During the meeting with the audience after the screening of his film Baggage
in the Cinema House, Danis Tanovic said that he’s actually quite a
joyful person and loves to laugh. But in our conversation he was quite
serious and said that certain things make him quite pessimistic. Going
back through his films, it is easy to spot the humor in all of them, but
it usually serves to lighten up a very dark situation, and to help you
through it. Perhaps, the more seriously you look towards...
The film DESERT RIDERS (2011) screened at the 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Writer/Producer Noemi Weis attended the festival in support of the film.
DESERT RIDERS is about the trafficking of poor children to Middle Eastern countries who are forced into slavery as camel jockeys for the extremely lucrative business of camel racing. Many of the children have died during the races or suffered from malnutrition and are scarred for life. Due to pressure from me...
The film DESERT RIDERS (2011) screened at the 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Writer/Producer Noemi Weis attended the festival in support of the film.
DESERT RIDERS is about the trafficking of poor children to Middle Eastern countries who are forced into slavery as camel jockeys for the extremely lucrative business of camel racing. Many of the children have died during the races or suffered from malnutrition and are scarred for life. Due to pressure from me...
Beki Probst is the head of the EFM, European Film Market, for Berlinale since 1988. Before this position, she worked for the Berlinale as the film festival’s delegate for Turkey and Greece for seven years. Beki was born in Istanbul, Turkey where as a student she studied law and journalism and wrote for Turkish newspapers ‘Tercuman’ and ‘Hayat’. It was when she moved in Switzerland in 1960 that her career in cinema began where she managed the Probst-Kinobetriebe.
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1. Hi Jordan! We’ve never met but your film “Argo” was an official selection here at ÉCU in 2007. Tell us a bit about your new film, “The Sea Is All I Know”…Well it’s a film about love. The film stars Academy Award winner Melissa Leo [The Fighter] and Peter Gerety. It follows an estranged couple as they come to terms with their adult, terminally ill daughter’s request to help her die with dignity.2. You chose to avoid doing the whole film festival circuit in favour of a run at t...
Mike Ott’s film, LITTLEROCK (2010) has traveled the globe (most recently in Copenhagen at CPHPIX 2011 and SFIFF 2011 in San Francisco) with this ‘coming-of-age’ road movie about the little pleasures in life and the fascinations of cultural differences and similarities. A film about finding translation while seemingly lost in it, this film communicates universally and one finds oneself celebrating the similarities of culture rather than the differences. ME: How did you come up with t...
Mike Ott’s film, LITTLEROCK (2010) has traveled the globe (most recently in Copenhagen at CPHPIX 2011 and SFIFF 2011 in San Francisco) with this ‘coming-of-age’ road movie about the little pleasures in life and the fascinations of cultural differences and similarities. A film about finding translation while seemingly lost in it, this film communicates universally and one finds oneself celebrating the similarities of culture rather than the differences. ME: How did you come up with ...
While waiting for Christopher Nolan to appear on the red carpet at SBIFF 2011, I stood with my buddy Ted Mills, fellow filmmaker/journalist, and we
interviewed newcomer filmmakers as they made their way down the red carpet. Ted and I interviewed the four Quebec directors of the feature film, Blind Spot (2009), FABRICE BARRILLIET, NICOLAS BOLDUC, JULIEN KNAFO and MARIE HÉLÈNE PANISSET.
We had just met and spoken with the directors at a previo...
Writer/director Sofia Coppola discusses her latest film Somewhere with Film Independent -
It's hard to believe that over ten years have passed since Sofia Coppola burst onto the scene with her 1999 indie hit The Virgin Suicides. Now the Academy Award and Spirit Award-winning writer/director is back with Somewhere. Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, Somewhere, starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, depicts the story of Johnny Marco, a H...
I am delighted to finally post my long awaited interview of the talented, witty and busy (wow! Check out her credits!) TV and film actress Deborah Theaker. Read our informative and funny UCAP interview below.
ME: Hi Deborah. Thanks for being here. First, can you speak about how you got into acting? Was it something you always knew you wanted to do?
DEBORAH: I was always into movies and entertainment since I was kne...
