By Yun-hua Chen. Sonia Kronlund came to filmmaking by way of philosophy, criticism, and broadcasting. She studied philosophy at Sorbonne in Paris before developing a career as a French radio reporter. For 15 years she reported from Afghanistan about the war, as well as from Japan and Iran, while contributing reviews to Cahiers […]
Daniel Radcliffe Survives: Dana Lustig on Jungle
November 26, 2017
By Tom Ue. In Bolivia, 1981, Yossi Ghinsberg (played by Daniel Radcliffe), Kevin (Alex Russell), and Marcus (Joel Jackson) meet the mysterious (and apparently more experienced) traveler Karl (Thomas Kretschmann), who becomes their guide into the uncharted Amazon. Some weeks into the trip, the group separated into two. Following a rafting […]
Assisting a First-Time Director: Robin Vidgeon on Lensing Hellraiser
November 20, 2017
By David A. Ellis. Robin Vidgeon was born in August 1939 and has worked on numerous films. For many years he worked with the legendary cinematographer Douglas Slocombe as his focus puller. His last two films with Slocombe were Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of […]
Preparing for Office Mayhem: An Interview with Samara Weaving
November 17, 2017
By Tom Ue. Mayhem is the latest film directed by Joe Lynch, and it stars Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, and Steven Brand. The film follows Derek Cho (Yeun) over a single day as he is unjustly fired from his job at a law firm. The building that they are in is […]
Documenting in Defense of Art: An Interview with Hila Peleg
By Yun-hua Chen. The Israel-born Hila Peleg is a curator and filmmaker based in Berlin. She is the founder and artistic director of the Berlin Documentary Forum, a biennial event (2010, 2012, 2014) which was devoted to the production and presentation of contemporary and historical documentary practices in an interdisciplinary […]
Starting the Revolution: Robin Campillo on BPM (Beats Per Minute)
November 6, 2017
By Tom Ue. Robin Campillo’s latest film BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017) is set in Paris, in the early 1990s, and it focuses on members of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), a group of activists who battle for those suffering from HIV/AIDS and who holds accountable different government agencies […]
Balancing Gentleness and Extremity: Avishai Sivan Talks TIkkun
By Martin Kudláč. The 17th edition of the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw revisits several Israeli film within their retrospective introducing New Israeli Cinema that the festival considers producing “some of the most interesting cinema in the world.” The thematic sidebar also featured Avishai Sivan’s existential, and in […]
Knowing Our Past: An Interview with Legendary Tunisian Actor Fatma Ben Saidane
October 12, 2017
By Matthew Fullerton. With a career spanning some forty years and upwards of fifty films, plays, and radio and television shows, Fatma Ben Saidane is one of the most recognizable and important performers, not only in Tunisian theatre and cinema, but also in the entire Arab world. She has worked […]
Noir en Blanc: Vivian Qu on Angels Wear White (TIFF)
October 9, 2017
By Tom Ue. Writer, director, and producer Vivian Qu’s second film Angels Wear White is set in a small seaside town. Two schoolgirls were assaulted in a motel and the one witness, Mia (Wen Qi), is a teenager working on reception. The film follows the stories of Mia and one of […]
A Filmmaker Possessed: Eight Questions with Director Amel J. Figueroa
October 6, 2017
By Constantine Frangos. For the past 13 years, independent film company SaintSinner Entertainment Group has been quietly making movies in Southern New Jersey. Steadily building up its filmography since the early to mid 2000s, founders Brandon E. Brooks and Amel J. Figueroa have gone on to create the lion’s share of […]