When the film world premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, it won filmmaker a Best Directing award, as well as the Cannes Best Documentary prize. That was only the beginning, as the film ended up going to on win best film at Sydney FF and best documentary at the Durban film festival. In Marrakech, it won top prize, with Jury President Jessica Chastain handing the diminutive, yet powerful El Moudir the award.
Read More"Do you believe in ghosts?": Catching up with Isabelle Huppert and Élise Girard in Marrakech
In Girard’s ‘Sidonie au Japon’ which screened at the 20th edition of the Moroccan festival this year, Huppert plays a woman who is still haunted by the memory of her late husband, which leads her on a voyage to Japan which she will never forget…
Read MoreFive highlights from Barry Keoghan's & Jacob Elordi's 'Saltburn' press conference
Spoiler alert: The actors gushed about each other during a press conference to promote the opening of Emerald Fennell’s stunning film, now in theaters in the U.S. and the U.K..
Read More"The story of a woman who's not done": Jodie Foster and Annette Bening talk Netflix's NYAD
Now available to stream on Netflix, NYAD by renowned doc filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, featuring two magnificent actresses, is a story everyone who has ever doubted themselves should watch. Foster and Bening sat down to talk about the film, during an insightful press conference in LA.
Read MoreThe Selfies Interviews: Kaouther Ben Hania on her second Oscar submission, plus retelling a story through different lenses
As ‘Four Daughters’ finally opens in the U.S., I sat down with the film’s director at the London Film Festival for a dose of typically straight to the point insight into her work and the film’s necessity, in our current media landscape that likes to categorize people as just good or evil, when life is really mostly lived in shades of grey.
Read MoreBaloji discusses Belgian Oscars submission 'Omen', a favorite filmmaker and the vibrations in a name
When the Belgian-Congolese rapper turned filmmaker premiered his film in Cannes, earlier this year, Baloji singlehandedly changed the history of his adoptive country for the better — a lesson for all in what it takes to begin to amend the wrongs of colonialism.
Read MoreThe iconic Jane Birkin to be honored at upcoming El Gouna Film Festival
Hermès named a luxury handbag after her and she’s still dictating fashion do’s and don’t’s to “It” girls around the world. Now Egypt’s glamorous festival on the Red Sea pays homage to the late legend by presenting a selection of films that showcase her remarkable life and career.
Read More"The language of cinema is universal": Damian Kocur's 'Bread and Salt' in Cairo
Before the film received one more award, this time at the Cairo International Film Festival, I sat down with the Polish filmmaker to talk cinema, inspiration and what constitutes the best soundtrack of all to him in a film.
Read More"Lynne Sachs: Between Thought and Expression" and why you cannot miss her MoMI retrospective
All the great filmmakers have been artists of the lens. If you think about Hitchcock, Truffaut, Wilder, Kazan, Visconti, Fellini and endless more that make up our collective cinematic heritage, they constructed their work like one long sequence of aesthetics — sight and sound.
Lynne Sachs is no exception.
Read MoreWatch 'Dear Comrades!'... and some Andrei Konchalovsky wisdom will be your gift in return
So, if I had to explain why Andrei Konchalovsky’s films appeal so deeply to me, what would I say? That his women characters are always the entree in his films and often his male roles seem like the parsley sprinkled around them to enhance the presentation. Embodied often by his real-life wife Julia Vysotskaya, women like Lyuda in ‘Dear Comrades!’ appeal to my sense of womanhood, to my inner strength but also on a very basic aesthetic level. Lyuda is elegant, in her clunky shoes and with her hungry, lean body, as are the men around her. First and foremost Konchalovsky is a true artist, always loyal to the visual — the most important aspect of the seventh art.
Read MoreCharisma Personified: An interview with Ali Suliman of Venice Days title '200 Meters'
Just what makes a great actor? Some will say it’s about possessing a combination of beauty and talent, some will point to acting skills and the ability to embody different characters, while others yet will mention that elusive word, “charisma” which can transform a performance into a work of art.
Meet Ali Suliman.