In the midst of all the Venice Film Festival excitement, I'd like to bring your attention to some good old Americana Indie-style. If the title doesn't grab you enough, like it certainly does for me, then hopefully this in-depth interview with the filmmakers Dan Finkel, (Director/Writer/Producer) and Brian McGuire (Actor/Writer/Producer) for the new witty and spirited- che spiritoso!- American Indie film Everything Will Happen Before You Die (2010).
First, I...
I am super proud to present my good friend Colen C. Wiley. Cole and I met at an NYU interview four years ago where each of us had been interviewed by then NYU film teacher Milcho Manchevski, director of a favorite film of mine, Before the Rain (1994). Cole Wiley is the most educated up and coming filmmaker I know. He is a Harvard Law...
http://www.timetravelboyfriends.com
Talking with Tim, a fellow Californian working on film in London. He has a number of exciting film projects going down and tons more on the way. Watch out for this growing fish in the sea of international film circuits!
ME: Hi, Tim. Thanks for joining us. So awesome to talk to you. You're a fellow Californian working in London like me! So, can you tell us how you got into acting?
TIM: Acting wasn't something I ini...
ME: Hello to all my readers! I want to introduce you to the great actress/writer/producer Gemma Deerfiled here today to speak with us about her past, present and future film adventures.
GEMMA DEERFIELD speaks in detail about each film.
Breathe (2009) - I was asked by Nick Winter (the director) if I would lIke to get involved as a producer. They had a few odd jobs that ne
Multi-talented Argentinian director/writer/producer Miguel Mas shares
his thoughts and feelings of his recent film Love Equation (2009)
ME: Can you speak a little bit about Love Equation and what it is about?
MIGUEL: The film features an exce...
Multi-talented Argentinian director/writer/producer Miguel Mas shares
his thoughts and feelings of his recent film Love Equation (2009)
ME: Can you speak a little bit about Love Equation and what it is about?
MIGUEL: The film features an exceptional story line of love counting issues of
friends that are involved in such particular feeling: sensibilities and
weaknesses of hu
"Limits of Control" reminded me slightly of "Coffee and Cigarettes", only with two espressos (separate cups), matchbooks, and wooden string instruments, set in Spain. The film opens with the quote, "as I descend down impassable rivers, I no longer feel guided by the ferryman", and very little dialogue thereafter. "Usted habla espanol?", and "whenever someone thinks he is bigger than the rest of us, he must go to the cemetary", are repeatedly stated throughout the journey of a mild mannered myste...
Following an actor, writer and would-be chanteuse on their solitary
quests for fame and glory, Marc Fitoussi’s La Vie d’artiste bristles
with sharp observations and unpalatable truths about creative pursuit,
artistic compromise and personal disappointment.
La Vie d’artiste concerns a singer, an actress and a writer in
pursuit of recognition. Are there any parallels with your experiences
as a filmmaker? How did you come up with this story?
I wrote it when I was not re...
By JOHN WILDMAN, Contributing Writer When a film lands in your theatre with the critics' worthy buzz that Cristian Mungiu's 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS does, there can be a tendency to regard it strictly as a "broccoli movie." You know, "you really should watch it because it's good for you" kind of film. And all too often we opt for the popcorn movie in the Cineplex next door. In this case, that
Press conference with Christopher Walken on Dubrovnik International Film Festival 2005Moderatated by Daniel Rosenthal editor of Variety International Film Guide “the best annual guide to world cinema”*Daniel Rosenthal: “Good evening everybody last night we had an exquisite honor to award Mr. Christopher Walken with a Statue of Libertas, for an extraordinary contribution to his lifetime work. We talked last night about most recent films “Man of Fire”, “Welcome to the jungle”, “Ste...
THE FIVE STAGES OF BEER IS KILLING BRIAN MIX SOFTLYLocal boy Brian Mix’s affable little ensemble picture The Five Stages of Beer is a romantic comedy with plenty of snark to ground it in reality and keep it interesting. It’s not the kind of movie that rocks anybody’s world, but the dialogue has the lazy charm of Kevin Smith on a good day, and it’s certainly refreshing to see a contemporary American comedy that looks at love from the straight-dude point of view without including a few doz...
