FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Cristiana Palmieri interviews Natalia de Molina, actress of the film “Kiki, Love to Love” from the 20th Spanish Film Festival in Sydney, Australia.

Continuing to champion Spanish cinema in a stunningly diverse array of films with the country’s most exciting filmmakers, Natalia de Molina talks about her latest film Kiki, Love to Love directed by Paco Leon, her acting career and how to keep a healthy balance between being a “Shooting Star” and an ordinary person.

Kiki, Love To Love is an injection of Latino spirit and an Almodóvar-esque blending of comedy and pathos makes. It is irresistibly unique

KIKI, LOVE TO LOVE. Freely adapted from the Australian film The Little Death, Kiki, Love to Love tells the separate stories of five charismatic characters who all share one thing in common: an unusual impulse that they are unable to suppress. Determined to shed the self-imposed inhibitions prompted by their desires, these madrileños embark on a hilarious series of adventures in which no pleasure can – nor will – be denied.

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PODCAST |  Filmmaker Claude Barras talks about his film “My Life As Zucchini” – 2017 EFA Young Audience Award finalist.

To listen to the podcast, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

My Life As Zucchini, produced in Switzerland and France, is one of the finalist films of the 2017 EFA Young Audience Award. In this short clip, the director Claude Barras talks briefly about the film, which will be up for an award during Young Audience Film Day (7th of May). On this day, the three finalist European films will be screened simultaneously in 31 different countries of Europe to an audience aged between 12 and 14 years old. The young audience will then vote for the winning film at the end of the day.

MY LIFE AS ZUCCHINI. “Zucchini” is an intriguing nickname for a 9-year-old boy – although his unique story is surprisingly universal: After his mother’s sudden death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer, Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home, filled with other orphans his age. Zucchini struggles at first to find his place in this strange, at times hostile, environment. Yet with Raymond’s help and his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust, find true love and, at last, a new family of his own

The post Claude Barras – My Life As Zucchini #YAA2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Filmmaker Alice Schmid talks about her film “The Girl Down Loch Änzi” – 2017 EFA Young Audience Award finalist.

To listen to the podcast, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

The Girl Down Loch Änzi, produced in Switzerland, is one of the finalist films of the 2017 EFA Young Audience Award. In this short clip, the director Alice Schmid talks briefly about the film, which will be up for an award during Young Audience Film Day (7th of May). On this day, the three finalist European films will be screened simultaneously in 31 different countries of Europe to an audience aged between 12 and 14 years old. The young audience will then vote for the winning film at the end of the day.

THE GIRL DOWN LOCH ÄNZI. The pivotal summer for 12-year-old Laura who lives in a beautiful remote area in the Swiss mountains. As the only daughter in a taciturn family of farmers and mostly left to her own, she becomes obsessed with the legends told about a gorge in the area where no one dares to go. When a boy from town arrives to help on the farm, she finally has a friend to share her fears and fantasies with. After he has left she takes the courage to explore the mysterious place all by herself. The portrait of a girl underestimated by all, filmed in a close and unsentimental way.

The post Alice Schmid – The Girl Down Loch Änzi #YAA2017 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Askold Kurov, director of The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov from the 2017 Lecce European Film Festival.

After premiering it at the Berlinale 2017, Askold Kurov presents at the European Film Festival in Lecce his documentary The Trial: The State Vs Oleg Sentsov. The film tells the true story of the Ukranian director who was condemned in 2015 to 20 years of prison, accused of planning a terroristic attack against the Russian government. To support Sentsov’s cause and his release, in Lecce the European Film Academy represented by chairwoman Agnieszka Holland and the director Marion Doring accompanied Kurov to present the film to the italian audiences.

The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov: Oleg Sentsov is a Ukrainian filmmaker, Euromaidan activist and native of Crimea. After the Russian annexation of Crimea, he became an active opponent of the occupation. In May 2014 he was arrested by the Russian security service, charged with planned terrorist attacks and transported to Moscow. After over a year in custody, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, despite the fact that the testimonies were given under duress and evidence was insufficient. Sentsov never pled guilty. Director Askold Kurov follows the progress of the trial and the attempts of Oleg’s family, friends and lawyers to save him from prison. The notorious case inspired protests around the world: the European Film Academy and many renowned filmmakers such as Pedro Almodovar, Wim Wenders, Agnieszka Holland, Ken Loach, Johnny Depp and others called for Oleg’s release. Kurov’s investigation gradually reveals an absurd and frightening Kafkaesque story about how anyone can become a victim of a ruthless state machine.

