Modern Films Podcast

Filmmaker Claire Belhassine chats to UNDER THE FIG TREES director Erige Sehiri in this episode of The Modern Line podcast. From the minutiae and poetics of daily work life, capturing sisterhood on screen and creating a film where one day would look like a lifetime, Claire and Erige discuss the making of Under The Fig Trees and the beauty and power of complexity within simplicity.

Filmmaker Posy Dixon (Keyboard Fantasies) chats to SICK OF MYSELF lead actress Kristine Kujath Thorp in this intimate, laugh-out-loud funny episode of The Modern Line podcast. From wildly absurd acting techniques (think dog tasers and drinking gallons of beetroot juice), to working with Kristoffer Borgli and portraying loneliness and narcissism on screen, Posy and Kristine delve deep into the making of Sick of Myself.

In this episode of The Modern Line podcast, filmmaker Zeina Durra (LUXOR) speaks to YOU RESEMBLE ME director Dina Amer about the trials and tribulations of working in independent film (it’s a “roll up the sleeve” kind of job), how filmmaking “saved their lives”, about racism in the industry, working as a mother on set, and getting your first film out into the world.

Emily Atef in conversation with Lisa Rovner.

In this episode MORE THAN EVER director Emily Atef chats to Lisa Rovner (Sisters with Transistors) about filmmaking, the importance of discussing life and death, and on writing the greatest sex scene in recent cinematic history.

Hello 2022, and welcome back to The Modern Films Podcast. After a brief hiatus, we’re excited to kick things off again with a conversation between Lebanese filmmakers and artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, and Iraqi-Irish film curator and programmer Róisín Tapponi on Memory Box. 

Memory Box is a story about growing up and about survival, set against the political backdrop of 1980s Beirut, and a fantastic exploration of personal, collective and intergenerational memory. 

We hope you enjoyed this episode! Memory Box is on release in the UK and Ireland from 21 January. For more information please visit modernfilms.com/memorybox 

In this episode, Entertainment Writer at Harper's Bazaar, Yasmin Omar, chats with Raise Hell director, Janice Engel, and producer, Carlisle Vandervoort.

Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins tells the story of media firebrand Molly Ivins, six feet of Texas trouble who took on the Good Old Boy corruption wherever she found it. Her razor sharp wit left both sides of the aisle laughing, and craving ink in her columns. She knew the Bill of Rights was in peril, and said "polarizing people is a good way to win an election and a good way to wreck a country." Molly's words have proved prescient. Now it's up to us all y’all to raise hell!

Watch the film here: https://www.modernfilms.com/mollyivins/watch

Halina Dyrschka's debut film Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint charts the thrillingly enlightening life and works of pioneering Swedish abstract, Hilma af Klint. In this episode we sit down with her (over Zoom) to discuss her new film, Hilma's life story and the importance of re-writing art history. 

Find out more about Beyond the Visible at https://www.modernfilms.com/hilmaafklint

All music and sound bites from this episode are extracted from Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint.

Happy New Year!! Welcome to a brand new season of Modern Films podcast, where each episode features emerging and established filmmakers and sharing their insights and expertises. 

To celebrate the UK and Ireland release of Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, I’m here with Pamela Green, the director of Be Natural to talk about the story behind it.  

Be Natural is in cinemas from 17 January, you can pre-order the DVD now, for more information please visit our website on moderfilms.com/benatural 

Instagram/twitter: @modernfilmsent 

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Welcome to second episode of Modern Films podcast, in this episode we're excited to have film legend Kim Longinotto to discuss her storied career and latest documentary Shooting the Mafia,  an eye-opening profile of Sicilian organised crime photographer Letizia Battaglia, in cinemas across UK and Ireland 29 November. 

modernfilms.com/mafia

"I have never seen a film that succeeded more completely in stripping the romantic and mythic aura from organised crime, and revealing the mafia" Film Comment 

"The most arresting documentary work of the past few decades" Little White Lies

"A meld of portraiture and social history that is as tender, humane and generous as it is harrowing." Sight & Sound

" 'Shooting the Mafia' aptly conveys Battaglia's many layers, while exemplifying the power in not looking away" Roger Ebert

Diamantino filmmakers Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt join us to a conversation with Tate Film curator Carly Whitefield.  Set in present-day Portugal, Diamantino follows the delirious journey of a hilariously naïve football star from blissful prowess to career-busting disillusionment. The film was inspired by two sports essays by author David Foster Wallace. A quintessential artists’ feature, the film combines science-fiction, thriller, fairy tale and romantic comedy narrative tropes with wildly imaginative imagery as it satirises the cult of fame and nationalist politics. Diamantino won the Grand Prize at Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week. Diamantino on release from 10 May