FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Brian Robinson and Rich Cline, from the Queer Lion Jury.

The English posse of the Queer Lion Jury talks with us about the process of choosing the winner of this year’s competition. It was easy and not easy at the same time, as the perception of the LGBT issues in a movie are getting more and more blurry and personal, but the rights and needs of the LGBT community to be represented on screen are still a need to be completely fulfilled.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Mazen Khaled, director of the film Martyr.

Mazen Khaled comes to Venice with a really great film which shows an unusual and less known side of life in Beirut. There is an area of steep cliffs where young males try their bravery diving. A tragedy occurs and the lives of a group of friends change all of a sudden.

Martyr: The strange drowning of a young man at Beirut’s seaside sparks a mob funeral and causes his friends, who hail from different communities, to grapple with loss and with the struggle to participate in his community’s rites and ceremonies. The life and death journey that the young man takes on the last day of his life exposes the schisms of the city and the fault lines dividing its society, and reveals some of the forces pushing the lives of those marginalized young men. In Islamic tradition, drowning is considered grounds for Martyrdom. What does that word really mean? Is it an effort to console a bereaved family and preclude their grief? Is it an empty attempt by a marginalized group to evoke heroism and mythology in order to compensate in death for what they never achieved in life? In this film, raw verité images intermingle with abstract scenes of dance and performance to present us with a world, much like ours, where the lines separating reality from fiction, authenticity from fabrication, have ceased to exist.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Ruth Mader, director of the film Life Guidance.

Ruth Mader presented her vision of a not-so-distant future, Life Guidance, at the 74th Venice International Film Festival at the Giornate degli Autori. In this interview, conducted at our FRED studio in Venice, the filmmaker talks about her interest in making films in the future (and, specifically, the not-so-distant one), the Kubrick influence in her film, the screenwriting process, and how she is able recreate the atmosphere she intends to have in her final work on the set during the filming stage.

Life Guidance: the film is set in the near future, in a world of perfect capitalism. Society is sustained by a class of top achievers; meanwhile, so-called minimum recipients live under sedation in Fortresses of Sleep. The great majority of top achievers view themselves as happy. An outsourced agency has been established for the rest: Life Guidance is charged with turning these individuals into optimal people as well. Alexander has internalized the system but one wrong word to his child triggers Life Guidance. He starts to rebel and encounters the horror of the system in all its brightness and affability.

For the official page of the film in the festival website, click here.

The post Ruth Mader – Life Guidance #Venezia74 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Nicolò Comotti interviews Abel Ferrara, director of the film Piazza Vittorio, here in Venice with his family.

Abel Ferrara stops by our Venice studio with his family, Christina and Anna. We have the chance to talk about his documentary Piazza Vittorio, dedicated to one of the most iconic squares in Rome.

Piazza Vittorio is the biggest square in Rome. Both the square and the adjacent districts of the Esquiline stand out for the multiethnic variety of their inhabitants. Here, in fact, we find a range of ethnic groups from nearby and far away: Romans, Asians, North Africans and Indians who make the square and neighborhood a lively place but at the same time one that is not easy to manage. Precisely because of its unique and colorful nature, many artists and other figures with ties to the world of cinema, like Matteo Garrone and Willem Dafoe, have chosen to make it their home. Among them is the great director Abel Ferrara, who has decided to portray this world from his own independent and poetic point of view, putting himself physically on the line in the production of the film. Out of this has come a surreal and neorealist picture of a day in the square’s life, with interviews with illegal and legal immigrants, tramps, artists, proprietors of businesses and politicians who give their personal accounts of the place. It is the portrait not just of a square, but of an Italy that is changing and that is trying at all costs to go down the road of integration, often underestimating the side effects.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews John Woo, director of the film Manhunt.

Legendary action film director John Woo sits down with FRED for a chat about his latest feature, Manhunt, presented out of competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. The filmmaker tells us about his latest work, the inspiration behind it, his love of cinema, and his desire to make films that are entertaining first and foremost.

Manhunt: produced and distributed by Media Asia Films, director John Woo’s Zhuibu brings together the most outstanding film talents from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong for an action-packed extravaganza. Produced by Gordon Chan and Chan Hing-kai, the film stars Masaharu Fukuyama, Zhang Hanyu, Qi Wei, Ha Ji-won and Angeles Woo. It also features the renowned Yohei Tanada as Art Director, Takuro Ishizaka as Director of Cinematography and Taro Iwashiro as the composer of film’s original score. It is adapted from Juko Nishimura’s novel Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa wo Watare (You Must Cross the River of Wrath), published by Tokuma Shoten Publishing, and the Kadokawa Pictures production of the same name. The film was shot on location in Japan, including the city of Osaka. Zhuibu follows the journey of upstanding lawyer Du Qiu, who is unwittingly drawn into a murder case when all the evidence at the scene points to him being the perpetrator. Knowing that he’s been framed by Luo Zhi, Du Qiu runs from the law to uncover the truth. The police launch a large-scale manhunt, but veteran detective Yamura sees that this seemingly open-andshut case is not that simple after all. During the intense pursuit, a bond begins to build between the fugitive and his pursuer, even though Yamura knows that he can’t fully trust Du Qiu. Is the real killer lurking elsewhere? Is there a hidden conspiracy behind the murder?

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Nathan Silver, director of the film Thirst Street.

FRED catches up with director Nathan Silver for a chat about his latest film, Thirst Street, presented at the 74th Venice International Film Festival at the Giornate degli Autori strand. The film portrays a woman on a downward spiral of miscommunication, masochism, and madness. Silver tells us why he believes the lead character of the air hostess, played by Lindsay Burdge, as well as the film as a whole, has autobiographical elements and likens her to his own lifestyle as a filmmaker. He also discusses the film’s portrayal of the dark side of love, and the use of references from classic romantic movies. Aside from many behind the scenes anecdotes of the making of Thirst Street, he also reveals the meaning of the title, his experience of filming in Paris, and that he has already shot a new feature.

