driver. Director Peter Farrelly portrays racial segregation in all its brutality while imbuing his film with humour and humanity.

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