FRED Film Radio - English Channel

Sarah Gavron – director – Suffragette

SUFFRAGETTE was the opening film of the 33rd edition of Torino Film Festival – as well as the opening film of the BFI London Film Festival earlier this year.

FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets director Sarah Gavron to explore the genesis if the film. It took her six years to make this film that can count on the participation of producer Faye Ward and writer Abi Morgan ( Shame, The Iron Lady) .

SUFFRAGETTE is the first film to treat this topic ( except for Mary poppins) and it focuses on the working class women , such as Carey Mulligan’s character, who took part in this movement by fighting not only this battle but so many other fights at home. The film has a stellar cast including Meryl Streep’s cameo as Emmeline Pankhurst (leader of the suffragettes) , Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson and Ben Whishaw.

SUFFRAGETTE: London, the early 1900s. Since the age of seven, Maud has worked as a laundress in an unsafe workplace dominated by its arrogant proprietor; she is married to a man who mistreats her. She finds herself by chance in the middle of a protest organized by the Suffragettes and, after overcoming her initial reluctance, she joins the movement in hopes of obtaining that freedom which has always been denied her and many others. But the struggle is difficult and painful.

The post Sarah Gavron – Suffragette #TFF33 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Jenna Belhumer, Elena Boffetta – directors – Back

We met with Jenna Belhumeur and Elena Boffetta at the world premiere of their first film at DOC NYC, and talked about the movie and the push of the Obama administration to decrease the number of prisoners in US penitentiaries.

BACK focuses on some of the hidden aspects of long-term confinement through the eyes of a memorable man, and reveals what re-entry is like for those released into a society that looks drastically different from that decades ago.

The post Jenna Belhumer, Elena Boffetta – Back #DOCNYC appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Chris O’Neill – director of Discordance / programmer Cork Film Festival

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Chris O’Neill, one of the programmers of the Cork Film Festival, which this year celebrated its landmark 60th edition, and cinema programmer at Triskel Christchurch.

FRED meets him the day after the end of the festival, and we take the opportunity to ask him to give us a brief overview of this year’s festival, and whether it was a successful year or not. He also discusses the challenges of promoting a “different” type of cinema in the city of Cork.

But we also ask him to talk to us about his interesting short film DISCORDANCE, and the fascinating way in which he got it to come together. He also introduces the feature film he is currently working on RECEPTIVE. TOTALLY RECEPTIVE. and compares the very different filmmaking approaches he used for the two projects.

DISCORDANCE: Three old friends from college who meet up one afternoon and reminisce about old times over drinks while circumventing the worries and frustrations happening in their current relationships and jobs.

Click here to visit the official Facebook page of RECEPTIVE. TOTALLY RECEPTIVE.

The post Chris O’Neill – Discordance #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Etienne Faure – director – Bizarre

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Etienne Faure, director of BIZARRE from the 60th Cork Film Festival, which premiered earlier this year at the Berlinale.

Faure tells us that the initial inspiration came from a real bar, populated by very colourful individuals. We also ask him about themes of sexuality in BIZARRE, and he tells us the story of how he came across his leading actor.

BIZARRE: Maurice (Pierre Prieur) is a young French man with a mysterious past. He arrives in Brooklyn, New York, with no money and no place to stay. After a chance encounter, he is given room, board and a job at Bizarre, an underground club which hosts outrageous and transgressive cabaret acts. With owners Kim and Betty (Raquel Nave and Rebekah Underhill) and fellow bartender Luka (Adrian James), Maurice begins to feel like he is part of a family. But with the increasing uncertainty of the club’s future, he realises that this new life is about to disappear and violence erupts as Maurice begins to unravel.

The post Etienne Faure – Bizarre #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Paul Hamy – actor – Parisienne

Among the protagonists of PARISIENNE ( Peur De Rien in France) by Danielle Arbid, Paul Hamy lands in Rome for the film’s participation in the 21st MedFilm Festival competition.

The french actor who was nominated for a César as Best Promise for the film Suzanne, was discovered by Danielle Arbid and many french directors close to the independent scene thanks to that film and he has been working a lot ever since. Hamy shot his scenes in the film during only 5 days which were very intense as he had to create the chemistry and connection with the protagonist Manal Issa, at her first experience in a film.

Paul Hamy considers the film an ODE to FRANCE, a lovesong. With many films in post-production and coming out in the next months, Paul Hamy is really a France’shooting star,he is always basing his career choices on sharing the same creative vision with the directors he works with and this might be the secret. He will soon be on FRED again, we can certainly bet on it.

PARISIENNE: Set in 1990s Paris, the new film from French-Lebanese director Danielle Arbid is a coming-of-age story about a young woman from Beirut whose relationships and encounters reveal different facets of her new country.

Official Facebook page of PARISIENNE

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Paddy Hayes – director – Name Your Poison

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Paddy Hayes, director of the documentary NAME YOUR POISON that screened at the 60th Cork Film Festival.

The bizarre story of Michael Molloy, the man who wouldn’t die or, if you like, the Rasputin of the Bronx, an Irish immigrant and alcoholic during the Great Depression. An incredible story, executed in a very entertaining way by Hayes, whose film is fun but at the same time serves as an exploration of the cultural background of those times, as well as the theme of immigration and alcoholism, while treasuring the novelty appeal of its “folklore” identity.