Thirst Street: Alone and depressed after the suicide of her lover, American flight attendant Gina travels to Paris and hooks up with nightclub bartender Jérome on her layover. But as Gina falls deeper into lust and opts to stay in France, this harmless rendezvous quickly turns into unrequited amour fou. When Jérome’s ex Clémence reenters the picture, Gina is sent on a downward spiral of miscommunication, masochism, and madness.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Piotr Rosolowski, co–director of the film The Prince and the Dybbuk.

Director Piotr Rosolowski and Elwira Niewiera presented their film The Prince and the Dybbuk in the Venice Classics strand of the 74th Venice International Film Festival. The documentary tells the story of the marvellous, fascinating, and intense life of filmmaker and producer Michael Waszinsky. We meet Rosolowski, who talked to us about the exciting research and filming process, a journey made of online research, film archives, long lost journals, yellow telephone books, and more. He tells us, among other things, about the grey areas of the film, left there also because there would be many stories about Rosolowski that could have been told – from his great film career, to his homosexuality, to his relationship with his Jewish heritage.

The Prince and the Dybbuk: Who was Moshe Waks really? A golden boy of cinema, cunning fraud or a man who constantly confused the illusion of film with reality? The son of a poor Jewish blacksmith from Ukraine, died in Italy as Prince Michael Waszinsky, Hollywood producer and exiled Polish aristocrat. He made more than 50 films including cinema hits with Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale. However only one film was his true obsession—Der Dibuk (The Dybbuk)—based on an old Jewish legend, the most important and mystical Yiddish film ever made, directed by Michael Waszinsky shortly before the the outbreak of the World War II. To the american magazine “Variety” Waszinsky once claimed to be fascinated with the downfall of great nations. The related imagery of pogroms and migration are the sights and images that Waszinsky had so often witnessed in his life. It seems he had achieved almost everything he could possibly have wished, but something seemed to be stalking him, leaving him permanently restless. Waszinsky kept searching for the lost print of his film Der Dibuk (The Dybbuk) which held his early memories of the jewish shtetl and his first love. What secrets did he keep hidden in this old masterpiece of Yiddish cinema?

For the official page of the film in the festival website, click here.

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PODCAST | Angelo Acerbi interviews Pascal Diot, director of the Venice Production Bridge.

Pascal Diot comes to FRED Film Radio to discuss the Venice Production Bridge 2017, bringing good news: an increased number of attendees , an increased number of meetings and deals signed and a general feeling of accomplishment that has been testified by many guests. At the end of it, the Venice market is well and growing, and we are all happy about it ( Pascal a little more than us….).

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Michael R. Roskam, Matthias Schoenaerts and Adele Exarchopoulos, director and actors of the film The Racer and the Jailbird.

Director Michael R. Roskam, and actors Matthias Schoenaerts, Adele Exarchopoulos screened their film, The Racer and the Jailbird, out of competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. The film is a story of love pitted against fate, reason and weaknesses – things the characters can and cannot control. The director tells us more, and also reveals to us some of the influences of his films. Schoenaerts tells us about his working relationship with Roskam, with whom he worked before (including the Oscar nominated feature, Bullhead), while Exarchopoulos tells us about how her journey of The Racer and The Jailbird began, and about not even having a drivers’ licence before landing the role as a woman racer in this film.

The Racer and The Jailbird: When Gino meets Benedicte, it’s love at first sight, passionate, unconditional, fiery. She is working in the family business, and she also drives cars on circuits. Gino is that kind of normal guy, cool, handsome… but he hides a secret. That kind of secret that can endanger your life and the lives of those around you. Gino and Benedicte will have to fight against fate, reason and their own weaknesses to save their love.

The post Michael R. Roskam, Matthias Schoenaerts, Adele Exarchopoulos – The Racer and the Jailbird #Venezia74 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Amichai Greenberg and Ori Pfeffer, director and actor of the film The Testament.

Director Amichai Greenberg screened his directorial feature debut, The Testament, in the Orizzonti section of Venezia 74. The director stopped at our studio to talk about it, alongside his lead actor Ori Pfeffer, who plays the role of the Holocasust historian investigating on a tragic incident that happened at the end of World War II. Greenberg discusses with us the influences of the stories from the Holocaust and how they impacted him as the son of a generation of Jewish people who were not alive themselves at the time. He also talks about the contrast between the personal and the universal in the film, and how both aspects are balanced in The Testament. Pfeffer too tells us whether he felt this internal search of the character he plays, and also whether he likens it to the acting process in general.

The Testament: Yoel, a senior Holocaust researcher, is in the midst of a widely covered legal battle with powerful forces in Austria, concerning a brutal massacre of Jews that took place toward the end of WWII in the village of Lendsdorf. An influential family of industrialists on whose land the murder took place, is planning to build a real estate project on the very same land. Yoel suspects that their aim is to bury the affair for good, but has trouble finding the conclusive evidence that would stop the project. While investigating the incident Yoel examines classified testimonies of Holocaust survivors, and to his shock and surprise he finds a testimony given by his mother, a testimony he didn’t know existed. In her testimony she confesses to a substantial secret from her past. Yoel, who’s conducting a double-investigation, personal and scientific, is trapped between walls of silence. As a historian with an unshakeable commitment to the truth, he decides to continue his investigations even at the cost of ruining his personal and professional life.

For the official page of the film on the festival website click here.

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