Illustrator Eduard Erlikh: What Fashion Dreams Are Made Of

E. Nina Rothe March 29, 2020

Do you believe in magic? I do, because I have experienced it inside the home of master illustrator Eduard Erlikh.

On a particularly chilly NYC afternoon, I step into his building after the chaos of downtown, and then out of his private elevator. I'm instantaneously transported to another world: a minimalistic, fairy-tale land where things harmoniously sit where they belong, objects in different shades of pigment blend in creative and complimentary combinations and space does not appear to be at the typical premium it is in the Big Apple.

"Love and Other Feelings": Stephen Miller featured at the Hidden Cabaret in the Secret Room

E. Nina Rothe February 11, 2020

It takes a lot to make New Yorkers come out on a chilly, rainy February school night. Yet the Secret Room, a cool, copper piped themed club in a basement on Eighth Avenue, just steps away from Times Square, was jam packed this past Monday night. Everyone was buzzing with excitement as we waited to watch and listen to the talents that would assemble on stage to perform “Love and Other Feelings at the Hidden Cabaret”.

I was there to watch Stephen Miller’s return to the stage, after 20 years spent on the producing side and in academia. Miller is a wondrous man with a taste of sequin jackets that highlight his tall frame. His boyish smile and confident stance complete the magic of this performer who was clearly born to be on a stage. The Hidden Cabaret proved that.

A Conversation with Stanley Tucci about his 'Final Portrait'

E. Nina Rothe February 5, 2020

Sitting down with Stanley Tucci naturally turned into a highlight of my 2017 Berlinale festival experience but I have to say his beautifully shot and sublimely acted film ‘Final Portrait’ keeps finding new nooks and crannies inside my thoughts and now, even a permanent place in my heart.

*Filmmaker Rithy Panh in Qatar, photo courtesy of the Doha Film Institute*

“Cinema has a responsibility”: An interview with Rithy Panh

E. Nina Rothe February 1, 2020

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.

Sending healing vibes to Khaled El Nabawy -- The Actor and the Activist

E. Nina Rothe January 22, 2020

Back in 2012, I met Egyptian superstar Khaled El Nabawy at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. He was there with an Arab-American co-production and we sat down with his director and co-star during a sun filled afternoon, in an empty coffee shop inside the Emirates Palace hotel. It was an otherworldly moment that heralded the start of a beautiful friendship.

*Sir Patrick Stewart at the Dubai International Film Festival, photo by Getty Images courtesy of DIFF*

The Ultimate Sir Patrick Stewart: To boldly go where no journalist has gone before

E. Nina Rothe January 16, 2020

It is obvious upon first meeting him that Sir Patrick Stewart is a man of contradictions. The young boy born in Mirfield who grew up in a poor household in Jarrow fraught with domestic violence is now an elegant gentleman at once stoic and kind. His proper Queen’s English is what one notices at once, making all attempts by this journalist to sound intelligent in his presence invalid. And yet Stewart admits that in his youth “you wouldn’t have understood me if you heard me talk, I spoke with not just an accent — we had a dialect, so we used other words as well.” He proceeds to make an example which of course, sounds like he’s speaking a foreign tongue, not even English anymore.

Listen to the full interview with 'Star Trek: Picard' star Patrick Stewart

E. Nina Rothe January 16, 2020

He is the officially retired Professor X from the Wolverine series, Captain Picard in ‘Star Trek’ and now the CBS spin-off ‘Star Trek: Picard’. He has been a Shakespearean actor as well as Poop Daddy in ‘The Emoji Movie’ — I guess you could call Sir Patrick Stewart versatile.

Angels and no regrets: An interview with Lebanese Oscar-winning composer Gabriel Yared

E. Nina Rothe January 12, 2020

In 2016 I caught up with Academy Award winning composer Gabriel Yared. This year, at the Rome Film Festival, I was awed by his background music for ‘Judy’ — the film which might garner Renee Zellweger an Oscar. His notes take us, the audience, through the later part of Judy Garland’s life and into her inner struggles. They are subtly unobtrusive, just as a background score should be. And that’s the genius of Yared’s work. Please read on for the original interview, published in the HuffPost.

“I’m Constantly Not on the Right Side of History”: An interview with Chloé Zhao

E. Nina Rothe January 11, 2020

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.

Rachid Bouchareb at Berlinale 2016: "Peace Should Be a Subject Taught in Schools"

E. Nina Rothe January 3, 2020

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.

Claes Bang as 'Dracula' on BBC and Netflix is a sight to behold

E. Nina Rothe December 28, 2019

Premiering just the the new year and decade begin next week, BBC’s ‘Dracula’ starring Claes Bang promises to be quite the thrill. It’s from the makers of the cool ‘Sherlock’ which starred Benedict Cumberbatch and turned the English sleuth into a sex symbol for many of us.

Alexander Siddig: Rediscovering the uncommon hero, and villain, 8 years later

E. Nina Rothe December 8, 2019

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I met and got to know TV and movie star Alexander Siddig. Recently, I got to watch him in what is his most terrifying interpretation as Ahmed Suidani in Netflix’ ‘The Spy’. As much as I loved him as the romantic lead and even the wondrous father who loves at all costs — see the interview below — I must admit that Suidani suits Siddig to a “T”. Please watch the series if you haven’t already.