Hayes tells us about his use of recreation and contributions from experts, and the reason behind his choice of making this a bi-lingual documentary in both English and Irish.

NAME YOUR POISON (Deoch an Dorais): Domhillte, Dochloíte, Dochreidte…

The kind of tale handed down through families for generations, Name Your Poison brings to life the legend of Mike Malloy, the man who wouldn’t die. The unwitting subject of life insurance fraud at the hands of prohibition-era gangster Tony Marino, Malloy dodges poison, car accidents and exposure to extreme conditions.

Combining accounts from experts with beautifully recreated scenes of 1930s Bronx, this Irish language documentary immortalizes Malloy’s astonishing story with aplomb and energy, while providing a fresh approach to often explored questions regarding the Irish abroad.

The post Paddy Hayes – Name Your Poison #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Tom Geens – director – Couple in a Hole

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Tom Geens, director of the film COUPLE IN A HOLE, which premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and screened in competition at the 60th Cork Film Festival.

Tom Geens talks about the strange nature of the story of COUPLE IN A HOLE, a concept he developed out of an image he envisioned. But also, the way in which in this film he openly plays with an audience’s perception of the nature of the film itself, and the way in which each of its scenes will develop, as well as its resolution.

He also discusses the role that nature itself played in the film – particularly as the whole film essentially takes place outdoors – and how he collaborated with the actors’ performances in order for them to achieve the right performance, that had serious physical and psychological requirements.

COUPLE IN A HOLE: Could it be the end of the world, another post-apocalyptic drama? The ingredients are certainly in place: a dishevelled middle-aged couple reduced to living like animals, inhabiting a hole in some forest. And it feels like they’re the last people left on earth, until an aeroplane is observed flying overhead. So, they’re not entirely alone. Each tiny revelation in Geens’ assured sophomore feature serves to raise more questions, taking us further into the heart of couple’s private mystery and further unravelling the delicate web that holds them together.

The post Tom Geens – Couple in a Hole #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

The Sardegna Film Foundation launched the Heroes 20.20.20. project in collaboration with the Sardinian Regional Department of Industry, the Energy Service, and Sardegna Ricerche. Its goal is to promote eco-sustainable best practices at the local level by creating a new public awareness campaign to celebrate the “everyday heroes” of environmental sustainability. In this clip, we run through a list of the films that were produced in the first semester of 2015 as a result of the project.

Click here to find out more about Heroes 20.20.20 on FRED

The post Heroes 20.20.20 – Shorts and Web-Series from the first 2015 semester appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Conor Barry – producer – Life is Sacred / Brand New-U

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews producer Conor Barry, who was at the 60th Cork Film Festival presenting two very different films – one is the documentary LIFE IS SACRED directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, and the other the science fiction film BRAND NEW-U by Simon Pummell. He talks to us about the two films, but also about the benefits of international co-production, especially for Ireland.

LIFE IS SACRED: A story about a fearless politician and his devoted followers. With an army of young people hoping for change, he uses mimes, pencils, flashmobs and superhero costumes to attack the corruption and violence in Colombia. A young woman falls in love with the movement, but to change a society penetrated by illegality, turns out to be much more difficult than she ever anticipated.

BRAND NEW-U: The organisation BRAND NEW-U identifies networks of Identicals – “people who walk like you, talk like you, but are walking through different, better lives” – and helps their customers make a life upgrade: eliminating the Better-Life donor, and relocating their client to that Brand New life. But errors can occur, and a Brand New life can cost more than expected. Brand New-U follows Slater as he is forced to move through a series of parallel lives. He becomes more and more obsessed as he tries to find the lover he lost, but what he must find in the end is himself. BRAND NEW-U takes elements of science-fiction movies and thrillers, strips them down, and re-mixes them into a looping dream-logic to create a contemporary allegory of our search for identity and human connection in our rootless, media-saturated worlds.

The post Conor Barry – Life is Sacred / Brand New-U #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Mark Aitken – director – Dead When I Got Here

FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Mark Aitkins, director of the documentary DEAD WHEN I GOT HERE, which screened at the 60th Cork Film Festival in the illuminate strand, which presents films dealing with the delicate theme of mental illness.

Mark Aitken talks to us about the asylum in which the film takes place, how he first found out about this place and his initial reaction to it. He also talks about the challenges of making a film dealing with this particularly delicate issue without it being defined by expert narration, also revealing why he did not mean to make DEAD WHEN I GOT HERE some kind of exposé, but rather pay tribute to the inhabitants of this establishment.

DEAD WHEN I GOT HERE: A film about a man finding purpose for his life in the most unlikely place after years of self-destruction. Josué was cast out of the traumatised streets of Juárez, México into the desert and dumped in a mental asylum run by its own patients. Assisted by people employing empathy as the only means of survival, Josué transcended near death – discovering compassion in his darkest hours. Six years later, Josué manages the asylum and dreams of his estranged daughter. This is a story about sorrow and hardship but also about healing and redemption.

The post Mark Aitken – Dead When I Got Here #CFF60 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.