For the official page on the festival website click here.

The post Askold Kurov – The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Florian Eichinger, director of Hands of a mother from the 2017 Lecce European Film Festival.

Hands of a mother won two awards at the Munich Film Fest before landing at the European Film Festival in Lecce in competition. The film deals with the bitter story of a man whose family and life is shaken as he is reminded, all of a sudden, of all the violent acts he was victim of as a child by the only person who should have protected him the most, his mother. The title highlights how violence can become even more scary when it comes from the unexpected. Even visually, everything in the film is set to let the audience understand how many horrific things can hide behind normality. The idea of the film comes from a story Eichinger read in a newspaper and that he developed to shoot the film, the closing part of his trilogy on domestic abuse.

Hands of a mother: at a family reunion on a boat, engineer Markus remembers something dreadful about his childhood after an incident involving his mother and his four-year old son. As the memories, more and more invasive, eventually threaten to destroy his marriage, Markus needs to confront his family, his mother and most of all himself, to overcome the shadows of the past.

For the official page on the festival website click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Stephen Frears, director who received the Career Award from the 2017 Lecce European Film Festival.

Director Stephen Frears has arrived in Lecce straight from London where he is currently in post-production phase of his net film, Victoria and Abdul, a film based on the true story of the peculiar relationship between Queen Victoria and her indian muslim servant Abdul Karim. The protagonists are Dame Judi Dench and the famous indian actor Ali Fazal. At the European Film Festival Frears receives the Career Award, a path he has carried on with curiosity, political commitment and self-criticism. To recall the most important moments of his filmography, from the beginning in the early 80’s, through films like Dangerous Liaisons and High Fidelity till reaching Philomena and Florence Foster Jenkins, the Festival organized a retrospective of ten of his films as an homage. Through cinema, Frears has always participated in the political debate inspiring and influencing his audience towards tolerance and respect for civil rights.

Stephen Frears at the 18th edition of European Film Festival (Lecce, 3 rd – 8 th April) directed by Alberto La Monica and Cristina Soldano. The filmmaker will attend the Festival on its closing day, April 8th. Born in 1941, Frears is known by critics and audiences for the cynical and irreverent style characterizing most of his films. After a series of movie hits filmed in his homeland – including My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer – 1990’s The Grifters was the first American work by the director from Leicester, strongly wanted and produced by Martin Scorsese and boasting an exceptional cast: John Cusack, Annette Bening and Anjelica Huston. The film earned him a nomination to the Academy Award for Best Director. It was followed by many other successful films such as Hero (1992), High Fidelity (2000), Dirty Pretty Things (2002). 2006 was the year of The Queen with an amazing Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for Best Actress and the Coppa Volpi Award at Venice Film Festival. With the dramatic film Philomena (2013), starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, Frears received awards around the world, including Best Screenplay (to Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope) at Venice in 2013 and at the BAFTA Awards in 2014 and the David di Donatello for Best European Film, in addition to numerous nominations at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. In 2015 he directed The Program, about the story of cyclist Lance Armstrong (Ben Foster), and in 2016 Florence starring Meryl Streep. With the same talent and effectiveness, Frears has also made many TV films during his career. Frears is currently in post-production on his new film Victoria and Abdul, starring once again Judi Dench in the role of Queen Victoria, together with Ali Fazalas, who plays Abdul Karim, and Michael Gambon.

For the official page on the festival website click here.

The post Stephen Frears – Career Award #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Teresa Kotyk, director of Home Is Here from the 2017 Lecce European Film Festival.

After presenting it at Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival, Teresa Kotyk brought her feature directorial debut Home Is Here in Lecce for the annual European Film Festival, where it was featured in the main competition.

Home is Here makes a peculiar connection: a link between two lonely people, two lonely souls, both looking for a place, a real home, and stronger concrete feelings. The two protagonists of the film never meet. Kotyk plays with the paradox of connections and relationships that grow out of little rituals, such as the exchange of little and few but significant messages. Although the title could partially give away the intent of the film, Home Is Here elaborates on what “home” means and how it is more of a place inside ourselves, a place where we may discover who we really are.