Following is an interview from those many moons ago when Siddig, Sid to his friends, played Miral’s father, in Julian Schnabel’s beautiful film — one I’ll always defend to the victory. One day, maybe, possibly, I’ll tell the whole story of this fascinating human being. But maybe not, as some things are better left unsaid. And unwritten.

*Olivier Assayas at the Rome Film Festival -- Photo by Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images courtesy of the Rome Film Festival*

The Fascinating Olivier Assayas at this year's Rome Film Festival

E. Nina Rothe November 2, 2019

Olivier Assayas is a filmmaker who also happened to have been a film critic. He's a French auteur who also spoke to journalists in perfect Italian while at the recent Rome Film Festival. He is a man born in the mid-50's who looks and dresses like he could be 40-something, as well as a revered name in world cinema who admits that film students today have created their own relationship with movies thanks to the internet. He makes for a fascinating read.

*John Travolta, photo courtesy of the Rome Film Festival*

Five questions for John Travolta at the Rome Film Festival

E. Nina Rothe October 29, 2019

Earlier last week, onstage, John Travolta appeared at ease, elegant and way younger than his 65 years. I mean, all newly bald headed and such, still how does he do it?? Maybe it was the leather jacket, maybe his calm demeanor and philosophy of life or maybe just his contentment at being a superstar — and obviously loving it! There is none of that tormented famous person attitude, or apologizing for having become a household name so young. No, Travolta is the actor and the actor is the superstar — no apologies needed or required.

Photo by © Stephane Cardinale, courtesy of the Marrakech International Film Festival

Can't get better than this! Robert Redford at the Marrakech International Film Festival

E. Nina Rothe October 24, 2019

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.

Dissecting the movies: Ethan Coen at the Rome Film Festival

E. Nina Rothe October 20, 2019

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.

There's something about Keanu

E. Nina Rothe May 3, 2019

It’s undeniable that Keanu Reeves and fashion go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, you could say Reeves was born an icon, a closeted fashionista who could do no wrong, whether photographed with a scruffy beard, in his slim frame bare chested or sporting a suit.

Jean-Luc Godard at the FIAF Congress of 1979 in Lausanne, with Freddy Buache, director of Cinémathèque suisse from 1951 to 1996 Photo ©Cinémathèque Suisse Collection. All rights reserved

Revolutionary cinema: Jean-Luc Godard receives the 2019 FIAF award in Lausanne

E. Nina Rothe April 13, 2019

Jean-Luc Godard. Was there ever a more interesting, enigmatic figure in French cinema? I don’t think so.

From his films, cryptic as best sometimes, to the revolution he organized along with François Truffaut which shut down the Festival de Cannes in 1968, from his reclusive almost invisible life in later years, to his latest masterpiece ‘The Image Book’, Godard was, is and always will be the Greta Garbo of French filmmakers.

So to find him in Lausanne, making a rare live appearance in present day and form, accepting the FIAF 2019 award from Frédéric Maire — President of FIAF, director of the Cinémathèque Suisse and former head of Locarno Film Festival — at the Casino de Montbenon, home of the Cinematheque Suisse, is legendary.

Alice Rohrwacher, photo by © Fabio Lovino

Alice Rohrwacher on why she's not making documentaries, the talisman in names & casting her Lazzaro

E. Nina Rothe March 12, 2019

As I sit with a group of journalists surrounding Alice Rohrwacher, on an open terrace in Cannes, there is a dog howling and barking, far in the background. I giggle to myself as I seem to be the only person noticing it and because in her film ‘Lazzaro Felice’ (‘Happy as Lazzaro’) she features a wolf who is quite central to the story. This sound in the distance brings a whole otherworldly, almost magical element to our chat and if she does anything with her films, Rohrwacher proves a purveyor of magic through the lens.

This week, Rohrwacher descends on Doha to become a Master during their annual Qumra event. The Doha Film Institute is also about magic, and they make theirs happen behind the scenes by bringing together the crème de la crème of international filmmakers, producers, film curators, programmers, sales agent and festival directors to create a cinematic tsunami that is bound to be felt around the world. It is five days and nights of jam packed cinematic networking as well as constant learning, through their Masterclasses, lectures and mentorship, as well as over fine local dishes at working breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

From where I stand, the partnership seemed inevitable between Rohrwacher and the DFI.

Lagerfeld inside the Pitti Palace, walking through his exhibit in June 2016

The day I met the late, great Karl Lagerfeld. Well, kinda...

E. Nina Rothe February 27, 2019

I typically hate those standard obituaries on dailies and magazines that go something like this: “So and so was the inventor of this and that and is survived by his so and so relatives, spouses etc.” But you have to admit that when the great Karl Lagerfeld passed away, and his obituaries read that he was survived by his beloved cat Choupette, who also got the bulk of his inheritance, you had to give it to Lagerfeld. Once again, he made history. And created fashion headlines for years to come.

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