Read More"It is time to elevate your mindset": A conversation with Mari and Cheyenne from 'Unsettled' by Tom Shepard
Around the world at the moment, there are around 70 countries where it is still illegal to be gay, transgender or transexual. That’s the haunting statement that kicks off Tom Shepard’s enlightening documentary ‘Unsettled’ which features the stories of four individuals from three such countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Read MorePolitics and an Atheist’s Pope: Nanni Moretti in the Spotlight, Part Two
A couple of days ago I revisited my profile of Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti from 2012. Today I want to share the interview that took flying across the oceans and organizing with patience and care to secure.
Read MoreSplendido Cinema: Nanni Moretti in the Spotlight
Back in 2012, I met Nanni Moretti in his office, and the meeting changed my life. Forever. Moretti has that power, to change the course of things with his cinema. I’d watched ‘We Have a Pope’ in Abu Dhabi and not long after, I decided I needed to meet him face to face. In person, he was what he is in the movies. Nothing more, nothing less. Cranky, at times mean, and then, once I’d slammed my fist onto his desk because he wasn’t paying attention to my questions, he became a talkative, kind and attentive interview.
Read More“Cinema has a responsibility”: An interview with Rithy Panh
Meeting Cambodian documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh in Doha, during their annual Qumra event, was a real treat for someone who believes in the power of cinema with a conscience. Apart from the Doha Film Institute's wonderful meeting of talents held within the Souq Waqif and inside the Museum of Islamic Art each March and now in its fifth edition, Panh's presence felt historic. He was a Qumra Master in 2017, came back to teach a short documentary lab at the Institute in the summer of 2018, and now is back as a Mentor -- patiently watching works in progress and meeting with filmmakers to share his wisdom.
Read More“I’m Constantly Not on the Right Side of History”: An interview with Chloé Zhao
This month, the Criterion Channel is programming ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’, the debut feature by wondrous filmmaker Chloé Zhao. I got to interview her in Cannes for her second feature ‘The Rider’ and it was published originally on the HuffPost. Here it is now, a bit shortened and re-edited. And don’t forget to watch ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’ on January 15th.
Read MoreRachid Bouchareb at Berlinale 2016: "Peace Should Be a Subject Taught in Schools"
I find that there is a leitmotif running through three-time Oscar nominated filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb’s work. It’s the idea that peace is fragile, no matter how idyllic the setting of your life, there could always be something threatening to invade it, to destroy the status quo.
Read MoreCan't get better than this! Robert Redford at the Marrakech International Film Festival
There is one actor who has been able to give me goosebumps throughout my life and his career — it’s Robert Redford. And the love I have for his work doesn’t stop at him as screen star either. As a not-quite-yet teenager in Florence, Italy I went to watch ‘Ordinary People’ 14 times at the movies. I remember because my parents thought it had been enough on number 13 but I didn’t want that number looming over my viewing and threw a tantrum until they finally drove me to watch it the 14th time. I dragged a few of my friends, and each drew the line at the second viewing. But to me, that film represents part of the cinematic soundtrack of my youth.
Read MoreDissecting the movies: Ethan Coen at the Rome Film Festival
It was all hush hush. Rome Film Festival artistic director Antonio Monda came to greet us at the press screening of the opening film, Edward Norton’s ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ where he told us Ethan Coen didn’t want to give a press conference prior to his encounter with the public. Why? Because the subject and theme of his conversation was a secret worthy of, it seemed, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.
So, I waited. I wondered and imagined that Coen, one half of the wondrous brother duo that makes those incredible films full of humor and human tragedy — I’m talking about Ethan and Joel Coen of course — would make the wait worth while and introduce us, the audience, to something utterly wild. And when it came time for his public talk, he did.
Read More'Tibet in Song' by Ngawang Choephel celebrates its 10 year anniversary at the Rubin in NYC
Back in 2009, I was privileged to see an advance screening of the film ‘Tibet in Song’ by Ngawang Choephel in NYC and was absolutely mesmerized by Tibet’s breathtaking views, its people’s courage and beauty and its filmmaker’s strength and resilience in the face of adversity. I know that after watching ‘Tibet in Song’ I would try to never again complain about a rainy day I have to spend inside and I would respect my Tibetan brothers and sisters only that much more! I mean, the fashions and jewelry alone have made me a fan of Tibet but their courage made me a lifetime supporter. Back then, I caught up with Choephel and he shared some of his insight into this very personal journey of a film.
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