HOME IS HERE. Young Hannah is temporarily living with her mother and her little brother in the Olympic Village at Innsbruck. One day she breaks in at Max’s, who lives alone in a modern villa. Time and again Hannah secretly explores his seemingly austere house, until Max begins to notice subtle changes. He lets himself into a playful form of communication with Hannah that ultimately moves them both to see life is not about searching for a particular place or relationship, but instead that you can only find home in yourself: HOME IS HERE.

The post Teresa Kotyk – Home Is Here #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Mehmet Can Mertoglu, director of Album from the 2017 Lecce European Film Festival.

Mehmet Can Metroglu represents Turkish cinema in the main competition of the European Film Festival in Lecce, Italy. The young director was present at the celebration of European cinema with Album, his first feature film, which premiered at last year’s Critics’ Week in Cannes.

Album examines how adoption is a practice that Turkish society has difficulties accepting.

Despite the prominence of Turkish directors in world cinema, including Nuri Bilge Ceylan who is one of the protagonists of this year’s edition of the festival, Mertoglu reveals to us that his cinematic references and influences are more from contemporary Romanian cinema and such directors as Cristi Puiu and Corneliu Porumboiu.

ALBUM. A childless couple prepares a photo album of a fake pregnancy period – at the beach, at work, lounging at home. This way, their adopted child will eventually be able to recognize them as loving biological parents. And of course, they’ll have real documentation to share with friends and co-workers. Bahar and Cuneyt are an average middle-class couple with beliefs, dreams and preoccupations of their provincial urban environment. A child would complete their perfect lifestyle image, but adoption can be a long bureaucratic process, especially for picky parents. However, persistence and the right connections pay off. The proud couple goes all the way with the family history façade by staging snapshots in the hospital with their adopted baby boy. The earnest couple’s next step is to start a new life with their new baby. History teacher Cuneyt’s requested reassignment to a faraway city comes in quickly with his bureaucratic influence. But the couple panics when they discover…

The post Mehmet Can Mertoglu – Album #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Marion Döring, EFA director and president of the jury of the 2017 Lecce European Film Festival.

FRED Film Radio meets Marion Döring once again. We caught up with the director of the European Film Academy (EFA) in Lecce, Italy at the European Film Festival, where she served as president of the jury of the main competition.

As a representative of EFA, Döring fully supports the cause of director Oleg Sentsov and, along with filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, accompanied Askold Kurov, the director of the documentary The Trial: The State of Russia Vs. Oleg Sentsov, in his presentation of the film to the Italian audiences.

Döring analyzes the role of filmmakers and in general of European cinema to build consciences, to generate awareness on the social and political situation surrounding us all. As the Young Audience Awards ‘ ceremony is approaching, Döring also talks about how important it is to educate, form and develop an audience for European films starting from young students who are ready and prepared to watch independent films.

The post Marion Döring – Jury president #fceLecce appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, who received a career award at the Lecce European Film Festival 2017.

Having met her earlier this year at the Berlinale 2017, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland is back on FRED Film Radio. This time, we met her at the European Film Festival in Lecce, Italy, where she presented her new film Spoor to the Italian audience and was the first “Protagonist of European Cinema” of this year’s edition – being the subject of a special retrospective put together by the festival.

The Polish director of such works as Europa, Europa also received a Career Award, the Ulivo d’Oro, after a masterclass that took place at Lecce’s Cinema Massimo, chaired by film critic and curator Massimo Causo.

As chairwoman f the European Film Academy (EFA), Holland accompanied Askold Kurov along with Marion Doring, director of the EFA, to introduce to Italian audiences in attendance in Lecce the new documentary The Trial – The State of Russia Vs. Oleg Sentsov. She strongly supports, along with the EFA, Sentsov’s cause and they are all fighting and hoping for his release from prison.

AGNIESZKA HOLLAND. The recipient of two Academy Award nominations (in 1985 for Best Foreign Language Film with Angry Harvest and in 1990 for Best Adapted Screenplay with Europa Europa (1990), winner of the  Golden Globe), Agnieszka Holland began her career in Poland as an assistant for Krzysztof Zanussi and later worked with Andrzej Wajda. Provincial Actors, one of the key films of the so-called “cinema of moral anxiety”, received the critics’ award at Cannes in 1980. In 1981 the director moved to France.

Holland has also worked on many TV productions, including well-known TV series such as House of Cards, The Wire, Cold Case, and Treme. The European Film Festival will present a selection of her films, chosen together with the director herself, including Spoor (Pokot), which screened at the last edition of the Berlinale to great critical acclaim.

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